Amazon’s Alexa: On the Go

Amazon first released their prize invention, the Amazon Alexa, to the market back in November of 2014. Since then, Alexa has become a revolutionary household item that works based on voice interaction. This allows it to play music, make to-do lists, set alarms, provide the weather, and inform users about real-time news. These abilities have made Alexa somewhat of a member of the family since “she” hit the market.

Fast forward to 2019: Amazon is utilizing Alexa’s talents in a way that allows the company to keep up with the latest market trends, as usual. On Thursday, April 4, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman announced that Amazon is planning to make Alexa wireless, through earbuds.

This new product will be the first Alexa that is wearable. The “on the go” system, will allow the voice assistant to be used outside of the home, involved in people’s everyday lives and routines. The headphones are planned to have several different features that can be activated by the user’s voice, calling out for their good friend, Alexa. This will allow users to order goods, access music, weather, and various information while they are on the go throughout their day. In addition to this, it is also planned to respond to physical gestures to answer and end phone calls.

These headphones make Amazon a competitor on the market once again. The product will put Amazon in the running not only with other voice-activated items on the go (such as Siri and Google Assistant), but will also present an opponent for Apple’s AirPods. The new earbuds will look and function similarly to Apple’s, sitting inside the user’s ears without clips around the ear. They will also come in a storage case that serves as a charger. While the headphones will have several similarities, Amazon intends to create a better product to outperform their competition. Amazon’s wants to improve the audio quality of their earbuds as well as produce them in more than one color, with black and grey options as well.

AirPods first hit the market in September of 2016 but was not the only model seen since then. The headphones have been mimicked several times before, by Google’s Pixel Buds in 2017 and Samsung’s Galaxy Buds in February of this year. The cultural movement has been hot on the market, with AirPods generating $17.4 billion dollars and 7% of sales in 2018.

Currently, Amazon is experiencing development delays with the product, as they are reportedly seeking suppliers and manufacturing partners. However, the company plans to release its earbuds in the second half of 2019.

 

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