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Amazon is licensing Echo microphone tech to third party device makers
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Published April 13, 2017
This product image provided by Amazon shows the Amazon Echo. (AP Photo/Amazon)
Amazon's Echo speakers have become a hit for the company and now it is licensing out the microphone technology used in the product to third-parties.
The technology, responsible for picking up voice, recognizing wake words, reducing background noise and other features, will be made available as a development kit, the Seattle-based technology giant said. The initiative is part of Amazon's Alexa Voice Services program.
ALEXA COULD BE AMAZON'S NEXT BIG WINNER
It will invite certain device manufacturers to participate in the offering after reviewing their applications, made on Amazon's website.
"This solution is supported by leading chipset providers, enabling device manufacturers to quickly integrate Alexa voice capabilities into their products," Amazon said on its website. Leading chipsets include ARM Cortex, Intel's -x86 processors and Raspberry Pi.
Wall Street analysts have said that Echo and the Alexa voice assistant could be a huge moneymaker for the Jeff Bezos-led company.
In an investor note in March, RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney said Alexa be worth as much as $10 billion in revenue for Amazon by as early as 2020.
https://www.foxnews.com/tech/amazon-is-licensing-echo-microphone-tech-to-third-party-device-makers