FILE – This Wednesday, March 2, 2016, file photo shows an Echo Dot, left, and an Amazon Tap in San Francisco. The Amazon Echo, which listens to you, answers questions and carries out tasks like calling an Uber or turning on your lights, is finding a place in millions of living rooms. The Dot and the portable Tap give the Echo’s Alexa software even broader reach. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)Does your home really need a “smart speaker” that can answer questions, call you an Uber, turn off the lights or play music when you ask? You may be about to find out.
Two years ago, Amazon introduced the Amazon Echo, an unassuming, $180 cylinder that sits atop a kitchen counter or bookshelf, acting as a personal assistant that listens to you and does your bidding. Initially, the gadget’s main purpose was a little difficult to discern . But Echo and its Alexa voice recognition software have since become a sleeper hit, with an estimated 3 million gadgets sold as of April, according to research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.
MAKING THE HOME “SMART”
Now the Echo is getting some company. Google introducing a similar smart speaker called Google Home, available in November for $129. It will perform many of the same tasks as Echo, including playing music and fielding questions plus controlling compatible lights and appliances. The Google Assistant that works with Home will also be able to access your calendar, Google Maps and other services if you allow.
Apple has opened up its Siri personal assistant so that third-party developers can create new features for it, much the way Amazon has done with its Alexa software. Google Assistant is also opening up to outside apps in December. Sony is working on Xperia Agent , a digital assistant that connects to devices in the home.