This Week in Voice Design: November 10, 2017

We spend time each week finding some interesting stats and stories so you don’t have to.

1. The first speaker based on Microsoft’s voice assistant, Cortana, debuts

Harman Kardon released the Invoke speaker on October 22nd for $199. Power users of Windows and Outlook now have a speaker to match their habits.

2. Digital voice assistants have the potential to get so huge, they may expand beyond speakers as a platform

In a 140 page document, Activate reports that voice assistants will grow faster, and possibly outgrow the speaker on the whole.

3. One-third of North America’s high school and college students are using voice search on mobile

Compared one-third to just a little more than one-fourth of the older generation of Millennials using voice for search, the future potential of voice is obvious.

4. There’s a fully functional Alexa voice assistant hiding inside your Amazon smartphone app

You can demo all your Sayspring voice interfaces on any mobile app. The Amazon smartphone app is the #1 app among millennials, and they’re all carrying around a fully functional Alexa voice assistant.

5. Voice-transcription user unknowingly posts an unintentionally hilarious New York Times article comment

New York Times commenter ChristineMcM adorably shows the world what a voice recognition device gone rogue looks like. She was writing a heated comment on a NYTimes article using a speech-to-text service, or “autospeak” as she calls it. Then a friend knocked on her door 15 minutes earlier than expected. The rest was #VoiceFirst history.

Here’s the comment posted:

Voice recognition is becoming more omnipresent in everyday activities, but it clearly needs some work on execution.

Don’t forget your eggs on the stove, Christine!

P.S. Happy 3rd birthday, Alexa.