When Harman launched its Harman Kardon Omni Wireless HD multi-room audio system last year, some of the speakers had dormant features, such as an embedded microphone in the Omni 20 speaker shown above. On Thursday, the company announced the availability of an Android software development kit (SDK) that third-party software developers are using to leverage those features. (Harman already has an SDK for iOS devices.) Harman is hoping some of those coders will build apps that incorporate its Omni speakers into connected-home platforms.
Harman VP of Developer Community and Programs Kevin Hague demonstrated one such app for me yesterday. As Steely Dan played on a group of Omni 10 and Omni 20 speakers, Hague pulled out his phone and said “Wouldn’t it be great if you could use your multi-room audio system as a paging system?” Touching a button on the phone’s screen, he said “Kids, it’s time for dinner.” Less than a second later, the music paused and his recorded message played on the speaker. The music resumed right after.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here