ByteDance gets into AI wearables with new Ola Friend earbuds

ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, has its fingers in other pies. It launched its first generative AI-integrated true wireless earbuds, hoping to tap into its large user base. 

Available only in China for now, the Ola Friend open-ear earbuds are integrated with a chatbot powered by ByteDance's own GenAI service, Doubao. ByteDance has moved quickly into this market after acquiring Oladance, an audio wearables startup started by ex-Bose engineers. 

This confidence in earbuds was based on IDC's data, which showed that 55.4 million Bluetooth headsets were shipped in China over the first half of 2024 (a 20.8% year-on-year increase). 

Ola Friends is intended as an AI assistant that can help the wearer with daily affairs. According to the product pages listed on Chinese e-commerce sites, it helps with tasks like practising English, being a travel guide, and providing emotional support when the wearer is feeling down. 

The earbuds are lightweight at 6.6g each, and the ear hook that goes over the top of the ear is just 0.7mm thick at its thinnest point, with ideal weight distribution and a metal memory wire inside for comfort.

Running on Bluetooth 5.4, the Ola Friend uses a 10mm driver and supports features like multipoint connectivity. It has eight hours of battery life in the earbuds, with a total of 28 hours, including the case. It's also IP54 rated, although it's unclear if this rating is just for the earbuds or if it applies to the case as well.

The Ola Friend is available in black, silver, purple, and white colour options and is currently available for pre-order on Alibaba's Tmall marketplace, e-commerce platform JD.com, and Bytedance's Douyin app, which is the Chinese version of TikTok.

Priced at CNY1,199 (approximately S$221), the earbuds seemed quite popular, with only the black model still available on Tmall. The earbuds will ship from 17 October 2024 onwards.

Source: SCMP, TMTPost

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