Consumer electronics manufacturer iHome on Thursday officially announced the iAVS16, its first voice-activated hybrid of a bedside alarm clock and an advanced music player compatible with Amazon’s Alexa artificial intelligence (AI) assistant. The device is equipped with a compact LCD panel featuring everything from time and date to persistent weather information and your alarm settings, in addition to shipping with push-button presets intended to facilitate the process of managing music and various Internet of Things (IoT) gadgets. The iHome-made creation which debuted at Amazon’s San Diego, California-based CEIDA showcase just moments ago was designed like a true Internet-enabled piece of contemporary consumer electronics, seeking to make your life easier by combining a wide variety of functions into a portable body with a straightforward user interface, the company suggested.
Thanks to its support for the Far Field Amazon Alexa Voice Service (AVS) technology, the iAVS16 can receive voice commands even when you’re not in its immediate vicinity, being able to quickly provide you with news, weather, and traffic updates, stock information, and a broad range of other data. As long as you’re in the same room, the iAVS16 will respond to your voice commands and activate Amazon’s digital companion when you order it to do so. Being presented as an evolution of the traditional hybrid of an alarm clock and a radio unit, the iAVS16 allows you to stream music using a Wi-Fi connection and is compatible with many popular services in this segment like Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, and Pandora. The device comes with a microphone and digital echo cancellation capabilities, as well as support for Amazon Smart Home Skills. iHome’s SmartPlugs-series offerings are also natively compatible with the iAVS16, while the gadget itself can be used for controlling literally hundreds of Internet-enabled consumer electronics, the firm said. The newly announced smart alarm clock is powered by a 100V-240V universal AC adapter, while also shipping with a 2.1A USB port which can be used for charging other devices.
Coupled with a 10W stereo output, iHome is hoping that the iAVS16 will prove to be the ultimate offering for consumers looking for a new versatile IoT gadget. The product will only be available in black for the time being and is understood to be releasing in the United States later this year, though no firm availability and pricing details have yet been disclosed by iHome.
