Smart speakers are the hottest new category in gadgets, and if Qualcomm has its way, there’s going to be a ton more of them starting next year.
Qualcomm is about to make it really easy for hardware companies to start building their own speakers. It’s introducing a reference design — basically, a preset configuration of chips, microphone tech, and audio systems — that companies can buy to base their products off of.
This isn’t something you’ll see a company like Amazon use. But smaller companies that want to create their own take on an Echo will be able to pick it up to quickly turn around a new product. It saves a bunch of time on testing, since Qualcomm guarantees everything will work together, which lets products get to market faster.
Includes support for hi-res audio over Bluetooth
Qualcomm’s Smart Audio Platform includes most of the core tech needed in a smart speaker (aside from the actual speaker). It has far-field microphone systems, with support for beamforming, echo cancellation, and wake words. It has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (including aptX HD for hi-res audio streaming), as well as support for Qualcomm’s AllPlay speaker speaker syncing system. And it’s generally designed to support the integration of voice assistants, like Alexa.