Amazon.com Inc.’s Lab126 hardware division is reportedly working on voice-powered wireless earbuds that will come with Alexa built-in.

The information comes by way of a Bloomberg piece from Thursday afternoon. Citing sources with knowledge of Amazon’s hardware roadmap, the publication said the earbuds could make their debut as soon as the second half of this year. In that case, the launch is likely take place in September, which is when the company usually unveils new Alexa devices.

The earbuds will reportedly provide a similar set of  features as Apple Inc.’s likewise voice-powered AirPods. The tipsters said that the Alexa integration will enable users to make e-commerce purchases, play music and look up information using voice commands. 

Another similarity to the AirPods is that the headphones are reportedly set to provide support for gesture controls. With the AirPods, users can double-tap one of their earbuds to have Apple’s Siri voice assistant carry out a preprogrammed action. Amazon is said to be working on its own implementation of this feature that will let users answer calls and switch between songs with a similar hand motion.

According to Bloomberg, the company hopes to set the product apart from the AirPods by providing higher sound quality. Alexa’s expansive feature set should be a valuable differentiator as well. The voice assistant has access to a massive corpus of information sourced partially from its users and offers a growing selection of extensions, including for highly specific tasks such as helping new employees find their way around the office.

The Alexa-powered earbuds aren’t the only project Amazon’s Lab126 division is rumored to have in the pipe. The unit, which developed the Echo smart speaker family, is reportedly working on a home robot that is also expected to launch as early as this year.

Amazon’s rumored robot and earbuds will add to the already massive list of devices on which Alexa is available. It can be found in TVs, kitchen appliances and even lightbulbs. The earbuds would have a particularly important role in this lineup, since they’d make it easier for users to interact with the voice assistant when they’re outside of their homes.

Photo: Amazon