Russian search engine Yandex has introduced a smart speaker, marking the company’s initial entry into hardware products.
The new smart speaker, named Yandex Station, is developed to rival other popular models like Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomePod.
Unlike its competitors, Yandex Station is specifically tailored to suit the Russian market.
Yandex Station communicates in Russian and features a voice assistant named Alice, which was previously integrated into Yandex’s mobile app last October.
This smart speaker can perform a variety of tasks such as fetching information, ordering food, streaming media, and other functionalities expected from a smart assistant in 2018. It boasts over 4,000 skills.
Konstantin Kruglov, Director of Experimental Products at Yandex, stated in the official announcement:
“With the introduction of Yandex Station, we are thrilled to bring our intelligent assistant from mobile devices into the Russian home. Our high-quality smart speaker provides Russian users the advantages of a highly localized intelligent assistant, unique audio and video streaming options, and superior sound quality.”
In terms of hardware, Yandex Station stands out with an HDMI port, seven microphones, two 10W drivers, and a 30W woofer. However, it is limited to streaming media from Russian video services like KinoPoisk and Amediateka.
When it launches this summer, Yandex Station will probably be available only in Russia. It is priced at approximately $160 USD, which also includes a premium subscription to Yandex’s music, streaming, and taxi services.
