The Chinese company ByteDance, the owner of the short video service TikTok, introduced its first wireless headphones called Ola Friend to the home market. The main feature of the new product is the ability to interact with the Doubao AI bot, which is very popular in China – it can be activated by the appropriate voice command.
Image source: ByteDance
Ola Friend is positioned not only as headphones for listening to music, but also as a travel guide, a device for improving skills in a foreign language, etc. Additional opportunities open up after connecting to the Doubao application and are implemented through interaction with a voice assistant based on a generative neural network. It is noted that Doubao is the most popular AI assistant in China, which was used by more than 47 million people as of September.
Ola Friend headphones are available in purple, silver, black and white body colors. Those wishing to purchase the new product will have to spend $170. You can pre-order today, and the first deliveries will begin on October 17. Whether the new product will be sold outside of China is not specified.
Ola Friend’s debut comes shortly after the completion of a deal that saw ByteDance take over wearable audio maker Oladance. In addition, the owner of TikTok recently acquired VR headset manufacturer Pico.