Voice Activation/page/3 news and trends

Oura Buys Gesture Startup Doublepoint to Expand Smart Ring Controls
Partnerships // March 05, 2026

Oura Health is acquiring Finland-based startup Doublepoint Technologies as the smart ring maker moves to add gesture and voice interactions to future versions of its wearable devices, Bloomberg News reported Thursday (March 5). The deal brings gesture-recognition technology developed by Doublepoint into Oura’s product roadmap,...

LiveKit Raises $100 Million for Voice AI Developer Platform
Investments // January 22, 2026

LiveKit raised $100 million in a Series C funding round to accelerate the growth of its developer platform for building voice, video and physical artificial intelligence agents. The round values the company at $1 billion, LiveKit co-founder and CEO Russ d’Sa said in a Thursday...

Square Adds AI-Powered Insights and Voice Ordering for Local Businesses
SMBs // October 08, 2025

Artificial intelligence-powered insights, voice ordering, bitcoin payments and a mobile app for small businesses are among Square’s latest offerings for local businesses. Square announced these new products Wednesday (Oct. 8) during the company’s biannual Square Releases product launch event. New intelligence capabilities that have been...

Scientists Say AI Voices Now Match Humans
Artificial Intelligence // October 06, 2025

Until recently, the biggest concern for someone using a credit card abroad was that their bank might block the transaction as potential fraud. The fix was to call customer service and confirm the transaction by voice. The card would be unblocked. The process relied on...

Interviews & Exclusives
Siri’s Original Co-Designer Says Apple’s ‘Fear of Not Being Perfect’ Hampers Siri Revamp

March 07, 2025
In 2011, Apple debuted Siri, the world’s first digital assistant embedded in a smartphone. It was revolutionary in its functionality and technology. For the first time, users could talk to their smartphone, and Siri was built using machine learning, which was state of the art at the time, Luc Julia, a co-designer of the original […]

Voice Commerce Has a Long Way to Go in Retail

March 07, 2024
Despite advancements in voice commerce, the technology still faces challenges driving penetration in the retail sector. By the Numbers PYMNTS Intelligence’s study last April, “Tracking the Digital Payments Takeover: Catching...

Remember the Titan: Apple Sunsets Electric Vehicle Moonshot

February 28, 2024
It’s lights out for Apple’s dream of entering the electric vehicle (EV) marketplace. A Tuesday (Feb. 27) report reveals that the Cupertino, California, personal computer and smartphone pioneer is abandoning...

Amazon Puts Alexa in the Driver’s Seat, Walmart Revs Up Package Delivery

November 24, 2023
Amazon and Walmart are revving up their engines with initiatives set to hit consumers by the year’s end or the start of 2024. The projects go full throttle on transportation...

Quick Reads
Amazon’s Alexa+ Aims to Tackle Brazil’s Many Languages

June 18, 2026
Amazon says its Alexa+ voice assistant is now available to customers in Brazil. It’s part of an ongoing rollout of the upgraded Alexa that began earlier this year, and is scheduled to continue into 2027, Amazon announced Thursday (June 18). “Powered by generative AI, the new Alexa+ represents a meaningful leap forward from the original Alexa—it’s smarter, more conversational, […]

Oura Buys Gesture Startup Doublepoint to Expand Smart Ring Controls

March 05, 2026
Oura Health is acquiring Finland-based startup Doublepoint Technologies as the smart ring maker moves to add gesture and voice interactions to future versions of its wearable devices, Bloomberg News reported...

LiveKit Raises $100 Million for Voice AI Developer Platform

January 22, 2026
LiveKit raised $100 million in a Series C funding round to accelerate the growth of its developer platform for building voice, video and physical artificial intelligence agents. The round values...

Square Adds AI-Powered Insights and Voice Ordering for Local Businesses

October 08, 2025
Artificial intelligence-powered insights, voice ordering, bitcoin payments and a mobile app for small businesses are among Square’s latest offerings for local businesses. Square announced these new products Wednesday (Oct. 8)...