Amazon is investing in Invoxia, a French tech company which is also the creator of Triby, to give a boost to its cloud-based voice-activated assistant Alexa's skill.
Alexa was first introduced by Amazon on Echo - a Bluetooth speaker which is voice controlled. Echo is capable of streaming music services, it can also answer queries pertaining to traffic or give weather updates thanks to Alexa.
On Friday, Oct. 16, Amazon made the announcement of its next fund recipient. Invoxia divulged that it had received investment from the Amazon Alexa Fund which provides up to $100 million in funding to support the growth of innovative voice technology from start-ups, manufacturers and developers. However, neither Amazon nor Invoxia have disclosed how much money the former will be pumping into the latter.
The funds will aid Invoxia in integrating Alexa's features into impending variants of Triby, the French company's first-ever product, which will go on sale in October.
Triby is priced at $199 and can be attached to a refrigerator via a magnet. Alternately, the device can sit by itself. For those wondering what Triby is capable of - it can stream music from online services such as Spotify, receive or make phone calls, send notes which are displayed by the device etc.
With Alexa's capabilities on board, Triby will be able assist customers better. Alexa is similar to Siri and Cortana and lets people issue voice commands and control devices. Alexa will be added to the product via a software update later in 2015.
"We're excited to work with Amazon and the Alexa Fund Director to integrate Alexa into our Triby device. Triby is equipped with invoxia's In Vivo Acoustic® technology allowing it to capture voice from a distance and interact with Alexa hands-free, without pushing a button. By adding Alexa to Triby, our customers will be able to use their voice to make calls, access news, weather and other information, and control their smart home," noted Sébastien de la Bastie, Invoxia's Managing Director. "
Invoxia will be only the second European company and eleventh firm worldwide to benefit from the Alexa Fund.
