{"id":160991,"date":"2016-12-31T08:00:16","date_gmt":"2016-12-31T13:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/?p=160991"},"modified":"2018-06-26T17:44:52","modified_gmt":"2018-06-26T21:44:52","slug":"startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money","title":{"rendered":"This recently funded startup could give Amazon Echo and Google Home a run for their money"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4 id='pressboard-ad-sponsorship-tag' style='margin-bottom: 35px;'><\/h4><p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Qf3iXgyY80Q\" width=\"660\" height=\"415\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><i>Video: <\/i><i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Qf3iXgyY80Q\" class=\"external\" target=\"_blank\">Smartbeings A Smart IoT Company\/YouTube<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If talking to smart home hubs like <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/2016\/10\/how-google-home-could-change-your-life.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google Home<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and Amazon Echo makes you feel awkward, you\u2019re not alone \u2014\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/lifehacker.com\/5883564\/how-can-i-talk-to-my-phone-in-public-without-looking-like-a-jerkcreepweirdo\" class=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the problem<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/siri-on-the-mac-is-awkward-to-use-in-public-2016-6\" class=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is well<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/98-of-iphone-users-have-tried-siri-but-most-dont-use-it-regularly-2016-6\" class=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">documented<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and personally we get it. While we\u2019re ready to embrace the technology of the future, speaking to a robot just doesn\u2019t always feel natural.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Luckily, Silicon Valley-based startup Smartbeings has come up with a solution. It launched a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/2126904118\/woohootm-smart-living-simplified?token=5baba8ff\" class=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kickstarter campaign<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for a smart home hub called WooHoo on December 21st, and <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hometoys.com\/news\/2016\/12\/28\/woohoo-the-ai-smart-home-hub-reaches-30000-goal-within-hours-of-kickstarter-launch\/35716\/\" class=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">within 14 hours<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> had reached its initial goal of $30,000. WooHoo has plenty of neat features, but we\u2019re willing to bet that part of what drew early backers was the fact that it can be controlled not only by voice, an app and an online dashbord, but also by its seven-inch touchscreen.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/smart-home-hub-1.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox[160991]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-160992\" src=\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/smart-home-hub-1-1024x575.jpg\" alt=\"smart home hub 1\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Screenshot: <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Qf3iXgyY80Q\" class=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Smartbeings A Smart IoT Company\/YouTube<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/smart-home-hub-2.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox[160991]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-160993\" src=\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/smart-home-hub-2-1024x574.jpg\" alt=\"smart home hub 2\" width=\"1024\" height=\"574\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Screenshot: <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Qf3iXgyY80Q\" class=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Smartbeings A Smart IoT Company\/YouTube<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<p>WooHoo&#8217;s touchscreen certainly sets it apart, but it also has\u00a0plenty of other enticing features. Key among them are a 360-degree rotation HD camera with facial recognition technology, as well as a spatial surround sound system with with voice recognition technology. Speaking in the video above, Joseph Santos, Smartbeings&#8217; chief digital and marketing officer, says that WooHoo&#8217;s voice recognition technology is noteworthy because it &#8220;knows who you are. So when you say &#8216;turn on the lights&#8217; or &#8216;play my favorite soundtrack,&#8217; it knows it&#8217;s you that&#8217;s requesting that.&#8221; Pretty cool!<\/p>\n<p>Aside from those more unique attributes, WooHoo can do many of the same things other smart home hubs can do.\u00a0Smartbeings boasts that you can make it your one and only stop for controlling all the smart devices in your home \u2014 that means you can use it to control your home&#8217;s temperature, book an Uber, make phone calls, play music, create to-do lists and more.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/smart-home-hub-4.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox[160991]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-160995\" src=\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/smart-home-hub-4-1024x575.jpg\" alt=\"smart home hub 4\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Screenshot: <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Qf3iXgyY80Q\" class=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Smartbeings A Smart IoT Company\/YouTube<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/smart-home-hub-3.jpg\" rel=\"lightbox[160991]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-160994\" src=\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/smart-home-hub-3-1024x575.jpg\" alt=\"smart home hub 3\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Screenshot: <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Qf3iXgyY80Q\" class=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Smartbeings A Smart IoT Company\/YouTube<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Interested in adding WooHoo to your home? While the WooHoo Kickstarter campaign has already reached its initial goal, there are still ways to get in on the action. The popular Super Early WooHoo Starter Special, which includes one WooHoo smart home hub and a one-year smart home platform subscription for $49, is still available on the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/2126904118\/woohootm-smart-living-simplified?token=5baba8ff\" class=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WooHoo Kickstarter page<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, as are several pricier options. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Kickstarter campaign will officially come to an end next year on February 4th, at which point WooHoo hubs will begin selling for $89, plus a monthly smart home platform subscription fee of $9. Smartbeings will begin shipping the first WooHoo units to Super Early WooHoo Starter Special backers in May. <\/span><\/p>\n<div id='pressboard-ad-sponsorship-msg'><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Called WooHoo, this new smart home hub has a number of features that make it unique. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":160992,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2017-03-28T07:05:36Z","apple_news_api_id":"54f08af8-d90e-4f3a-81eb-083849ab43d8","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2017-03-28T07:05:37Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AVPCK-NkOTzqB6wg4SatD2A","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11269],"tags":[],"coauthors":[10332],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>This recently funded startup could give Amazon Echo and Google Home a run for their money | Livabl<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"This recently funded startup could give Amazon Echo and Google Home a run for their money | Livabl\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Called WooHoo, this new smart home hub has a number of features that make it unique.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Livabl\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-31T13:00:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-06-26T21:44:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/smart-home-hub-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1276\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"716\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Livabl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Livabl\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money\",\"name\":\"This recently funded startup could give Amazon Echo and Google Home a run for their money | Livabl\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/smart-home-hub-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-31T13:00:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-06-26T21:44:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/36764230a969f18fc6dc798c5a4daedf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/smart-home-hub-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/smart-home-hub-1.jpg\",\"width\":1276,\"height\":716,\"caption\":\"smart home hub 1\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Archives\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"This recently funded startup could give Amazon Echo and Google Home a run for their money\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/\",\"name\":\"Livabl\",\"description\":\"Building New Home Dreams\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/36764230a969f18fc6dc798c5a4daedf\",\"name\":\"Livabl\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/author\/livabl\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"This recently funded startup could give Amazon Echo and Google Home a run for their money | Livabl","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"This recently funded startup could give Amazon Echo and Google Home a run for their money | Livabl","og_description":"Called WooHoo, this new smart home hub has a number of features that make it unique.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money","og_site_name":"Livabl","article_published_time":"2016-12-31T13:00:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-06-26T21:44:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1276,"height":716,"url":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/smart-home-hub-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Livabl","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Livabl","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money","url":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money","name":"This recently funded startup could give Amazon Echo and Google Home a run for their money | Livabl","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/smart-home-hub-1.jpg","datePublished":"2016-12-31T13:00:16+00:00","dateModified":"2018-06-26T21:44:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/36764230a969f18fc6dc798c5a4daedf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/smart-home-hub-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/smart-home-hub-1.jpg","width":1276,"height":716,"caption":"smart home hub 1"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives\/startup-could-give-amazon-echo-google-home-run-for-money#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Articles","item":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Archives","item":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/archives"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"This recently funded startup could give Amazon Echo and Google Home a run for their money"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/","name":"Livabl","description":"Building New Home Dreams","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/36764230a969f18fc6dc798c5a4daedf","name":"Livabl","url":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/author\/livabl"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160991"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160991"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=160991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}