Smart Home (connected home, home networking) News

Global Smart Home market to surpass $100 billion in 2019
Sep 25, 2019 – Strategy Analytics projects that consumer spending on smart home related hardware, services and installation fees will reach $103 billion in 2019 and grow to $157 billion by 2023. The company predicts that spending on devices will account for 54% of the total in 2019.
News categories: Strategy Analytics, Jack Narcotta, Bill Ablondi, Market Research, Smart Home, Worldwide

Amazon and partners announce Voice Interoperability Initiative
Sep 24, 2019 – Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and leading technology companies have announced the Voice Interoperability Initiative, a program to ensure voice-enabled products provide customers with choice and flexibility through multiple, interoperable voice services.
News categories: Amazon, Jeff Bezos, Semiconductor, Smart Home, Worldwide

Smart home devices to maintain steady growth through 2023
Sep 23, 2019 – The worldwide market for smart home devices is expected to grow 23.5% YoY in 2019 to nearly 815 million device shipments, according to IDC. Shipments are forecast to be more than 1.39 billion in 2023 giving a CAGR of 14.4%.
News categories: IDC, Adam Wight, Jitesh Ubrani, Digital TV, Market Research, Smart Home, Smart TV, Streaming, Worldwide

Facebook introduces Portal TV set-top box
Sep 18, 2019 – Facebook is expanding its Portal family of home video-calling devices with three new models: Portal, Portal Mini and Portal TV. Portal TV brings smart video-calling to the largest screen in the home.
News categories: Facebook, Australia, Canada, Digital TV, France, Italy, New Zealand, Set Top Box, Smart Home, Spain, Streaming, Tablet, UK, USA

Vizio adds additional Alexa capabilities to SmartCast TVs
Sep 17, 2019 – VIZIO has announced support for new Alexa voice features on VIZIO SmartCast TVs. With the latest update, users can now use Alexa to search for movies or shows by title, genre, or cast members – just by using their voice and a nearby Echo device.
News categories: VIZIO, Bill Baxter, Digital TV, Smart Home, Smart TV, USA

OBLO Living and Telekom Slovenije use an Android TV STB as a smart home hub
Sep 12, 2019 – OBLO Living has cooperated with Telekom Slovenije on a next-generation smart home concept using an Android set-top box as the home hub. The Telekom Slovenije smart living platform, NEO, will be presented at IBC 2019.
News categories: OBLO Living, Telekom Slovenije, Nikola Smiljkovic, Android TV, IBCShow, Set Top Box, Slovenia, Smart Home

DTVKit, DiscVision and OBS bring voice control to DTVKit powered TVs and STBs
Sep 12, 2019 – Ocean Blue Software (OBS) has announced that it has pre-integrated DiscVision’s Voice Control SDK with DTVKit's DVB stack, bringing Amazon Alexa and Google Home compatibility to DTVKit powered TVs and STBs.
News categories: Ocean Blue Software, DiscVision, DTVKit, Paul Martin, Dr. Reinhard Lüling, Phil Evans, Digital TV, IBCShow, Set Top Box, Smart Home, Smart TV, Worldwide

Synaptics to show Smart Edge AI media streamer solutions at IBC 2019
Sep 9, 2019 – Synaptics (NASDAQ: SYNA) has announced that at IBC 2019 it will show edge computing demonstrations featuring its Smart Edge AI AudioSmart and VideoSmart SoCs with machine learning AI capabilities that target a new generation of emerging smart home devices.
News categories: Synaptics, Saleel Awsare, Digital TV, IBCShow, ICs, Set Top Box, Smart Home, Worldwide

Deutsche Telekom launches first Smart Speaker from Europe
Sep 5, 2019 – Deutsche Telekom has launched a Smart Speaker. The Smart Speaker turns a voice into a remote control. It is now possible to simply use voice commands to operate Deutsche Telekom offerings such as MagentaTV, Magenta SmartHome, and telephone services.
News categories: Deutsche Telekom, Michael Hagspihl, Germany, IFABerlin, Smart Home