Onkyo Previews Super Smart Speaker

Onkyo previewed an Alexa voice-enabled wireless smart speaker at CES last week, marking its foray into the super-hot product category Amazon created with its line of Echo smart speakers.

In addition to supporting Amazon’s cloud-based Alexa voice service and streaming over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the VC-FLX1 is described as a full-range speaker with a built-in web camera for “monitoring the surrounding area” and sensors that keep tabs on motion, temperature and humidity.

The idea behind the sensors is that you would be notified via a smartphone app if an unusual condition—such as extreme heat (caused by fire) or humidity (a burst pipe) is detected.

Speaker and smart-home functions can be controlled by voice and the speaker will support a variety of streaming music services and Internet radio, according to Onkyo.

Pricing and availability were not announced.

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