The Pitched Battle Over Smart Home Audio Performance: A New Tech Arms Race Erupts

It's Wednesday, October 18th, and it looks like we're coming up on a new tech arms race as it were. And it's not cellphones, self-driving cars, VR headsets, or any of that trivial stuff. No, it's the pitched battle between tech heavyweights over who can make the best sounding smart home audio system. Sounds are being amplified by everyone from Apple's HomePod to Google Home and Mac's Boombox.

One major player in this race is now known for making connected home audio systems for years. This company has teamed up with Amazon to add Alexa to their Sonos One wireless speaker and HomePod, not unexpectedly it sounds great and the process of setup in integration was made super simple by anyone can appreciate that and hey even the price of the winner is just 200 bucks sounds good to us check out the full review of the Sonos one at wink.

Speaking of things Alexa related, Amazon says the killer app on the horizon for Alexa is hands-free video calling. We've gotten a taste of it with the new Amazon Alexa Show device, which is a smart home hub with a video screen and camera for making just such a call. It's like we're living in the future or something but that's just what an Amazon VP said at a recent Alexa accelerator event according to CNBC he said the ability to make calls and especially video calls hands-free could be the next big thing and even changed the way we use cell phones at least at home for now.

His vision included making and taking calls video or otherwise using just our voice with a little help from Alexa. Sure, some of us do this already with Siri and other AI helpers but Amazon thinks that with the sudden and widespread adoption of smart home devices especially there's of course making calls like the Jetsons will eventually be the way we talk to everyone.

We'll see when most of us think of cars made by Volvo sleek machines with big horsepower usually don't come to mind while this new Volvo may change that it's the new Volvo Polestar one and it's packing some serious style tech and power. Pole star is Volvo's performance partner and together they've stuffed both a high-performance gas engine and an electric motor into the sleek sedan for a total of 600 horsepower and over 700 foot-pounds of torque not exactly your mom's 240 DL right.

But what's all that power worth if you're just creeping along in rush-hour traffic trying to get to soccer practice Volvo gets it and the Polestar one can also go over 90 miles on electricity alone with the two rear rail electric motors putting out over 200 horsepower which is more than enough juice for freeway speeds and enough range for your daily commute then just plug it in at home gasps hey sounds pretty optional to us.

Damn it looks great too bad they're only going to make 500 of them. But that's not all because all future Polestar Volvo cars are going to be all-electric as the company looks to go head-to-head with Tesla and pretty much every other automaker as the electric car era begins in earnest well done Volvo.

