ByteDance, the company behind the popular TikTok platform, has announced its entry into the wireless earphones market with the launch of its first earphones under the name “Ola Friend”. These earphones are characterized by their heavy reliance on generative artificial intelligence, allowing users to interact with the voice chat robot directly without the need for a smartphone.
“Ola Friend” is designed to meet the needs of users on-the-go, whether it’s for listening to audio clips, practicing foreign languages, or even for entertainment. With “Ola Friend” earphones, users can simply activate the chat robot by saying the phrase “Doubao Doubao”, a service previously launched by ByteDance that relies on artificial intelligence.
The earphones are available in four distinctive colors including purple, silver, black, and white, with each earphone weighing just 6.6 grams, making them lightweight and comfortable for daily use. They are priced at 1200 yuan in the Chinese market, equivalent to approximately $170 USD.
ByteDance is expected to start selling these earphones from October through various online shopping platforms in China, including Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.
This move comes after ByteDance acquired the startup company “Oula Dance” last month, which specializes in producing wireless earphones. It’s worth mentioning that “Oula Dance” was founded five years ago and was a pioneer in this field.
ByteDance is one of the leading companies in artificial intelligence in China, with its AI application “Doubao” reaching 47 million monthly active users in September, surpassing competitors like “Baidu Ernie Bot” and “Moonshot AI Kimi”.
ByteDance has been moving towards hardware development since 2019, after acquiring the smartphone company “Smartisan” and followed it up with the launch of “Pico 4 Ultra” virtual reality glasses, reflecting the company’s ambition to expand in the smart technology field.
