Harman Kardon, a division of Harman International Industries which itself is a subsidiary of Samsung, is all set to announce its new smart speaker. According to a report on The Verge, Harman Kardon will unveil Citation 500 speaker at IFA 2018 and it will be available for pre-order in Europe at the end of September.
Citation 500 is a smart speaker boasting 200W stereo audio and high-definition 24-bit/96kHz support. It supports Google Assistant, which will let users give instructions to their speaker. Besides a powerful stereo speaker and a personal assistant, Citation 500 will also double as a smart home hub — letting you control your smart lights and other smart home equipment. A small LCD on the top of the speaker will help you control the playback when you don’t wish to give voice commands.
The speaker features a compact form-factor and will be available in gray and black wool cover options. Priced at £549 (or around $700), Harman’s new speaker is one of the most expensive smart speakers you can buy right now. For a quick comparison, Google Home Max costs $399.
Harman previously released its Allure with Alexa — priced at $249 ($199 if you buy now at Amazon) and Invoke with Cortana — priced at $199. Citation 500 will be Harman’s third and the most expensive smart speaker.
It was previously reported that Sonos smart speakers will also start supporting Google Assistant by the year’s end.
Source: The Verge
