Josh.ai revealed new innovations that increase the power of artificial intelligence in the home during its Winter Launch Event today. The new Josh Touchscreen is available for dealers to pre-order now and illustrates the company’s commitment to enabling professionals with a complete control solution. Paired with Nimble DevSuite, which leverages open platforms and protocols for rapid third-party integration, Josh.ai is working to improve its scalability, flexibility, and accessibility.
Since AVA Cinema Remote was announced at CEDIA Expo 2023, Josh.ai has been developing a its handheld remote control experience. Equipped with a three-dimensional glass keypad that adapts its buttons to reflect the capabilities of each Josh.ai device controller, the universal remote control finally lives up to its name.
Josh.ai customers are also able to enjoy several new software features. For iOS and Android users, the Josh App’s enhanced areas design is available now to view commonly associated rooms and devices. Josh Micro and Josh Nano clients currently enjoying a far-field voice control experience have been pushed a software update with 19 new natural voices to choose from to personalize their intelligent assistant.
“We are not just announcing one or two big updates today, but five unique launches that each will have a resounding impact on our industry,” said Alex Capecelatro, CEO of Josh.ai. “Between transformative new hardware experiences, advancements in AI interactions, and a new integration framework with Nimble, Josh.ai aims to be the most innovative company in the professional channel.”
Capecelatro added that the Josh.ai team is “hyper focused” on working closely with their dealers to offer simple, elegant, and desirable solutions for all of their projects. “We cannot wait to see how the industry benefits from what we have announced today and how we will collectively offer more impactful solutions to our customers,” he said.
Natural AI Voices
The Josh.ai voice experience becomes “friendlier and more natural,” according to the company, with the rollout of 19 new AI-generated voices. Thanks to significant advancements in synthetic voice technology over the last year, Josh.ai has added new gender-, tone-, and accent-oriented options. In doing so, they have delivered a new preferred default voice along with enabling more diverse and personalized interactions in every home.
Featuring humanistic sound quality with a variety of personalities to choose from, every Josh.ai client has the ability to pick his or her preferred assistant companion. In addition to the original 10 options that have always been available on Josh.ai systems, users now have access to nearly 30 different voice options.
Josh App Areas View
The Josh App has improved upon its 5.0 update to enhance elegance and functionality for every user. The Areas view update introduces a dynamic interface to optimize each client’s access to their unique floor plan.
Featuring a modern design, the new Areas view provides more intuitive and efficient navigation of a client’s living spaces, streamlining access to commonly used rooms and currently active devices. By implementing personalized graphical tiles that can be stacked and expanded upon via the upper right list view button, users can quickly identify broader areas or specific rooms.
Josh.ai + AVA Cinema Remote
Josh.ai has taken their partnership with AVA further by introducing a completely integrated handheld experience. By leveraging Cinema Remote’s three-dimensional Dynamic Keypad across its adaptive video, music, lighting, shading, and climate device controllers, Josh.ai has redefined the universal remote control’s place in the smart home.
For TV control, users will experience seamless media navigation with tactile mechanical click feedback across supported satellite, cable, and streaming video sources. Cinema Remote also empowers clients with a dedicated “Speak to Josh” microphone icon to access all of their connected devices across their whole home. Clients giving voice commands through Cinema Remote will experience the same contextual awareness that they enjoy with their Josh.ai microphones. Whether a client chooses to interact with their surroundings via a natural voice command, by triggering a scene, or its user-friendly dual screen interface, Cinema Remote is always aware and reflects the status of its surroundings.
Cinema Remote ships with a customized software experience, exclusively available to Josh.ai dealers. Out of the box, Cinema Remote has been upgraded with a software package that was designed to simplify installation and provide clients with a dedicated Josh.ai experience for every TV in their home. Users will subsequently be provided new enhancements and capabilities from Josh.ai’s continuous over-the-air software updates.
Josh.ai Debuts Custom Touchscreen Experience
Marking another milestone in Josh.ai’s evolution and expansion as a control platform, Josh Touchscreen provides dealers and clients with an elegant graphical interface for every room. Highlighted by a new room-level view that has been specially designed for simplicity and convenience, users can also access all of their home’s connected devices, scenes, and custom dashboards. Naturally, contextual voice control and intelligent assistance with JoshGPT will be available through a tap-to-talk voice button built into the hardware.
Available in polished black and ceramic white finishes, the 8” high-performance IPS glass screen complements modern home decor with an always-available control interface. The edge-to-edge display features capacitive touch, a quad-symmetric core processor, as well as proximity and light sensors. Installers have the flexibility to easily mount Josh Touchscreen in a North American single-gang cutout, flush mount with forthcoming solutions from Wall-Smart, or position it on a tabletop for seamless accessibility. Josh Touchscreen is available for dealers to pre-order now with a target ship date by or before CEDIA Expo 2024.
Josh.ai Launches Nimble DevSuite with Featured Release Partners
Nimble DevSuite is Josh.ai’s new integration platform focused on propelling the future of interoperability in the smart home. With its foundation in open source technologies, Nimble is built to support a variety of platforms and protocols. The result is faster development, increased flexibility, and an ever-expanding ecosystem to empower Josh.ai users with the freedom to enjoy their favorite connected devices.
Nimble firmware will be pushed soon via an over-the-air update to active systems, and will culminate in Josh.ai’s biggest integration push ever. Over the coming weeks, Josh.ai will roll out support for the following solutions: Shelly: Relays, Motion Sensors, and Lights; August: Locks; Yale: Locks; Google Nest: Thermostats; Big Ass Fans: Fans; Honeywell Total Connect Comfort: Thermostats; Hunter Douglas PowerView: Shades (Gen 2); Wiz: Lights; Nanoleaf: Canvas, Lines, Shapes, and Elements Lights; Vantage InFusion Systems: Lights, Switches, Shades, and Thermostats; Hearth & Home: Fireplaces; and Anthem: Receivers.
