Onkyo have been pretty busy in the realm of home connectivity, streaming and voice control and have announced Smart Speaker P3 (VC-PX30), a “lifestyle concierge speaker” with Amazon Alexa Voice Service designed to “express voice and music with immersive hifi sound” while providing information, entertainment, and the ability to control selected smart devices by voice.

Smart Speaker P3 is also among the first smart speakers to add support for DTS Play-Fi technology via the free companion Onkyo Music Control App for iPad, iPhone, and Android phones/tablets. DTS Play-Fi allows high-quality music transmission from connected services such as Amazon Music, TIDAL, Deezer, and TuneIn, as well as connected media servers and the mobile device library, to any number of compatible products.

Smart Speaker P3 is designed by Onkyo engineers and features dual full-range drivers, dual passive bass radiators, and DSP switching amplification. An auxiliary input is included to enable media player, phone, and tablet connection to expand available sources of entertainment. A line output can add voice-controlled audio to the living space via a simple wired connection.

Price £tbc (available in October)

Onkyo and Pioneer have also announced that Onkyo and Pioneer DTS Play-Fi-enabled products, including AVRs, sound bars, and speakers, will soon support the Amazon Alexa Connected Speaker APIs, This will allow voice-enabled selection of music and control via an Alexa-enabled device, including the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show, Amazon Tap, Amazon Fire TV or any of the two new DTS Play-Fi wireless speakers featuring far-field Alexa Voice Service – such as the Onkyo Smart Speaker P3 and Pioneer Elite Smart Speaker F4. DTS Play-Fi technology allows one or more devices to be linked together for multi-room music playback of Alexa streaming content and interacts with other Alexa-enabled products to provide full group control of music playback.

Onkyo and Pioneer will roll out Alexa control through the Connected Speaker APIs to hundreds of current and new DTS Play-Fi-enabled products through firmware updates beginning in Q1 2018.

“With DTS Play-Fi’s support of Alexa and the Connected Speaker APIs, consumers will be able to control a whole-home audio system built from the brands they crave and control it with the voice service they love,” said Dannie Lau, general manager of the DTS Play-Fi division at Xperi. “DTS Play-Fi technology provides consumers unprecedented choice in products ranging from AVRs to lifestyle systems to portable speakers and everything in between from the some of most prestigious brands in the Audio industry like Onkyo and Pioneer.”

“By integrating the Connected Speaker APIs and DTS Play-Fi, we are bringing Alexa control into hundreds of Onkyo and Pioneer DTS Play-Fi products,” said Nobuaki Okuda, director and CTO, Onkyo Corporation and president, Onkyo and Pioneer Technology Corporation. “Our customers will enjoy the benefits of the world’s largest voice control ecosystem connecting with the broadest, most comprehensive multi-room streaming technology available to deliver a seamless smart home experience.”

Earlier this month, Onkyo and Pioneer began releasing firmware updates on several products to add support for DTS Play-Fi multi-room audio technology with additional product updates in slated for distribution throughout Q3 and Q4 of 2017. More than 200 current and new Onkyo and Pioneer products will launch with DTS Play-Fi support via a software update.