At IFA 2017, HARMAN has announced new speakers for its own brand and for the JBL sub brand. The speakers are part of the growing list of gadgets to feature Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. First is the Harmon Allure, an intelligent speaker powered by Alexa. Harman says the speaker includes 4 microphones for far-field voice recognition, 360-degree sound and lighting to complement any decor, and Bluetooth streaming for your favorite music service.
From Harman:
We're excited, to integrate with Amazon Alexa to deliver a beautiful speaker with astounding audio coupled with all the intelligent features of Alexa," said Michael Mauser, President, Lifestyle Audio Division at HARMAN. "Research shows the number one use of digital voice services is music streaming and Allure with its premium sound quality, iconic design, and exceptional voice-enabled technology, will produce a spectacular sound experience while delivering on our promise of elevating a connected life through smart technology."The Allure smart speaker will bring Harman Kardon's premium audio and the 20,000+ skills available for Amazon Alexa to even more customers," said Steve Rabuchin, VP Amazon Alexa. "This is a great benefit for customers who love quality music and want a voice service in their home. Customers can just ask Alexa to play great sounding music, control their smart home, get news or weather, play games, order food, and more.
The Harman Allure will be available for $249.95 starting winter 2017.
For those that prefer Google Assistant, JBL has announced three LINK speakers with the voice assistant built-in. The LINK 10, LINK 20 and LINK 300 vary in terms of size, speaker array and battery life — the LINK 300 is a stationary speaker — but all will feature voice activated Google Assistant. While other speakers have had button-activated Google Now and Google Assistant before, these are the first portable speakers with hotword activation. The LINK 10 will feature 5 hours of battery life, while the LINK 20 will have 10 hours. The LINK 10 will be available for $149, the LINK 20 for $199 and the LINK 300 for $249, beginning in fall 2017.
Are you looking forward to these new smart speakers? Let us know down below!
Learn more about Google Assistant!
