Yandex this week unveiled two new third-party smart speakers integrated with our intelligent assistant, Alice.  The IRBIS A and DEXP Smartbox compact smart speakers will be available exclusively from two of the largest consumer electronics retailers in Russia, M.Video and DNS.  The devices will retail for 3290 rubles ($50).

The release of the Yandex.Station smart speaker in May brought our intelligent assistant into homes across Russia.  With the addition of these two new speakers, there are even more possibilities for Alice in the home, as the intelligent assistant can be a helpful aid in any room of the house.  In the kitchen, a smart speaker can help with finding recipes and setting a timer through simple voice commands, while on the nightstand you can ask Alice to set an alarm or play a soothing playlist for sleeping.  Alice can be tasked with setting reminders or saying the news in the living room, while in a child’s room the assistant can be asked to tell a fairy tale or sing a song.

The IRBIS A and DEXP Smartbox are the first third-party devices to be released using the Yandex.IO platform.  Yandex.IO allows manufacturers to turn their products into intelligent devices powered by Alice.

"Intelligent assistants are not just a thing of the future anymore; they are now part of our daily lives.  Yandex.Station users are talking with Alice an average of twenty times a day,” says Director of Experimental Products Konstantin Kruglov.  “To encourage the widespread adoption of intelligent assistants, we have created the Yandex.IO platform, which allows manufacturers to add Alice to their products.  Today, we are pleased to present the first devices created by our partners using this platform."

Both devices are powered by an AC adapter and can be connected to external speakers to bring Alice to a home stereo system.  Each speaker will be bundled with a free six-month subscription of Yandex.Plus, which includes full access to Yandex.Music and discounts and additional features for other Yandex services.

The IRBIS A and DEXP Smartbox join other third-party devices equipped with Alice such as the Elari KidPhone 3G smartwatch for children and the Sony Xperia Ear Duo headphones.  Consumers can also buy the original Yandex.Station smart speaker, which is now available through our new e-commerce marketplace Beru! (in Russian) in three colors.