Mobvoi

Mobvoi
Private
Industry
Founded October 1, 2012 (2012-10-01), in Beijing, China.
Founders
  • Zhifei Li
  • Yuanyuan Li (Co-Founder)
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
  • Zhifei Li (Founder & CEO)
  • Yuanyuan Li (Co-Founder)
  • Mike Lei (CTO)
  • Mei-Yuh Hwang (VP. of Engineering)
Products
  • Chumenwenwen Mobile Voice Search
  • Ticauto
  • Ticmirror and Ticeye
  • Ticwatch
  • Ticpods
Website en.ticwear.com

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 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 an 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]

Ticwatch Pro

The TicWatch Pro was released in mid 2018 running Google's Wear OS. It features a layered display, mixing an AMOLED and LCD screen to extend the battery life. It has two modes of operation. At "Smart Mode", the LCD is always on when wearing and the AMOLED activates for regular Wear OS usage. This should give 2–5 days of battery life. At "Essential Mode", Wear OS is shutdown, and only the LCD is active, only featuring time, date, heart rate, steps and battery display. In this mode, up to 30 days of battery life is expected.

The watch comes with NFC (supporting Google Pay), GPS / AGPS, accelerometer, gyro, magnetic sensor, PPG heart rate sensor, ambient light sensor and low latency off-body sensor. It is rated as IP68 water and dust resistance.

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

  1. ↑ "Google Invests in Chinese Search-and-Smartwatch Startup". Wall Street Journal. 2015-10-20. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  2. ↑ Kharpal, Arjun (2015-10-20). "Google dipping toe in China with this investment". CNBC. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  3. ↑ "Zhifei Li Linkedin". Linkedin.
  4. ↑ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  5. ↑ "'Watch Bro' - JHU Engineering Magazine". JHU Engineering Magazine. 2016-01-12. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  6. ↑ Warc. "AI and WeChat | warc.com". www.warc.com. Retrieved 2016-11-30.
  7. ↑ "The inside story of designing the all-Chinese smartwatch". Wareable. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  8. ↑ "Ticwatch | frog". frog. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  9. ↑ "The inside story of designing the all-Chinese smartwatch". Wareable. Retrieved 2016-11-30.
  10. ↑ "Mobvoi's Ticwatch is getting an international edition this summer". Wareable. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  11. ↑ "Mobvoi Launches Smartwatch Powered By Homegrown Android ROM 'Ticwear'". TechNode. 2015-06-05. Retrieved 2016-11-30.
  12. ↑ "Google-Backed Mobvoi Launches Chinese Android Wear App Store". TechNode. 2016-01-27. Retrieved 2016-11-30.
  13. ↑ ichenxi (2016-05-12), ticauto, retrieved 2016-11-30
  14. ↑ "TICAUTO Trademark Application of Shanghai Mobvoi Information Technology Company Limited - Serial Number 87125155 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2016-11-30.
  15. ↑ M, Jason (2016-06-08). "Ticmirror Takes On Android Auto/CarPlay". Tech My Money. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  16. ↑ "【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. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Mobvoi launches Chinese chatbot". The Stack. 2017-04-18. Retrieved 2017-11-17.
  18. ↑ Mobvoi. "Mobvoi Releases New in-car Infortainment App". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  19. 1 2 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 2016-11-07.
  20. ↑ "Ticwatch 2: The Most Interactive Smartwatch". Kickstarter. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  21. ↑ "Android Wear Ticwatch S & E Launches on Kickstarter". GizmoChina. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  22. ↑ "Ticwatch S & E: A Truly Optimized Smartwatch". Kickstarter. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
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