Mobvoi
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Company type | Private |
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Industry | |
Founded | October 1, 2012Beijing, China. | , in
Founders |
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Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
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Products | |
Website | en |
Mobvoi is an AI company that developed Chinese voice recognition, natural language processing, and vertical search technology in-house.[1]
The core team members include ex-Googlers, AI experts, former Nokia employees, engineers and researchers from top universities such as Johns Hopkins, Harvard, MIT, Cambridge, and Tsinghua or top-tier Internet companies such as Yahoo Beijing, Baidu, Tencent, etc. Over 60% of the team at Mobvoi are engineers. Since inception, Mobvoi has raised 5 rounds of funding led by Sequoia Capital, Zhenfund, SIG, Perfect Optronics Ltd (HK listed), GoerTek (A- Share listed) and Google with total fundraising amount of USD 75 million.[2]
History
Mobvoi was founded in October 2012 by Zhifei Li.[3] In May 2013, Mobvoi released their Voice Search Service featured in the popular messaging app, WeChat.[4] In 2014, Mobvoi launched their independent voice search app called Chumenwenwen,[5] which covers over 60 vertical domains, providing various types of everyday information.[6]
In 2014, Mobvoi released their own Android-based smartwatch operating system, Ticwear OS 1.0.[7] Mobvoi partnered with Frog Design to release Ticwatch.[8] In June 2015, Mobvoi launched Ticwatch in China featuring Ticwear 3.0. The Ticwatch has been ranking first in sales for Android smartwatches in China, second to Apple Watch on platforms such as JD.com,[9] Tmall, Suning, and Amazon. Ticwatch has 100K+ users and 100M+ sales.[10]
Wear OS formed a strategic partnership with Mobvoi to work together on the efforts to bring Wear OS to China. Moto 360[11] is the first Wear OS device in China to carry Chinese voice search and voice controls powered by Mobvoi. Mobvoi launched Mobvoi Store, which is official Wear OS partner in China.[12]
In 2016, Mobvoi launched Ticauto,[13][14][15] an AI enabled mirror for automobiles. CES 2016 showcased Ticauto and Ticmirror in the automotive field innovations section.[16]
In June 2016, Ticwatch 2 was launched on JD crowdfunding platform and sold over RMB 12 million within 11 days. On July 25, 2016, Mobvoi launched Ticwatch 2 Global Edition on Kickstarter. The Kickstarter achieved its goal of 50 thousand USD in less than ten minutes. The campaign generated over 2 million in support in less than 29 days. In April 2017, According to the reports, Mobvoi launched chatbot that can communicate with voice-activated smart home devices.[17]
Products
Chumenwenwen Mobile Voice Search
Chumenwenwen is a voice activated AI assistance app available on Android and iOS devices. It enables searches in over 60 vertical fields of interest.[18] It provides users ability to ask it for directions, restaurant suggestions, news, weather information, among many other options. In 2014, Chumenwenwen became the official voice service provider for Wear OS users in China.
Ticauto
Ticauto is an in-vehicle voice App, integrating speech recognition, semantic analysis, vertical search, TTS and other advanced technology to provide voice navigation, POI search, instant messaging, and on-board entertainment.
Ticmirror and Ticeye
Ticmirror [19] is a in-car robot integrating Mobvoi’s voice engine. Ticmirror allows users to perform everything they could with Ticauto and more with the addition of 7.84 inch touch screen that doubles as a rear view mirror. It has a 160 degrees wide angle lens allowing it to be used as a 1080p dashcam. Ticmirror is compatible with Ticeye,[19] which is an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) enable front collision warning and lane departure warnings.
Ticwatch and Ticwatch 2 Global Edition
Ticwatch is Mobvoi’s first attempt at creating a smartwatch powered by their Ticwear OS operating system. Ticwatch is compatible with Android and iOS devices. It can be used as a standalone fitness tracker and has built in GPS and heart rate sensor chipsets. Ticwatch was initially introduced for the market in China. Ticwatch 2 Global Edition was later launched for the global users on Kickstarter. The version released in China features a eSim data connection. This feature is removed from the Global Edition due to complications with cellular partners. The Kickstarter raised over 2 million dollars in funding.[20]
Ticwatch S & E
The Ticwatch S & E models are Mobvoi's second attempt at crowdfunding a smartwatch device on Kickstarter. The devices are powered by Google's Wear OS 2.0 operating system instead of Mobvoi's Ticwear OS, making the models the company's first Wear OS devices.[21] The Kickstarter raised over 3 million dollars with more than 19,000 backers.[22]
Management
The company is led by its leader Zhifei Li, Founder & CEO, Yuanyuan Li, Co-Founder, and Mike Lei, CTO. Zhifei and Mike are ex-Googlers formerly in charge of the Google Translate and Google Voice Search teams. Yuanyuan was part of the management team at MicroStrategy Inc. for four years.
References
- ^ "Google Invests in Chinese Search-and-Smartwatch Startup". Wall Street Journal. October 20, 2015. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
- ^ Kharpal, Arjun (October 20, 2015). "Google dipping toe in China with this investment". CNBC. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
- ^ "Zhifei Li Linkedin". Linkedin.
- ^ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
- ^ "'Watch Bro' - JHU Engineering Magazine". JHU Engineering Magazine. January 12, 2016. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
- ^ Warc. "AI and WeChat | warc.com". www.warc.com. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
- ^ "The inside story of designing the all-Chinese smartwatch". Wareable. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
- ^ "Ticwatch | frog". frog. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
- ^ "The inside story of designing the all-Chinese smartwatch". Wareable. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
- ^ "Mobvoi's Ticwatch is getting an international edition this summer". Wareable. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
- ^ "Mobvoi Launches Smartwatch Powered By Homegrown Android ROM 'Ticwear'". TechNode. June 5, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
- ^ "Google-Backed Mobvoi Launches Chinese Android Wear App Store". TechNode. January 27, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
- ^ ichenxi (May 12, 2016), ticauto, retrieved November 30, 2016
- ^ "TICAUTO Trademark Application of Shanghai Mobvoi Information Technology Company Limited - Serial Number 87125155 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
- ^ M, Jason (June 8, 2016). "Ticmirror Takes On Android Auto/CarPlay". Tech My Money. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
- ^ "【优雅智造千人发布会全程回顾,TIC四大智能新品重磅发布!】_出门问问 - 微讯啦". www.weixinla.com. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
- ^ "Mobvoi launches Chinese chatbot". The Stack. April 18, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
- ^ Mobvoi. "Mobvoi Releases New in-car Infortainment App". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
- ^ a b 1.1, Power by:JerryYan QQ:855222 JerrySoft Framework. "Mobvoi-2016上海国际车联网与智慧交通展览会". www.mmcshanghai.org. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
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has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Ticwatch 2: The Most Interactive Smartwatch". Kickstarter. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
- ^ "Android Wear Ticwatch S & E Launches on Kickstarter". GizmoChina. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
- ^ "Ticwatch S & E: A Truly Optimized Smartwatch". Kickstarter. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
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