Amazon Alexa Voice Service Coming Soon To DTS Play-Fi® Whole-Home Wireless Audio Ecosystem

Collaboration with Amazon Expands DTS Play-Fi® Functionality; Firmware Updates to Begin Roll Out in Early 2017

CALABASAS, Calif., Sept. 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- DTS, Inc. DTSI, a global leader in high-definition audio solutions, is working with Amazon to bring the Alexa service to the DTS Play-Fi^® whole-home wireless ecosystem. Beginning in early 2017, listeners will be able to use an Alexa-enabled device, including the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Amazon Tap and Amazon Fire TV, to play and control music on one or more DTS Play-Fi-enabled speakers in the home, regardless of brand.

Additionally, DTS is working with Play-Fi partners to bring far-field Alexa capabilities to DTS Play-Fi speakers through the Alexa Voice Service (AVS). These new devices include a set of far-field microphones built seamlessly into the DTS Play-Fi speaker system, enabling customers to use the Alexa voice service and advanced far-field microphone technology to control a variety of devices in their home with just their voice. Just like with the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot, advance signal processing techniques reliably capture spoken commands in noisy environments, even when the speaker is playing music, from across the room. New far-field microphone-equipped DTS Play-Fi products featuring the built-in Alexa experience will launch from select partners in 2017.

The DTS Play-Fi ecosystem features the largest collection of products in the whole-home wireless space, with more than 30 interoperable speakers, soundbars and receivers from the top names in premium audio, including Aerix, Anthem, Arcam, Definitive Technology, Integra, Klipsch, Martin-Logan, McIntosh, Onkyo, Paradigm, Phorus, Pioneer, Polk, Rotel, Sonus Faber and Wren Sound Systems. New products and firmware updates enabling the Alexa service will roll out to DTS Play-Fi products starting in Q1 2017.

DTS Play-Fi technology enables lossless multi-room wireless audio streaming from the world's most popular music services including Amazon Prime Music, Deezer, iHeartRadio, KKBox, Napster, Qobuz, QQ Music, Pandora, SiriusXM, Spotify and Tidal, thousands of Internet radio stations, as well as personal music libraries on any supported product.

"Alexa has delighted customers with its ease-of-use, depth of skills, and broad support of connected consumer devices," said Dannie Lau, Play-Fi division general manager, DTS, Inc. "Adding the Alexa service to the Play-Fi ecosystem delivers a new level of functionality and convenience for DTS Play-Fi users. This collaboration further demonstrates our continual commitment to delivering next-level entertainment experiences with DTS Play-Fi technology."

"We're excited to bring Alexa to DTS Play-Fi customers next year," said Steve Rabuchin, vice president, Amazon Alexa. "Music is one of the most popular features on Alexa-enabled devices, so it's very important that we're able to offer multiple high-quality home audio choices for our Alexa customers. Working with DTS Play-Fi technology to expand Alexa-enabled home audio is doing just that—plus it's being done in a unique, delightful way through a combination of far-field hardware and Alexa software. We're thrilled to work with DTS Play-Fi technology to bring these products to customers in 2017."

DTS Play-Fi technology provides listeners the freedom and flexibility to stream their music wirelessly in high-quality lossless audio from smartphones, tablets, laptops or desktop PCs over an existing home Wi-Fi network to any number of speakers throughout the home. The DTS Play-Fi platform allows products from different brands and manufacturers to interoperate seamlessly, giving listeners an optimized whole-home streaming experience without the constraints of a single brand system.

Benefits of DTS Play-Fi Technology

Multi-Room, Multi-Zone, Multi-User Listening Experience: Connect multiple audio systems that incorporate Play-Fi technology into a zone and enjoy music in every room of your home, perfectly synchronized with no lag. Or create multiple zones and stream different music to different rooms from the same device. Play-Fi technology makes it possible for every user in the home to simultaneously stream from different devices and PCs that incorporate the Play-Fi software.
Exceptional Sound Experience: Play-Fi technology wirelessly transmits high-quality lossless audio.
Whole-Home Range: Play-Fi technology works everywhere your Wi-Fi does, even if range extenders are used. It also works over Ethernet, Powerline, and other IP-based networking technologies. There is no need for proprietary bridges or routers. Most homes already have everything that is needed.
Stream Anything. Control Everything: In addition to streaming music services, users can download Play-Fi apps for Android, iOS, and Kindle Fire to gain access to more than 20,000 radio stations, podcasts, local music, media servers, and select cloud-based music services. Set-up, link and control all of the speakers on the network from the same streamlined interfaces.
Audio/Video Synchronization with Windows PCs: DTS Play-Fi technology supports true audio/visual synchronization when streaming audio from YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Video, or any other video source to a DTS Play-Fi speaker from a Microsoft Windows PC. DTS Play-Fi technology is the only multi-room streaming platform to offer lip-sync accurate synchronization with a video source, and the only whole-home platform with operating system-level integration compatible with every application and streaming service. The A/V sync feature is available for existing and new purchasers of the premium DTS Play-Fi HD Driver ($14.95). Additionally, all DTS Play-Fi Windows software supports Windows 10.
Wireless Rear Surround: DTS Play-Fi technology continues to revolutionize the industry with the introduction of wireless surround technology to provide an immersive home theater environment with discrete 5.1 surround sound, which will begin rollout in Q4 2016.

For more information about DTS, please visit www.dts.com, or connect with DTS on Facebook, Twitter (@DTS) and Instagram (@DTS).

About DTS, Inc.
Since 1993, DTS, Inc. DTSI has been dedicated to making the world sound better. Through its pioneering audio solutions for mobile devices, home theater systems, cinema, automotive and beyond, DTS provides incredibly high-quality, immersive and engaging audio experiences to listeners everywhere. DTS technology is integrated in more than two billion devices globally, and the world's leading video and music streaming services are increasingly choosing DTS to deliver premium sound to their listeners' network-connected devices. For more information, please visit www.dts.com.

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