SKT launches portable AI speaker
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SK Telecom models promote the company’s portable artificial intelligence (AI) speaker, NUGU Mini. The device, priced at 99,000 won ($87.85), is eight centimeters in diameter and provides access to services in response to user voice requests. / Courtesy of SK Telecom
By Lee Min-hyung
SK Telecom has launched the nation’s first portable artificial intelligence (AI) speaker, NUGU Mini, to expand its presence in the nascent big data-driven tech area.
The device is easy to carry. It is only eight centimeters in diameter and weighs 219 grams, the mobile carrier said Tuesday. It comes with a battery that can last for four hours on a single charge.
The NUGU Mini responds to user voice requests to access various smart services, according to the company. They include music streaming, home internet of things (IoT), weather forecasts and traffic information.
The portable version comes about a year after the wireless operator unveiled its first AI speaker, NUGU, last September. Sales of the device topped 150,000.
SK Telecom said NUGU Mini was launched to meet customers’ growing demand for a smaller and cheaper AI device. NUGU Mini’s functions are identical to the original version priced at 149,000 won ($132), the company said.
“While NUGU has served as a ‘home hub’ that can benefit all family members, NUGU Mini has focused more on each of the individual family members, based on its portability,” an SK Telecom official said.
To celebrate its launch, SK Telecom has added five new services to the speaker, including financial information, a Korean-English dictionary and audio book.
NUGU Mini offers information about exchange rates and banking services under partnerships with KB Kookmin Bank and Hana Bank.
“For example, NUGU Mini users can check how many customers are waiting in line at a bank,” the official said. “Users can also get a waiting list e-ticket by using the device.”
With the dictionary service, users can search for English words and their pronunciation and spelling, the company said.
To meet entertainment needs, the company added a two-way communication function that allows users to have a quiz or game with the AI speaker.
The new device comes as local carriers intensify their competition in the AI sector, with rival player KT unveiling its AI speaker, GiGA Genie, earlier this year.
Market rivalry is heating up, with companies desperate to gather more datasets for leadership in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era when big data is expected to become a key building block to determine the fate of all the tech-savvy companies here and abroad.
Stagnant growth in the local telecom market is another key reason for them to turn to emerging tech areas as AI and the IoT.