February 2018 ertonline.co.uk


Google will turn its voice search into an auction place with adverts integrated. This will damage users’ trust as it starts displaying ads in voice search over unbiased information and results


Edd Wilson, voice search expert at digital marketing company Impressions


The Harman Kardon Invoke is one of the few smart speakers compatible with Microsoft’s Cortana voice assistant


Is Google Assistant catching up with Alexa?


Left: The Jabra Elite 65t wireless earphones are ready for Amazon Alexa


attention as it deserved at CES, but voice assistants integrated into ‘smart displays’ now looks set to the next big thing. A screen ranged above a speaker, Amazon’s recently announced Echo Show takes care of Alexa, while CES saw a trio of 8in or 10in smart displays announced for sale later in 2018 that all support Google Assistant – the LG ThinQ WK9 and Lenovo Smart Display. Sony and Harman/JBL are planning similar devices. Do consumers want a touch-screen device dedicated to a voice assistant? It does seem logical and if so, the tablet is dead. Long live the (slightly different) smart display.


Meanwhile, CES saw many other off-the-


wall products build-in compatibility with voice assistants. The Vuzix Blade smart glasses, which include a camera, microphone and touchpad, take phone calls and allow the wearer to communicate with Alexa. The wearer sees the search results in the upper right of their fi eld of vision. Flushed with success, Alexa can now operate Kohler’s Numi intelligent toilet, and even tactically start-up a Moodo scent machine. There are also Alexa- powered smart showers from Kohler, Elmer and Moen, the Vobot Halo smart wake-up light, and the iDevices wall light switch (tipped by some as a potentially huge category).


Smart appliances It’s not just consumer electronics that are getting the


voice


treatment. At CES, Whirlpool added Google Assistant and the Amazon Alexa assistants to its Smart Front-Control Range of appliances, while Samsung went its own way by adding its own Bixby voice-control tech to its Family Hub


Samsung’s FamilyHub fridge is now compatible with its own Bixby voice platform


Which intelligent voice assistant is better? That’s a tricky question and one that isn’t yet being asked much by customers, largely because Amazon’s Alexa has been so dominant in the genre’s fi rst year or so. Helped along by the never- ending stream of Amazon Echo products coming from the online retailer-turned- tech giant – all the buzz is about Alexa. However, there is another fast-growing voice assistant becoming more important in consumer electronics, white goods and more – Google Assistant. While many manufacturers’ products are already compatible with Alexa, at CES it became a trend to at least be platform-neutral by allowing Google Assistant to also have a say. At the Central Plaza at CES was the Google Assistant Playground – a vast exhibition stand far bigger than any Google has brought to Las Vegas for some years. Visitors also saw ‘Hey Google’ advertising all over Las Vegas, even on the monorail. As well as the search engine’s own smart speakers, the Google Home, Mini and


Max, the stand hosted a raft of new products compatible with Google Assistant. It was announced that Google Assistant would be available on new voice-activated speakers from Altec Lansing, Anker Innovations, Bang & Olufsen, Braven, iHome, JBL, Jensen, LG, Klipsch, Knit Audio, Memorex, Riv Audio and Solis. However, it’s the recent strategic announcement that the Sonos One smart speaker will soon be compatible with both Alexa and Google Assistant that could be key. Consumers can now also talk to Google Assistant via an LG and Sony TV, activated


by microphones in the remote control, while Google’s Android Auto hands-free system puts a similar functionality into vehicles. Google Assistant also looks set to be built into a new segment of ‘smart displays’ from LG, Lenovo, Sony and JBL, essentially like smart speakers, but with large touch-screens added. That could mean that Google, not Amazon, gets to control many smart homes. This is


a ‘format war’ that could run and run, but hopefully be less and less relevant in terms of product differentiation. So what about Microsoft’s Cortana and Apple’s Siri? The only smart speaker of note


that’s compatible with Cortana is the Harman Kardon Invoke, and at CES the platform suffered a major snub when HP, Lenovo, Asus and Acer all announced that their upcoming Windows 10 PCs would include Alexa. Meanwhile, Apple’s plans to release its HomePod product in ‘early 2018’ are looking increasingly unimportant. Mr Jonkman concludes: “Apple likes to ensure any technology they’re looking to adopt is 110 per cent market- ready before they actually do so, and so while it might play a big part in popularising voice-control technology, it won’t be the company that leads the way and drives innovation forward.”


Google Home Max is the search engine’s premium smart speaker


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