Sony Xperia Ear Xea10: voice assistants climbed into the ears

Sony decided that to communicate with the voice assistant the screen of the smartphone is not always needed, and they made a headset with which you can not only talk a little, but also communicate with gestures.
Personal assistants actively multiply and grow above themselves. Smartphone voice assistant can be an indispensable tool for any person who values ​​his time, taking on the role of a free secretary. Workflow organization, correspondence analysis, call processing, reference information search - an electronic assistant can perform all these functions on the go without distracting the host from other matters.

The most famous voice assistants are created by operating system manufacturers (Apple has Siri, MS has Cortana, and Google has Google now), which is logical, since electronic assistants are the OS's audio interfaces. However, a pure software voice interface is only half the electronic secretary; Smartphone still need to provide audio peripherals. By default, this is the speaker of the smartphone. The phone speaker normally works as an input device only when the smartphone is directly in front of the user, and now, as a result, many people do not understand at all why they need to say something, when they can poke a finger at the screen, and why they need this electronic assistant.

Sony's voice assistant does not threaten such a misunderstanding. The Xperia Ear Xea10 is a turnkey solution that is addressed to the user by the right side - a headset specially designed for use with a voice assistant. On the other hand, the software side, designed for platforms Android 4.4. and above, use Sony’s own voice engine. This approach allows you to provide an ideal combination of software and voice input devices, reducing the number of voice recognition errors and eliminating possible problems associated with the quality of a third-party headset.
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Headset

Xperia Ear Xea10 is a mono headset . This type of device is ideal for an electronic assistant, since one of the ears remains open to the outside world. The lack of opportunity (or desire) to use the display indicates that a person is busy with something, is not ready to stay one-on-one with a smartphone, and he most likely needs sound contact with others.



However, an open ear automatically means a terrible noise isolation and potential problems with sound intelligibility. Increasing the power of the built-in amplifier means increasing power consumption and increasing the size of the headset, which is at least very bad. Sony engineers have solved the problem by approaching the other side: the Xea10 uses a radiator with a balanced armature (“reinforcement”). Unlike loudspeakers, such emitters have much greater sensitivity, so that the use of reinforcement dynamics has made it possible to solve both the problem of loudness and power consumption.



The photos of Xea10 look pretty impressive, but this is the case when the appearance is deceptive, it is almost not felt in the ear. Not felt neither its shape nor weight. Being inserted into the ear, from the outside it looks like a flat silver-black surface with small LED indicators. The in-ear headphone is located on one side of the case, on the other headset it balances the silicone spring, which presses the in-channel emitter to your ear. For optimal comfortable wearing, the Xea10 comes with three alternative earphone pads and two additional springs of different sizes.



As with any decent mono headset, the Xea10 comes with a case. Very stylish, looks like a cigarette lighter, not the gasoline, not the "turbo". Concurrently, he works as a charging station for the headset, and at the same time a power bank, which can significantly increase the time of the headset. In a continuous working rhythm, the Xea10 is able to work for about 10 hours.

Xperia Ear app

The main feature of the voice assistant Xperia Ear is that it has its own (developed by Sony) speech recognition system. Thanks to the developed bundle from the headset and the program, it recognizes words better than the Google engine now. Also, the assistant has a slightly different interface (so to speak, the manner of communication), more accurate than the built-in Android assistant. Everything works fine, but for those who are accustomed to the Google engine now, Sony programmers have left the opportunity to turn on the usual speech recognition system.

About opportunities. The program Xperia Ear is able to do everything that is required from the electronic secretary:

• read news, messages, letters using Text-to-Speech technology;
  
  
• manage standard Android OS applications: create calendar events, set an alarm and timer, start the player and play music
  
  
• do search queries on Wikipedia;
  
  
• to work with a voice navigator, to plot a route and guide it with the help of tips like "turn right after 20 meters".
  

Verbal voice control is supplemented with more familiar non-verbal commands: a short press of a single button turns on the device, you can assign an action for a long time, and a nod or head-wrap confirms or cancels the command issued by the assistant. The confirmation system, if desired, can be disabled.

Also, the Xea10 headset understands whether it is inserted into the ear or not, and can accordingly automatically “pick up the phone” when it is close to the ear, and when leaving the workplace, immediately turn off to save energy.

Application

And now - about the main thing. Why do you need a voice interface? Basically, to save time, but in some cases to ensure the safety of the smartphone. Here are some examples of the practical use of the capabilities of the voice assistant.

The audio interface is indispensable in the cold. If I had a headset last winter with an assistant, my ASUS Zenfone Selfie would be alive. During the cold, I had to get the phone on the street, then go into the room with it, then pull it into the cold again ... as a result, the device came down in less than a day. And he would lie in the breast pocket of his shirt, separated from the frosty air by a sweater and down jacket, would still be alive.

Noticed that on the go think better? While walking or jogging, on the way to the store (our people don't go to the bakery by car!) The voice assistant will allow you to respond to letters and messages, draft documents, plan the day and adjust the calendar - this will save time and increase mental efficiency. . You can't do without a voice interface on the go: if you stare at the screen, you can either bump into something or please the car.

Continuation of the mobile theme. Fitness, physical education. How many times have you told yourself that you have no time? There is no more such excuse. Build a day so as to combine the occupation with the analysis of correspondence, preparation of answers, sending messages, planning and optimizing your time. The voice assistant will also help you plan your calendar. True, to perform all these actions with a voice assistant, you have to adapt.

Overall impression

Sony Xperia Ear Xea10 consists of an excellent mono headset optimized for voice assistant (excellent speaker, excellent microphone, IPX2 moisture protection, user-friendly design), Xperia Ear program with all modern features, and its own voice recognition engine, which is an excellent alternative to Google now. In sum, this is a great ready-made solution that meets all modern requirements. Also, the headset will appreciate users already accustomed to other voice assistants, and not only to Google now, but also to Siri, and Cortana.

However, the headset has some drawbacks. The time of continuous battery life could be more: in everyday mode it is enough, but on a long trip (or flight) battery life may not be enough. This minus is compensated by fast charging in 30-40 minutes.

Also, compatibility with earlier versions of Android up to 4.4 would not hurt: since the Sony Xperia Ear has its own voice engine, this application could settle on budget and not the youngest smartphones to the delight of many users.