With Google Assistant built-in.
The new voice-controlled speaker from Sony, the LF-S50G, made its debut at IFA in Berlin last month and the company has now confirmed that it will be available in Australia from early December for SRP $249.
With Google Assistant built-in, the speaker can be used as a virtual personal assistant and with 360 degree sound, a digital hub to play music. Users can ask about traffic on the route to work, set an alarm, play music, retrieve flight booking details, check and update calendars, receive weather forecasts and more by saying “Ok Google”.
The S50G can be connected with other smart speakers and devices from compatible platforms including Chromecast, Nest, Philips Hue and IFTTT, to set a room to the perfect temperature or turn the lights down.
It features a full range speaker to clearly reproduce vocal and treble notes, a dedicated subwoofer to reproduce bass, damped bass reflex duct for neutral bass from a small speaker enclosure and omni-directional two stage diffuser to spread sound in all directions.
Furthermore the S50G is splash-proof to IPX3 and has a water repellent coating. It also has a clock display and supports gesture control to play or skip tracks and adjust volume. With support for both Bluetooth and NFC the S50G has easy one-touch connection to play audio from a mobile phone – for which it will support both Android and iOS operating systems.
The compact tubular form factor is available in three colours, blue, black or white, with splashproof textured material that surrounds the sides and a chrome base.