For more details on the hot rod Volvo and today's tech news at Digital Trends calm check out our facebook page, youtube channel, and listen to our podcasts on iTunes or wherever you get yours.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enit's Wednesday October 18th and it looks like we're coming up on a new tech arms race as it were and it's not cellphones self-driving cars VR headsets or any of that trivial stuff no it's the pitched battle between tech heavyweights over who can make the best sounding smart home of forget AI in the Mars settlement okay seems like everyone is amping up the audio performance of their home ups from Apple's home pod to the Google home Mac's boombox and one major player now in the race so knows the company that's been making connected home audio systems for years now they've teamed with Amazon to add Alexa to the Sonos one wireless speaker and home up and not unexpectedly it sounds great and along the way Sonos took the time to make setup in integration super simple anyone can appreciate that and hey even the prices of winner just 200 bucks sounds good to us check out the full review of the Sonos one at the wink speaking of things alexa related amazon says the killer app on the horizon for alexa is hands-free video calling we've gotten a taste of it with the new Amazon Alexa show device which is a smart home hub with a video screen and camera for making just such a call I mean it's like we're living in the future or something but that's just what an Amazon VP said at a recent alexa accelerator event according to CNBC he said the ability to make calls and especially video calls hands-free could be the next big thing and even changed the way we use cell phones at least at home for now his vision included making and taking calls video or otherwise using just our voice with a little help from Alexa sure some of us do this already with Siri and other AI helpers but Amazon thinks that with the sudden and widespread adoption of smart home UPS especially there's of course making calls like the Jetsons will eventually be the way we talk to everyone we'll see when most of us think of cars made by Volvo sleek machines with big horsepower usually don't come to mind while this new Volvo may change that it's the new Volvo Polestar one and it's packing some serious style tech and power pole star is Volvo's performance partner and together they've stuffed both a high-performance gas engine and a of electric motors into the sleek sedan for a total of 600 horsepower and over 700 foot-pounds of torque not exactly your mom's 240 DL right but what's all that power worth if you're just creeping along in rush-hour traffic trying to get to soccer practice Volvo gets it and the Polestar one can also go over 90 miles on electricity alone with the two rear rail electric motors putting out over 200 horsepower which is more than enough juice for freeway speeds and enough range for your daily commute then just plug it in at home gasps hey sounds pretty optional to us and damn it looks great too bad they're only going to make 500 of them and by the way it's also the last of its kind as all future Polestar Volvo cars are going to be all-electric as the company looks to go head to head with Tesla and pretty much every other automaker as the electric car era begins in earnest well done Volvo and hey get the rest of the details on the hot rod Volvo and the rest of today's tech news at digital trends calm and be sure to check out our facebook page and youtube channel and all of our podcasts on iTunes or wherever you get yours thanks for watching we'll see you tomorrowit's Wednesday October 18th and it looks like we're coming up on a new tech arms race as it were and it's not cellphones self-driving cars VR headsets or any of that trivial stuff no it's the pitched battle between tech heavyweights over who can make the best sounding smart home of forget AI in the Mars settlement okay seems like everyone is amping up the audio performance of their home ups from Apple's home pod to the Google home Mac's boombox and one major player now in the race so knows the company that's been making connected home audio systems for years now they've teamed with Amazon to add Alexa to the Sonos one wireless speaker and home up and not unexpectedly it sounds great and along the way Sonos took the time to make setup in integration super simple anyone can appreciate that and hey even the prices of winner just 200 bucks sounds good to us check out the full review of the Sonos one at the wink speaking of things alexa related amazon says the killer app on the horizon for alexa is hands-free video calling we've gotten a taste of it with the new Amazon Alexa show device which is a smart home hub with a video screen and camera for making just such a call I mean it's like we're living in the future or something but that's just what an Amazon VP said at a recent alexa accelerator event according to CNBC he said the ability to make calls and especially video calls hands-free could be the next big thing and even changed the way we use cell phones at least at home for now his vision included making and taking calls video or otherwise using just our voice with a little help from Alexa sure some of us do this already with Siri and other AI helpers but Amazon thinks that with the sudden and widespread adoption of smart home UPS especially there's of course making calls like the Jetsons will eventually be the way we talk to everyone we'll see when most of us think of cars made by Volvo sleek machines with big horsepower usually don't come to mind while this new Volvo may change that it's the new Volvo Polestar one and it's packing some serious style tech and power pole star is Volvo's performance partner and together they've stuffed both a high-performance gas engine and a of electric motors into the sleek sedan for a total of 600 horsepower and over 700 foot-pounds of torque not exactly your mom's 240 DL right but what's all that power worth if you're just creeping along in rush-hour traffic trying to get to soccer practice Volvo gets it and the Polestar one can also go over 90 miles on electricity alone with the two rear rail electric motors putting out over 200 horsepower which is more than enough juice for freeway speeds and enough range for your daily commute then just plug it in at home gasps hey sounds pretty optional to us and damn it looks great too bad they're only going to make 500 of them and by the way it's also the last of its kind as all future Polestar Volvo cars are going to be all-electric as the company looks to go head to head with Tesla and pretty much every other automaker as the electric car era begins in earnest well done Volvo and hey get the rest of the details on the hot rod Volvo and the rest of today's tech news at digital trends calm and be sure to check out our facebook page and youtube channel and all of our podcasts on iTunes or wherever you get yours thanks for watching we'll see you tomorrow\n"