The Next Era of Entertainment

Today, we’re excited to take the next step in building the Smart Media Device (SMD) category, as a member of Amazon’s new Voice Interoperability Initiative. The Voice Interoperability Initiative focuses on enabling the seamless operation of multiple voice services on a single device, with support for multiple, simultaneous wake words.

The development of the initiative, and its commitment to voice integration and interoperability, is a testament to the growing importance and traction of the SMD category.

CLICK TO TWEET: CommScope's Charles Cheevers wants to introduce you to the next era of entertainment, thanks to Amazon’s new Voice Interoperability Initiative.

We’ve been shaping the future of entertainment for decades. Last year, we pioneered the SMD. It’s a gamechanger.

The best inventions leave you wondering why someone didn’t think of them sooner. When we introduced the SMD concept at last year’s IBC, it immediately struck a chord in the industry. We intuitively combined the most important gadgets in the connected home—set-top, smart speaker, visual smart assistant, IoT hub, voice & video conference center, and remote control—into a single device.

Since then, we’ve made inroads into its evolution, through our work as a certified Alexa Voice Service (AVS) Solution Provider, leveraging the AVS Device SDK to incorporate voice control into the next generation of entertainment devices. We joined forces with Altice France to deliver the first SMD to subscribers across the country: the SFR Box 8.

Together with Amazon and the other members of the Voice Interoperability Initiative, we look forward to leading the next era of this technology and to bringing people around the world a new level of personalization, connectivity, and convenience in their entertainment.