Pioneer's Rayz Lightning-Equipped Earphones Gain 'Hey Siri' Support

Pioneer today announced that its Rayz line of Lightning-equipped earphones designed for the iPhone are receiving a major update that adds "Hey Siri" functionality along with other new features.

Enabled through new firmware and an update to the Rayz app that's being released today, the earphones can now activate Siri with the standard "Hey Siri" command even while the iPhone is tucked away in a pocket. That means Siri can respond to requests without the need for users to take the iPhone out of a purse, bag, or pocket.

"Today we are pleased to announce that users can say 'Hey Siri' while using Rayz earphones to easily make a call, send a message, listen to music and much more, even when iPhone is in their pocket," said Munenori Otsuki, CEO of Pioneer & Onkyo U.S.A. Corporation. With support for Siri, Rayz Lightning Earphones automatically recognize "Hey Siri" commands and allow our users to do so much more using just their voice."

First announced in February, the Rayz Plus earphones feature a built-in Lightning port for charging an iPhone while listening to music, smart noice cancellation, smart buttons, sensors for auto play/shutoff, and a smart mute function that was added in June.

Today's update also introduces AutoPause improvements, status beeps that indicate when Smart Mute is active, and native language support for Chinese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Pioneer's Rayz Plus earphones can be purchased from Amazon for $149.95 in Bronze and Graphite. Apple also sells the Pioneer Rayz Plus in Rose Gold and Black. The slimmed down standard version of the Rayz, priced at $99.95, is not yet available for purchase.