February might be the shortest month of the year, but in 2022 it’s packed full of exciting developments. Better visuals, enhanced commands, and a brighter future fill this month’s tech news.
Josh.ai New Wake Word
Josh.ai is renowned for their natural language processing technology that allows users to speak to their homes as they would a person. Ask a simple question or provide a multi-step command and Josh can easily understand and perform accordingly. Until now, to begin a prompt, the user would have to say the wake phrase “Hey Josh,” or “OK Josh,” and follow it with a phrase like “play Black Mirror,” or “lower the shades.”
This worked well…unless the home already had a Josh. In order to provide users with a wake phrase that better suits everyone’s needs while infusing meaning into the word, the Josh Micro and Josh Nano can now be woken by simply saying “Nikola.” Nikola Tesla might first spring to mind, and that was definitely an inspiration for the team at Josh.ai, but so were the Greek words “nike,” meaning victory and “laos,” referring to the people. A victory for the people is certainly an (unofficial) motto of Josh.ai; this latest step is just one of many they continue to take to make smart homes more intuitive.
LG G2 OLED TV
LG is following the success of their G1 LED TV with an upgraded model this year. The G2 will offer several sizes, including 55, 65, 77, and 83 inches, while adding an impressive 97-inch model, aimed at home theater use. LG is also improving the already superb graphics and performance. The G2 will support a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz and touts the new Alpha 9 Gen 5 processor; LG also says that this will be its brightest OLED TV to date. Overall, these additions should lead to a more immersive viewing experience.
Samsung Technology at SoFi Stadium
We recently featured Samsung’s 2022 TV lineup, but if you watched the big game Sunday, you probably got a glimpse at what is arguably Samsung’s most-watched screen. Hanging in the center of SoFi Stadium in LA is a 70,000 square foot, dual-sided video board, The Infinity Ring. It’s the first 4K, end-to-end video production in a stadium. Designed to give an amazing view from any angle, the Infinity may not have been the star of the show, but it certainly enhances the experience for anyone lucky enough to get tickets.
Matter Alliance Approaching
Matter, the connectivity standards alliance for home tech, gets ever closer to its mid-2022 inception date. As companies gear up to make their products interoperable, a report from tech intelligence firm ABI Research projects that by the end of the decade, more than 5.5 billion Matter compliant devices will enter the market.
This is an important projection for the home automation industry. Matter will allow more devices to communicate with each other, enabling greater choice for users and a greater overall engagement with home automation. The shift should precipitate an even larger number of homes moving towards the utilization of smart devices.
From celebrating the biggest game on the biggest screen to connecting even the smallest of devices, this month’s tech news has been an intriguing ride.
Responsive Living, the term coined by Acoustic Architects founders, Aaron Flint and Spencer Hauldren, is the concept of seamlessly enhancing the client’s unique lifestyle using smart home technology. Responsive Living allows you to interact with your space via touch input, voice command, and predictive automation, placing you in full control of your home.
If you would like to learn more about integrating new systems into your smart home system, feel free to connect with us. We will be happy to schedule a demo with you.
For more information, visit acousticarchitects.net.
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