MOSCOW and AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, May 29, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Yandex (NASDAQ:YNDX), a technology company that builds intelligent products and services powered by machine learning, has unveiled Yandex.Station, the first smart speaker designed for the Russian market and Yandex’s first hardware product.
Yandex.Station is equipped with Yandex’s Russian-speaking intelligent assistant, Alice, which helps millions of users navigate their daily routines with tens of millions of daily interactions. Alice has been available on mobile since launch in October 2017 and is soon arriving in the car with Yandex’s connected car platform.
“With the introduction of Yandex.Station, we are excited to bring our intelligent assistant from mobile devices into the Russian home,” says Konstantin Kruglov, Director of Experimental Products at Yandex. “Our high-quality smart speaker offers Russian users the benefits of a highly localized intelligent assistant, unique options for audio and video streaming, and superior sound quality.”
Alice is built with advanced conversational skills and an understanding of context giving it an ability to both chat with users and to manage a range of tasks such as checking the weather or traffic conditions or finding a restaurant through Yandex services. Combined with the recent public release of Yandex.Dialogues, a skills platform for third-party developers, Alice provides even more assistance with over 4,000 skills available at launch, with services ranging from ordering pizza from Papa John’s, to exercising with Reebok, or finding flights with S7 Airlines. These skills can incorporate both chatbots and live human customer service operators to provide the best possible user experience.
Yandex.Station provides a complete in-home multimedia entertainment experience. As the first smart speaker with both audio and video capabilities, it not only plays music but also streams films, videos and television through its HDMI port to any connected display. Currently, Yandex.Station has access to Yandex's video streaming service KinoPoisk, as well as a wide range of other content including premium local video service providers ivi and Amediateka.
Developed by Yandex engineers, Yandex.Station features a proprietary array of seven microphones, which enable the device to accurately hear voice commands from anywhere in the room. Yandex.Station delivers advanced sound quality that exceeds the quality offered by most other audio systems in its class, and has a removable speaker grill for enjoying the sound in its purest form.
Yandex.Station features five acoustic components: two 20mm 10W tweeter drivers, one 85mm 30W woofer driver, two 95mm passive radiators. It is Bluetooth-compatible and measures 14х14х23cm. Total system power: 50W. Frequency range: 50-20,000Hz. Signal-to-noise ratio: 96dB.
Yandex.Station will cost 9,990 roubles ($160) and will be available this summer. With the purchase of Yandex.Station, consumers will receive a one-year complimentary subscription to Yandex.Plus. Yandex.Plus is a bundled subscription offering combining multiple Yandex services, including a full subscription to Yandex.Music, advertising-free video streaming on KinoPoisk, in addition to discounts on Yandex.Taxi and Yandex.Drive, and many others.
Yandex (NASDAQ:YNDX) is a technology company that builds intelligent products and services powered by machine learning. Our goal is to help consumers and businesses better navigate the online and offline world. Since 1997, we have delivered world-class, locally relevant search and information services. Additionally, we have developed leading on-demand transportation services, navigation products, and other mobile applications for millions of consumers across the globe. Yandex, which has 19 offices worldwide, has been listed on the NASDAQ since 2011.
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