Amazon to take on Apple AirPods with Alexa-powered wireless earbuds

The wireless earbuds market is growing fast, thanks to Apple’s highly popular AirPods. The company recently launched the second generation of the truly wireless earbuds, followed by Apple-owned Beats that launched Powerbeats Pro wireless earbuds. Amazon is planning to eat a piece of the AirPods market with its upcoming truly wireless earbuds.

According to Bloomberg, Amazon is working on a pair of wireless earbuds that would have the in-built support of its smart assistant Alexa. This would be the first wearable device by the Seattle-based technology giant that could be launched during the second half of 2019. The report states that Alexa-powered earbuds would look similar to the AirPods that would fit inside the ears properly and would apparently provide much better audio output. Sources of Bloomberg reported under anonymity that the earbuds would be marked as one of the most important projects at Amazon’s Lab126 hardware division.

The new AirPods come with ‘Hey Siri’ that syncs perfectly with the iPhone and perform certain tasks like calling, adjusting volume, setting up reminders, etc. With the help of Alexa, Amazon’s answer to AirPods second gen could possibly offer a lot more than performing limited tasks. One of the new features that Amazon aims to promote with the use of Alexa in the wireless earbuds is ordering products with the use of the customer’s voice. This feature would fall perfectly with the e-commerce giant’s model that is also available on the Echo devices.

The Amazon earbuds, like AirPods, would come with a charging case that can be charged via a micro USB cable. The device will also be available in two colour options — Black and White.

The company, however, has been facing delays in its development process, as per the report. Amazon is getting in touch with manufacturers and suppliers in recent months according to one of the sources.

Apple AirPods have had tremendous sales accounting nearly 60 per cent market share of the wireless earbuds. The product garnered seven per cent of Apple’s total revenue in the last fiscal year. Looking at the growing popularity, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Buds with Bixby to compete with Apple. Even Senheisser released Momentum True Wireless Earbuds, but it lacks the presence of any smart assistant.