No, not "voice" in a telephony sense, but rather voice-actuated remote controls.
Among the news items coming out around CES 2018 in Las Vegas were a number of releases related to voice-controlled remotes, both for video and smart home applications. For example, DISH (NASDAQ:DISH) is planning to integrate voice control of some of its set-top boxes with Google Assistant, and TiVo (NASDAQ:TIVO) is deploying a voice remote from Universal Electronics (NASDAQ:UEIC).
Voice control isn't entirely new - Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) has offered it for a couple of years now - but it's gaining momentum, particularly since the advent of voice-activated digital assistants such as Amazon Alexa. In December, Parks Associates released data indicating that more than 50% of U.S. broadband households surveyed find voice control appealing for entertainment and smart home devices, and that voice control for all devices, including TVs, security systems and appliances, scores well among consumers when testing use cases.
At least in part, the growth of voice control is being driven by a larger need to improve video content discovery. Somewhat paradoxically, although there's now more content available than ever before, consumers are having trouble finding something to watch because they can't sift through it all. Voice control can help: It's a lot easier to simply tell the remote, "Find me 'Real Housewives of Space Aliens Driving Fast Cars in Alaska,'" than it is to scroll through dozens if not hundreds of guide pages.
And voice control seems to be resonating with consumers. A TiVo survey that came out in September indicated that 60% of global respondents with a voice remote use it frequently or every day, and the company believes that voice control will become the norm. Other vendors appear to agree: For example, recent products from MobiTV, Espial (TSX:ESP), AirTies and Alticast all support voice control.
It's probably too soon to say, "the people have spoken," but that is where the trend line points.
