What Happened
Watch out, Siri! There’s a new virtual assistant on the block and it goes by the name of Hound. After almost 9 months of private testing, SoundHound, a company mostly known for its tune recognition app, is taking Hound out of beta and making the voice-controlled virtual assistant app available on both iOS and Android devices. Similar to Alexa, Amazon Echo’s virtual assistant, Hound comes equipped with deep integrations with third-party services like Uber and Yelp, allowing users to hail a ride or search for well-reviewed restaurants nearby simply by uttering the requests.
Previously, the company also unveiled the voice service for any app Houndify. As one of the core elements of the Hound app, it allows developers to build apps that sync with the Hound app, and eventually integrate into other connected devices as well.
What Brands Need To Do
As voice-controlled services continue to diversify and proliferate, more and more consumers are starting to talk with their devices, heralding a future where voice-based conversational interfaces play a big role in human-computer interaction. And that is a future that brands need to start adapting to today. Besides seeking integration with Hound, brands interested in adding a voice to their customer communications should also consider using Houndify to bring conversational interfaces to their own platforms and devices.
For more information on how brands can develop authentic brand voices and navigate the new interface, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.
Source: VentureBeat
Header image courtesy of SoundHound