Smart Home (connected home, home networking) News

Hisense unveils its first Smart TV with Fire TV built-in
May 17, 2022 – Hisense and Amazon Fire TV have announce the U6HF, Hisense’s first smart TV with Amazon Fire TV built-in. Available exclusively at Amazon.com, the new 50” smart TV will offer Fire TV's experience alongside the intelligence of Alexa.
News categories: Hisense, David Gold, Digital TV, Smart Home, Smart TV, USA

Smart Home device market grew 11.7% in 2021
Apr 25, 2022 – The worldwide market for smart home devices grew 11.7% in 2021 compared to 2020 with more than 895 million devices shipped, according to IDC. IDC expects the smart home device market to see steady growth over the next five years.
News categories: IDC, Adam Wright, Jitesh Ubrani, Digital TV, Market Research, Smart Home, Worldwide

Roku OS 11 to start roll out in the coming weeks
Mar 22, 2022 – Roku (NASDAQ: ROKU) has announced Roku OS 11. Roku OS 11 adds Roku Photo Streams, the easiest way to enjoy and share favorite photos, as well providing expanded content discovery menu options, auto speech clarity, new sound modes, a new mobile app and more.
News categories: Roku, Gidon Katz, Digital TV, Middleware, Set Top Box, Smart Home, Smart TV, Streaming, USA, Worldwide

SoundHound and VIZIO innovate the Smart TV experience with Voice AI
Mar 1, 2022 – Following the rollout of a voice-enabled VIZIO remote and app in Spring 2021, SoundHound has expanded its partnership with VIZIO (NYSE: VZIO) to voice-enable the majority of VIZIO's TVs and collaborate on interactive experiences.
News categories: SoundHound, VIZIO, James Hom, David Rudnick, Digital TV, Smart Home, Smart TV, USA

Telefónica to expand Microsoft collaboration to the consumer market
Feb 28, 2022 – Telefónica has announced the expansion of its partnership with Microsoft to include initiatives in the consumer market. The initiatives contemplate the development and commercialization of new proposals and solutions for the home.
News categories: Telefónica, Microsoft, Chema Alonso, Apps, Digital TV, Latin America, Set Top Box, Smart Home, Spain

Telefónica to bring TV-commerce to Movistar Plus+ with Amazon
Feb 25, 2022 – Telefónica is to launch a TV-Commerce App on Movistar Plus+ to browse a wide selection of items (over 20,000 home products) available on Amazon.es through the Living App 'Selección Hogar de Movistar'.
News categories: Telefónica, AWS, Jose Cerdán, Adolfo Hernandez, Apps, Digital TV, MWC22, Smart Home, Spain

Over 5.5bn Matter-compliant Smart Home devices to ship between 2022 and 2030
Feb 8, 2022 – Between 2022 and the end of the decade, more than 5.5 billion Matter-compliant smart home devices will ship. The specification is expected to dominate the smart home landscape within five years, according to ABI Research.
News categories: ABI Research, Market Research, Smart Home, Worldwide

Vodafone Portugal launches hands-free entertainment and Smart Home hub with UEI
Jan 25, 2022 – Vodafone Portugal is launching the Nevo Butler entertainment and smart home hub from UEI (NASDAQ: UEIC) to its TV and broadband customers. Nevo Butler is a voice-enabled, white label hub that blends entertainment and smart home control experiences.
News categories: Universal Electronics, Vodafone, Paul Arling, Luis Cardoso, Digital TV, Portugal, Smart Home

TCL integrates WiSA wireless audio connectivity module
Jan 11, 2022 – WiSA (Nasdaq: WISA) has announced the integration of its immersive sound module into TCL's X925 Pro 8K Mini-LED Starlight Smart Screen. The module enables users to connect the X925 Pro to external speakers without the hassle of speaker wires.
News categories: WiSA, TCL, Tony Ostrom, Ellen Wang, CES2023, Digital TV, Smart Home, Smart TV, Worldwide