TCL — the Chinese manufacturer that now sells BlackBerry-branded devices — has unveiled the new TCL Roku Smart Soundbar as part of its Alto line of audio products.
The new Roku smart soundbar will compete with the likes of the Google Home and Amazon’s Echo lineup of smart speakers. Those who use the Roku smart soundbar will have to say aloud the alert phrase “Hey Roku” to wake the Roku Entertainment Assistant, and then follow up with a command to control Roku’s set-top boxes, streaming sticks and Roku TVs.
Users will be able to ask their TVs to play or pause programming or music, set a sleep time, play a particular app or channel and more. The smart soundbar will even be able to perform these actions when the TV is turned off.
The company has mentioned that the images of the smart speaker are not final and that its appearance may change before the product ships.
According to a variety of sources, the smart speaker will start to ship in the U.S. in late 2018. We’ve contacted TCL for any Canadian information it may have.
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