Amazon prepping Alexa-enabled AirPods rival for release in 2019
Amazon is reportedly creating an Alexa-enabled set of fully wireless earbuds that could pose competition for Apple's AirPods.
Apple's second-gen AirPods in the Wireless Charging Case.
The buds will have Alexa built-in and ship as soon as the second half of 2019, Bloomberg sources said on Thursday. They're expected to "look and act similar" to AirPods, complete with a charging case, but feature a stronger focus on audio fidelity. Black and gray colors may be on offer.
Both Apple and Android devices should be supported, which could increase the buds' appeal. AirPods technically work with Android but lack key functions on that platform.
Most common Alexa commands should work, such as music, weather and even Amazon orders. There will also be gesture commands, for instance tapping to answer calls or switch songs.
The project is said to be one of the most important at Amazon's Lab126 hardware division, yet it has been saddled with delays. One source indicated that Amazon has been searching for suppliers and manufacturers in recent months.
Fully wireless earbuds are now a de facto part of the headphone industry in no small part because of AirPods. Estimates suggest Apple's product accounted for 60 percent of all fully wireless earbud sales in the December quarter, with Jabra's fitness-focused Elite Active 65t coming a distant second. Apple recently announced its own all-wireless fitness option, the $249 Powerbeats Pro.
Amazon could use price to eat into Apple's marketshare. The company is known for undercutting competitors on hardware, since it can easily turn a profit through services.
Apple's second-gen AirPods in the Wireless Charging Case.
The buds will have Alexa built-in and ship as soon as the second half of 2019, Bloomberg sources said on Thursday. They're expected to "look and act similar" to AirPods, complete with a charging case, but feature a stronger focus on audio fidelity. Black and gray colors may be on offer.
Both Apple and Android devices should be supported, which could increase the buds' appeal. AirPods technically work with Android but lack key functions on that platform.
Most common Alexa commands should work, such as music, weather and even Amazon orders. There will also be gesture commands, for instance tapping to answer calls or switch songs.
The project is said to be one of the most important at Amazon's Lab126 hardware division, yet it has been saddled with delays. One source indicated that Amazon has been searching for suppliers and manufacturers in recent months.
Fully wireless earbuds are now a de facto part of the headphone industry in no small part because of AirPods. Estimates suggest Apple's product accounted for 60 percent of all fully wireless earbud sales in the December quarter, with Jabra's fitness-focused Elite Active 65t coming a distant second. Apple recently announced its own all-wireless fitness option, the $249 Powerbeats Pro.
Amazon could use price to eat into Apple's marketshare. The company is known for undercutting competitors on hardware, since it can easily turn a profit through services.
Comments
Now that has caught me completely and utterly by surprise.
If Amazon prices them low enough I'm pretty confident Amazon will sell a ton of them. A couple I know wanted a HomePod but got an Echo Dot instead. They use it primarily to listen to music in their kitchen and occasionally set timers, nothing else. When i mentioned the audio quality was not that good (I mean, it's a Dot, what can you expect) they said that audio quality isn't a priority to them. Right, on a device they primarily use to listen to music. I don't get it. But they are price sensitive and if they could find low cost "Alexa enabled" wireless earbuds they'd likely go for them.
And audio is definately not a priority on the dot. If you primarily listen to music, any other echo device is a better choice. Echos do way more that play music now.
And speaking of Amazon, how can a company cannibalize huge swaths of the American economy by undercutting the competition (because no need to book a profit or pay taxes) and not risk getting broken up by the feds?
The previous generations of the Dot were pretty crappy for sound, I'll agree. I think Amazon realized how many people were buying the Dots for cheap music players and upped their game a bit this time around. If memory serves, they intended the Dot to be hooked to other speakers originally. I think they have another device (Tap or something like that) for that use case now.
Hey I love Amazon, just couldn't resist. At least Amazon is more honest than Google.