Qualcomm Development Kit Adds Amazon Alexa Voice Service to Accelerate Innovation for Affordable Smart Home Products

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM), announced today a new development kit based on the Qualcomm QCA4020 multimode SoC that is qualified by Amazon’s Alexa Voice Service (AVS) for AWS IoT Core connected devices. With consumer expectations centering on voice to interact with and control connected devices in the home, Qualcomm Technologies is creating practical solutions that are designed to deliver virtually seamless voice-driven consumer experiences. The kit can enable device manufacturers to easily evaluate, integrate, and test connectivity, voice control and interactivity with smart appliances, home automation configurations and lighting. The development kit adds to Qualcomm Technologies’ line up of voice enabling products including kits that can allow OEMs to easily integrate Alexa into smart speakers and hearables.

“With this development kit, device manufacturers can quickly develop useful voice-controlled smart home products that are designed to be interoperable across multiple technologies,” said Jeffery Torrance, vice president, business development, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “As a result, consumers can gain an unprecedented level of control over various devices in their smart homes at affordable price points. We are proud to work with Amazon to be the catalyst for this growth.”

“We’re thrilled Qualcomm Technologies is releasing a new voice-first solution that can streamline the development cycle for OEMs and make it even easier to bring new products to customers,” said Sanjay Voleti, Senior Manager, Alexa Voice Service. “The Qualcomm Home Hub 100 Platform is designed to simplify what’s required to integrate Alexa into a variety of everyday smart home devices like thermostats, light switches, appliances and more – we can’t wait to see what developers build.”

Allowing fast evaluation and prototyping, the Qualcomm® Home Hub 100 development kit with AVS offers several key advantages for manufacturers looking to develop IoT devices that integrate Alexa for device control:

• Integrated hardware and software platform designed to support multi-mode intelligent connectivity with the QCA4020 SoC featuring Dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth® Low Energy 5, and 802.15.4-based technologies, including ZigBee® and Thread
• Microcontroller (MCU) based solution is designed to support a Real-Time Operating System (RTOS)
• A reference command and control audio framework, and advanced coexistence combined with a pre-integrated DSP voice module by Synaptics featuring AudioSmart® CX20921 Smart Trigger technology.  
• Integrated hardware-based security features and functions integrated in a single IC to enhance device protection.

As a result, customers using the development kit will have the opportunity to quickly launch a range of Alexa built-in smart home devices, realizing the idea of a smart, affordable connected home for consumers.

“As a company with a long working relationship with Amazon and early developer of solutions for the Alexa Voice Service, we are pleased to work with Qualcomm Technologies in the launch of this new development kit that utilizes our two-mic AudioSmart solution,” said Saleel Awsare, senior vice president and general manager, IoT Division, Synaptics. “The rise of voice as one of the fastest growing human interfaces in Consumer IoT is very exciting, and we are proud to work closely with industry leaders to help simplify people’s lives.”

For more information and to be placed on our interest list for the development kit, please visit: https://www.qualcomm.com/products/qualcomm-home-hub-100-dev-kit-amazon-avs.

The development kit is manufactured by AQUILA. The North America ISV is TANTIV4. The Asia ISV is UTILE.

About Qualcomm
Qualcomm invents breakthrough technologies that transform how the world connects, computes and communicates.  When we connected the phone to the Internet, the mobile revolution was born.  Today, our inventions are the foundation for life-changing products, experiences, and industries.  As we lead the world to 5G, we envision this next big change in cellular technology spurring a new era of intelligent, connected devices and enabling new opportunities in connected cars, remote delivery of health care services, and the IoT - including smart cities, smart homes and wearables.  Qualcomm Incorporated includes our licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio.  Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of our engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of our products and services businesses, including, our QCT semiconductor business. For more information, visit Qualcomm’s website, OnQ blog, Twitter and Facebook pages.