On Friday, Verizon filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission. The new petition is reported to be regarding the company’s plans to launch a smart display device based on the Alexa voice assistant.
According to the information received from the filing, it will be a basic-looking device that resembles an Amazon Echo, with an 8-inch display and front-facing camera. From the uncovered specs, it’s found that the device has 4GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, Bluetooth, wi-fi, and 4G connectivity.
The filing by Verizon does not offer any information as to how the user interface will look on the screen of the device. However, the device, dubbed as the LVD1, will “wake” when users speak the phrase “Hi Verizon” to it.
The wake-up gesture, according to reports, confirms that the device is part of Amazon’s Alexa Custom Assistant program. The program was launched to help companies build their versions of Alexa for their branded devices.
According to a user manual that was included in the FCC filing shows that the device supports the BlueJeans video conferencing platform that Verizon acquired last April. During the time of acquisition, Verizon indeed made a statement that “BlueJeans will be deeply integrated into Verizon’s 5G product roadmap, providing secure and real-time engagement solutions for high growth areas such as telemedicine, distance learning, and field service work.”
This is a recent device based on the Alexa Custom Assistant program and it will be interesting to see how it stands against Amazon’s own Alexa and Google’s Home.
