Category: App Everywhere

You Don’t SAi? Joint Venture Makes “Skills” for Amazon Echo and Google Home

Post author By Vince Kattoula
Post date April 27, 2017

amazon echo google home alexa smart home — Waves Sound in glow light. Abstract background. Vector illustration

Last week marked the debut of SonicAi – our new joint venture that develops “skills” for voice command devices – or “smart speakers” as they’re sometimes called.

We partnered with Steve Goldstein, Founder/CEO of Amplifi Media, to bring SonicAi, or SAi (“say”) for short, to life. The company’s focus is on designing and creating spoken word software for devices like Amazon Echo, or “Alexa,” as well as Google Home. These gadgets are showing up in more and more homes, offices, and other spaces every day.

From time-shifted audio like podcasts to featuring key station content that can be easily accessed and shared, our vision is to use the power of spoken voice commands to enhance the radio experience.

What this means for your station is that you need to engage with your audience beyond their phone, tablet, and even their car. You need to follow them wherever they may be. This means offering them apps everywhere, or App Everywhere® as we like to say. Furthermore, you need to make it easier for them to access your content. And what better way than using their own voice? Matt Hartman suggests that voice provides the lowest friction between consumers and them getting what they want, which is what makes offering your listeners these “skills” for voice command devices so important.

Check out this video to learn more about what SonicAi is all about:

To learn even more, click here.

Reach out to us today to discuss your mobile strategy and how we can help grow your business. Give us a call at 248-353-9030 or email sales@jacapps.com.

Alexa Amazon Echo App Everywhere Google Home Mobile Apps Smart Home

You Don't SAi? Joint Venture Makes "Skills" for Amazon Echo and Google Home

Post author By Vince Kattoula
Post date April 27, 2017

Last week marked the debut of SonicAi – our new joint venture that develops “skills” for voice command devices – or “smart speakers” as they’re sometimes called.

We partnered with Steve Goldstein, Founder/CEO of Amplifi Media, to bring SonicAi, or SAi (“say”) for short, to life. The company’s focus is on designing and creating spoken word software for devices like Amazon Echo, or “Alexa,” as well as Google Home. These gadgets are showing up in more and more homes, offices, and other spaces every day.
From time-shifted audio like podcasts to featuring key station content that can be easily accessed and shared, our vision is to use the power of spoken voice commands to enhance the radio experience.

Jacobs Media, our sister company, has been tracking ownership of “smart speakers” in Techsurvey 13 and found that 11% of homes have one. And they’ve found that listeners who love formats that range from Alternative to AC to Sports Talk are grabbing up these devices in nearly equal numbers, indicating their mass appeal. In fact, Gartner predicts that 75% of U.S. homes will have one by 2020, and 20% will have two.
What this means for your station is that you need to engage with your audience beyond their phone, tablet, and even their car. You need to follow them wherever they may be. This means offering them apps everywhere, or App Everywhere® as we like to say. Furthermore, you need to make it easier for them to access your content. And what better way than using their own voice? Matt Hartman suggests that voice provides the lowest friction between consumers and them getting what they want, which is what makes offering your listeners these “skills” for voice command devices so important.
Check out this video to learn more about what SonicAi is all about:

To learn even more, click here.
Reach out to us today to discuss your mobile strategy and how we can help grow your business. Give us a call at 248-353-9030 or email sales@jacapps.com.

Alexa Amazon Echo App Everywhere Connected Car Podcasting Radio Smart Home

3 Tech Trends That Will Impact Your Radio Station This Year

Post author By Vince Kattoula
Post date March 30, 2017
No Comments on 3 Tech Trends That Will Impact Your Radio Station This Year

By: Vince Kattoula

Radio has survived countless technological advancements over the years, from TV to iPods to streaming. But, perhaps the most dramatic changes, and most challenging, have yet to come. Below are some important technology trends that we think will influence your station this year.
Smart speakers. Radio’s presence in the home has been eroding since the appearance of the iPod. But new hope for radio has arrived in the form of “smart speakers,” particularly Amazon Echo. By now, you’ve probably heard about (or even used) “Alexa” and experienced all she can do. From setting the temperature on your smart thermostat to dimming the lights in your living room, there are a lot of cool things these speakers can do. For radio stations, however, their opportunity lies with Alexa’s ability to pull in the listener’s favorite station or podcast with a simple voice command. Radio’s at-home challenge – like so many of the others – starts with awareness, and then devising smart strategies to take advantage of this technology.
Podcasting. Podcasting, a once-obscure method of consuming audio, has become a leading medium for distributing audio content, whether for business or personal use. In 2016, 71% of podcasts were listened to on a mobile device. It’s no surprise that mobile is the dominant platform being used to stream podcasts, yet radio stations still haven’t embraced podcasting like they should. When combined, podcasting and radio can create exciting programming that brings together broadcasting’s skills at production, content creation and marketing in an exciting, unlimited new form.
Connected cars. The car dashboard is one of the greatest programming challenges for broadcasters today. It’s also one of the greatest opportunities. Radio still has a dominant presence within cars, but this does not mean things won’t change. More technology brings more choices, and there are a lot in connected cars. We can attribute much of this to the driver’s ability to bring in smartphone content as well as dashboard apps, like Pandora and Spotify, right to their screen. So, what does this mean for your station? Simple – your mobile app is the way in. Whether it’s the in-car system, CarPlay or Android Auto, your mobile app makes sure that when your listener is in the car, your brand stays top of mind.
Apps are the best way to engage consumers through their mobile phone since it allows a variety of content (and content types like audio, video, text, etc.) to go with them no matter where they are. We understand the potential of these technologies to redefine the way consumers inform and entertain themselves where they live and while on-the-go. That’s why we’ve been hard at work developing new “skills” for Amazon Echo and Google Home, adding to our App Everywhere^SM initiative.
Reach out to us today! Call 248-353-9030, or email sales@jacapps.com for a free consultation.