Enlarge / The first Amazon Echo speaker. (credit: Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

A Delaware federal court has ordered Amazon to pay $46.7 million for infringing on four patents belonging to VB Assets with Amazon's Echo smart speakers and Alexa virtual assistant. A lawsuit from Nuance Communications-owned VB Assets, previously known as VoiceBox Technologies, claimed to have already invented a circular speaker that could connect to the web and answer voice-dictated prompts with a female, robotic voice.

Wednesday's judgment [ PDF ], initially reported by Reuters , orders Amazon to pay the sum via running royalty rather than a lump sum. The ruling follows a jury verdict [ PDF ] finding that Amazon infringed upon four of VoiceBox's patents. The patents relate to providing network-coordinated conversational services, a conversational voice user interface, and tying advertisements to natural language processing of voice-based input. VB Assets originally accused Amazon of infringing on six of its patents.

Amazon still has time to appeal the judgment, and VoiceBox has time to seek reimbursement for related costs.

Enlarge (credit: Mycroft )

Open source voice assistant software-maker Mycroft disappointed thousands when it announced Friday it will not be sending its Linux-based smart speaker to any more people who backed the product on Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Remaining inventory of the privacy-focused Amazon Echo alternative will go to those who buy the Mark II from Mycroft's website for 171 percent more than early backers pledged.

Mycroft says its open source software can run on anything, from a computer to a car to a Raspberry Pi. The company promotes flexible customization for user and business needs and says it doesn't collect data unless a user opts in. Opt-in data is published publicly for open source development. The technically savvy could also customize Mycroft to their will and use it to run their own server or work offline, and the software shows potential for broader use cases, like Linux phones . Open source voice assistants like Mycroft have won the attention of smart home enthusiasts, but their complexity has prevented them from becoming mainstream solutions over Big-Tech voice assistants packaged into neat hardware.

That's what made Mycroft's Mark II seem like a good idea; and while privacy-first, open source smart hardware still is, Mycroft has upset a lot of its early supporters.

Enlarge / Sonos One smart speaker. (credit: Getty )

Sonos will release a new flagship speaker "in the coming months," according to a report Monday from The Verge . The publication said this will be called the Era 300 and that Sonos is prioritizing the device's spatial audio capabilities.

The Verge claimed that Sonos is aiming for the Era 300 to be its most accurate speaker yet. It pointed to a heightened focus on making Dolby Atmos content shine, as well as improving music using spatial audio. According to The Verge, the Era 300 will be a "multidirectional speaker built to get the most from spatial audio" by way of a "completely re-architected acoustic design."

We don't have deeper details, like specs or pricing. However, Wi-Fi 6 and a USB-C port are apparently "likely," and Bluetooth support is also possible. According to The Verge, Sonos has at least looked into including all these features on the Era 300.

Enlarge / Apple's discontinued HomePod smart speaker. (credit: Jeff Dunn)

After officially killing off the HomePod last year, Apple will soon release a new version of the smart speaker, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported in a Sunday newsletter.

The report detailed expectations without citing sources and said the speaker "is unlikely to arrive until" 2023. Gurman said the new HomePod is currently in development under the code name B620. It will reportedly use a new S8 processor that will also be used in the next Apple Watch. The New S8 "will have the same specifications as the S7, which was also the same as the S6," Gurman said.

Bloomberg's newsletter also said the new HomePod "will be closer to the original HomePod in terms of size and audio performance, rather than a new HomePod Mini."