6 NEWSFEED Updates & Upgrades
BREAKING NEWS FROM THE STREAMING SECTOR
OK Beeb
BRITS SET FOR BEEB
BBC’s in-house voice assistant, ‘Beeb,’ has recently been released in beta, which means Windows Insiders in the UK will be testing the software on Windows 10. The BBC has claimed that Beeb is “the first public service voice assistant”. The synthesised digital voice for Beeb is based on a UK voice actor with a northern English accent. When a user downloads the beta version of Beeb, they will be asked what accent they have, so their voice can also be used to train the assistant. It has been designed to be representative of the UK’s range of accents, as well as being male-sounding to avoid gender stereotypes that surround female-sounding voice assistants. The BBC first announced plans for Beeb last year, making clear its intentions
were less about creating dedicated hardware similar to Amazon’s Echo, and more about combining voice services into its own products – including its own website and iPlayer. According to an article in The Guardian, Beeb is an attempt from the BBC to regain some control over user experience and user data, rather than allowing large firms like Amazon and Google to monopolise the voice assistant market. The article also said the BBC has a fear of being left behind as viewing and listening habits change over time. In the past, the BBC has been reluctant to provide all its content over third-party platforms, such as Google Podcasts and TuneIn. In terms of privacy, BBC News reports that Beeb won’t retain any voice
recordings, only anonymous transcripts. Initially, Beeb will be able to play specific radio stations, podcasts and programmes from the BBC, including news and weather updates. There’s also comedy content included – you can ask Beeb for jokes or facts read by QI presenter, Sandi Toksvig. However, there’s no support for other common voice assistant features, such as timers. "Ultimately, we envision that Beeb will be available across a wide range of devices, including smart speakers, mobiles, televisions and many others," a representative said. "This is still a very early version, which means that not everything will be working perfectly from day one, and the future Beeb assistant will be able to do a lot more."
feedzinesocial feedmagazine.tv
Powered by FlippingBook