Following the launch of six new voice-controlled remotes with leading Pay-TV operators across Europe in the past six months, Universal Electronics Inc. (NASDAQ: UEIC)(UEI), a worldwide leader in universal control and sensing technologies, continues to lead the industry in delivering the control platforms that are changing the way consumers interact with their entertainment worldwide.
According to market data, today’s global TV audience spends an average of 4.4 hours per day watching TV and nearly 28 minutes per day searching for content. Voice navigation and control, introduced in 2015, has brought a new dimension to the TV watching experience. In a matter of a few years, voice technology has evolved from an add-on feature to becoming an essential tool consumers rely on in their daily lives for accessing entertainment, information, and services.
UEI’s advancements in contextual voice navigation have quickly become a disruptive force changing how consumers interact with their devices and TV content. Today the company has deployed one of the most experienced and knowledgeable development teams in the industry to deliver highly dependable voice interactions with home entertainment devices. Since 2015, UEI has delivered more than 60 million voice-enabled remote control solutions to the entertainment industry.
Through consumer-focused research and development, UEI has continually uncovered and delivered meaningful innovations that simplify daily experiences within the connected smart home. UEI has diligently expanded optimized voice remote offerings with state-of-the-art microprocessors, tightly coupled with software and acoustic design, to enhance the accuracy of daily voice interactions.
Packaged with UEI’s world-leading QuickSet® technology, advanced voice-enabled entertainment platforms offer consumers an unparalleled entertainment experience bringing TV, set-top, and content control into a single user interface.
Today, UEI engineers are actively working on next-generation voice platforms for operators worldwide, including Android TV platforms, which represent the fastest growing Pay-TV platform, over the next five years. As more operators launch their advanced services platforms and usher in new standards in the industry over the next twelve months, UEI expects to expand its leadership in voice control and will continue to bring new innovations to market.
“By 2023, it is estimated that there will be over 1 billion Pay-TV subscribers globally with a sizeable segment actively using voice as their natural user input. Voice control technology has the power to make the average consumer’s home viewing experience more intuitive and more enjoyable, and its adoption will boost subscriber satisfaction,” said Kuldip Singh Johal, Vice President Sales - Subscription Broadcasting in EMEA for UEI.
“As with any technology, it is important that the end user experience is a positive one. It leads to frequent use of the service. We work with our partners to ensure that our products provide the right level of performance and reliability for voice control. Our efforts have been recognized within the entertainment industry as we were recently awarded a Technology Emmy® for our work relating to voice navigation technologies for discovering and interacting with TV content. UEI was selected for its excellence in engineering and creativity that has materially affected the television viewing experience,” added Johal.
The future for voice control promises to be bright. For example, voice biometrics can be employed to authenticate users in the home, offering personalized content recommendations and secure services ranging from banking to online shopping to food ordering. Today, 2.7 million UK households use a voice-activated smart speaker while 22% of UK consumers use a virtual assistant on their smartphone. This number is set to increase as more products and services enter the market, and the race for convergence intensifies with manufacturers exploring new ways to help users easily configure smart devices and create an integrated smart home experience.
