As customers continue to embrace voice as a way to control and manage their entertainment experience, video content service providers are increasingly looking at the set-top box (STB) as another device type that could support voice interactions. Today, we’re excited to introduce the HiSilicon STB Push-to-Talk Development Kit for the Alexa Voice Service (AVS), the first development kit in our portfolio of qualified AVS solutions for the set-top box device category.
The HiSilicon STB Push-to-Talk Development Kit for Amazon AVS enables STB device makers and TV operators to create new device designs with Alexa built-in and retrofit deployed STBs to support Alexa. It includes a voice remote and receiver to capture and pass voice utterances to the System on Chip (SoC) for processing. The voice remote provides flexibility for an operator to upgrade existing STBs to add Alexa by simply swapping the remote, adding a USB receiver dongle, and updating the STB software. In addition to executing voice directives such as playing music, this dev kit includes STB-specific use cases such as displaying visual directives using Display Cards.
“Set-top boxes with Alexa built-in give customers yet another way to bring voice control to their entertainment setup,” said Priya Abani, director of Alexa Voice Service. “This new solution from HiSilicon makes it easier for operators and device makers to upgrade existing STBs or create new production devices with Alexa built-in, and we’re excited to see the products created using the new reference design.”
The HiSilicon STB Push-to-Talk Development Kit for Amazon AVS is based on HiSilicon’s 4K SoC Hi3798MV200, which is suited for a range of multimedia and video applications including STBs and media hubs. The client application is built with the AVS Device SDK, providing a consistent software architecture so device makers can easily leverage the software on other HiSilicon STB SoCs.
AVS makes it easy to integrate Alexa directly into your products and bring voice-forward experiences to customers. Using the Alexa Voice Service, you can add a new natural voice interface to your products and offer your customers access to a growing number of Alexa features, smart home integrations, and skills. Get Started.