MUMBAI: e-Infrastructure and Entertainment India Pvt Ltd.(e-Digital), one of South India’s largest Multi System Operator (MSO) today announced the support for Amazon Alexa Voice Service on their existing set-top boxes (STB). MyBox Technologies, a leading R&D house backed by Hero Electronix, specializing in the research & development and manufacturing of set-top boxes has developed an Alexa kit for STBs and is empowering the digital cable tv customers of e-Digital with voice-control.
Existing customers of e-Digital can just plug in the MyBox Alexa Kit to their existing MyBox set- top-box to access Alexa on their STBs. Customers can purchase these kits from their local cable operator for Rs. 1999. The kit comprises of a push-to-talk Bluetooth remote and a USB hub integrated with Wi-Fi & Bluetooth dongle. Customers will have push-to-talk access to Alexa from the mic button on the remote. This will allow them to use voice as a mode of interaction with their STBs to change the channel and adjust volume.
Since the STB will now connect to Alexa, a cloud-based voice service, customers can check weather, answer questions, view recipes, listen to music from Amazon Prime Music, book cabs using Ola or Uber, order food from Zomato, and also control smart home appliances with simple voice commands. This voice-first experience will be complemented with visual display cards on the TV screen.
Somashekhar, Managing Director, e-Digital said, “We are excited about our Set top boxes being integrated with Amazon Alexa. This will open a new opportunity for our partners and also enhance the TV viewing experience of our customers multiple fold. We are happy to be associated with Mybox Technologies and thank them for choosing to partner with us for the launch”.
Amit Kharbanda, Managing Director, MyBox Technologies says: “We are entering a digital age where smart, connected and advanced home entertainment devices are being progressively adopted by the people. We at MyBox, are leading the smart entertainment convergence using new age technology. Adding support for Alexa in STBs is the first step towards technology convergence. We are delighted to launch this service for the customers of e-Digital, which will be the first MSO in India to launch Amazon Alexa in a STB”
“Our vision is for Alexa to be everywhere that customers want to interact with her. We simplify building voice-forward devices with Alexa built-in by providing hardware manufacturers with the support of Alexa Voice Service (AVS) APIs, hardware kits, software tools, and documentation,”
said Manohar Hotchandani, Country Manager for Alexa Voice Services, Amazon India. “The MyBox Alexa Kit will bring the most popular Alexa capabilities and access to over 20,000 skills to their existing STBs. We hope that customers will enjoy the ease of using voice commands for accessing information and getting things done with Alexa”.
