A study conducted last year by the US based organisation Consumer Watchdog found that Google and Alexa have patented a range of eavesdropping functions associated with their smart speakers. 
 
While the two companies file hundreds of patents each year and often do not take them to market, the patents reveal some of the thinking from Google and Amazon about how they might monetise the new smart speaker technology using data heard in houses and offices where smart speakers are present.
 

In their latest estimates, Loupventures research team has updated their estimates for smart speaker ownership in the US, predicting that one-third of households will own one by the end of 2019.

Analysis from Steve Ahern.
 
 
 
 
Smart speakers are not quite as smart as we are led to believe.
 
I have no doubt that coming generations of smart speakers will deliver huge amounts of voice driven artificial intelligence powered interactivity that will benefit the radio and audio industries, but we’re not there yet.
 
The current generation of smart speakers are actually pretty dumb. They rely on tightly controlled routines and they try to train us rather than us training them.

Amazon Alexa has just launched new skills for those who forget the names of songs.

Song ID, released this week, is a virtual radio announcer, which can announce the name of each song before it plays when you are streaming music.

The new skill promises to help listeners discover new music, as well as name particular songs. The service can be turned on and off by requesting “Alexa, turn on/off Song ID.” Once activated, it will announce every song.

It is believed Alexa has developed the skill because listeners often ask for song names.

Amazon Alexa… with a knife… in the kitchen.

NOVA Entertainment has launched a unique, voice-activated experience for the Nova audience, with the release of an Amazon Alexa skill.

With an expected 95 million smart speakers to be sold in 2019, France’s RadioKing have launched a customisable Alexa Skill available to all radio stations.
 

Kinderling Kids Radio today launched two new skills for Amazon Alexa in Australia & New Zealand, ‘Bedtime Explorers’ – a guided meditation and mindfulness series for kids and ‘Kinderling Kids News’ with Groovy Ruby.