Next Xiaomi AI smart speaker to support Microsoft Cortana

Xiaomi has unveiled the Yeelight voice assistant smart speaker called Yeelight Voice Assistant. This speaker looks like an Amazon Echo Dot clone with a similar design.

The major highlight of this smart speaker priced at 199 yuan (approx. Rs. 1,950) is that it will sport two virtual assistants - one is the Amazon Alexa for the users in the western markets and the other is a virtual assistant based on Xiaomi's artificial intelligence technology that is meant for use within China. With the dual AI support, the Yeelight Voice Assistant can tap into the global market.

While Xiaomi and Yeelight have not elaborated on the voice assistant that will be used within China, there are speculations that it could be the Microsoft Cortana. For those who don't remember, Microsoft and Xiaomi struck a deal in May 2016 in order to pre-install the former's apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Skype and Outlook to Xiaomi devices. In return, Microsoft had sold 1,500 patents to Xiaomi.

All this is kept in place by the Microsoft Azure platform that handles the cloud aspects of the Microsoft apps and Xiaomi's Mi Cloud as well. Cortana is a major component of the Azure platform, so creating AI technology that is powered by Cortana is possible. And, the new voice assistant speaker from Xiaomi is speculated to use Cortana.

However, we need to mention that Xiaomi and Yeelight have not officially announced the support for Cortana on the Yeelight Voice Assistant smart speaker. If the smart speaker is powered by Cortana, then it will be one of the three standalone speakers that support the Microsoft assistant including the Harman Kardon Invoke speaker and the upcoming standalone Cortana-powered speaker to be launched by HP.

Having said that, the Yeelight Voice Assistant will be released in China on January 31 and we can expect more details to surface online before its commercial availability. Soon after its release, Xiaomi is tipped to launch a tower-shaped Mi AI speaker that was launched earlier this year.

Via: Digital Trends