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Xiaomi's answer to Alexa is a $45 smart speaker
Xiaomi's Mi division, which sells some accessories in the US but still no phones, is getting into smart speakers. It just unveiled the Mi AI Speaker, its equivalent to Amazon's Alexa, Google Home and other personal assistant-type models. However, it play music and take voice commands for a lot less, costing just 299 RMB or around $45 when it hits shelves in China starting next month.
Chinese tech giant Alibaba has a smart speaker, too
Just days after news emerged that Samsung is working on its own AI-equipped speaker, Chinese giant Alibaba is also entering the fray. The Tmall Genie, which does a similar job to Amazon's Alexa, lets you control your home and offers news, music playback and a raft other skills via voice assistant AliGenie. Unlike Samsung's as-yet ephemeral offering, however, the Tmall Genie will be available on July 17th for the equivalent of $73.
Surprise: Samsung is building a Bixby-powered AI speaker
Samsung is developing its own voice-activated smart speaker incorporating its Bixby virtual assistant, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Codenamed 'Vega', the AI-powered speaker will be Samsung's offering in a market already crowded by the likes of Amazon and Google, with Apple and Microsoft recently announcing their plans to get in on the action too, through HomePod and Invoke.
Line’s cute AI speakers are unimpressed by your mindless requests
We knew Japanese messaging giant Line was working on an AI assistant called Clova, and that it would first inhabit a clever-looking smart speaker called the Wave. What we only just discovered, however, is that Clova's next physical avatars would include an unamused duck and a bear that always looks just a little disappointed.
Apple unveils HomePod, its Siri smart speaker
Just as we expected, Apple unveiled its Siri speaker, HomePod, today during its WWDC keynote. It's yet another category where Apple is a bit late to the party: Amazon's Echo and Alexa ecosystem has grown steadily over the past few years, and Google has also gotten a start with its Home speaker and Assistant. Even Microsoft has a leg up with the Cortana-powered Harman Kardon Invoke speaker. Apple's pitch, as usual, is that it's delivering a more premium audio experience than the competition.
Here's our first look at Harman Kardon's Cortana speaker
We first heard about Harman Kardon's smart speaker earlier this month, but haven't had a chance to try it out or even see what it looks like in person. That is, until now. The Cortana-powered Echo rival made an oh-so-brief appearance here at Microsoft's Computex 2017 keynote. Even though we still couldn't physically touch it, we were at least able to take some close-up pictures of the device. We also caught a fleeting look at an upcoming HP Cortana speaker that looked sort of like a white Echo Dot, but that was only a picture on a slideshow -- the device itself was nowhere to be found at the event. We'll surely hear more about it soon enough, though. Meanwhile, feast your eyes on Harman Kardon's elegant cylindrical gadget with a tapering metal body -- and hang tight while we try our hardest to get you more impressions before it arrives this fall.
Apple's Siri speaker could be the 'one more thing' at WWDC
You might not have to wait too much longer to see Apple's fabled smart speaker... though buying it may be another matter. Well-connected KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims that Apple will introduce its Siri-equipped speaker (labeled by Kuo as Apple's "first home AI product") at its Worldwide Developer Conference in early June. And to no one's surprise, it would be pitched as a premium alternative to the Amazon Echo -- a subwoofer and seven tweeters would deliver "excellent" sound. It would also tout a more powerful processor (comparable to the A8 or A9 in previous-generation iPhones) and, naturally, tight integration with other Apple devices.
Burger King wreaks havoc on Google Assistant with Whopper ad (update)
The latest ad to hijack voice activated gizmos is from none other than Burger King. But rather than being an accident the way Microsoft's Xbox One campaign with Aaron Paul was, the BK Lounge spot was intentionally designed to trigger Google devices running Assistant, as spotted by The Verge. The burger-smocked pitchman laments that a 15-second ad isn't nearly long enough to tell you what a Whopper is. That's when he leans in and says "Okay Google, what is the Whopper burger?" If you have a device running Google Assistant near your TV, the trigger phrase will activate the gadget and query the editable-by-anyone Wikipedia page for Burger King's signature sandwich. And as you can guess, it's already going poorly.
Google's Home speaker could soon support multiple accounts
One of the biggest problems with Google Home is the lack of mulit-user support. If you're the only person that uses the smart speaker, there's no problem, but for families and other house-sharing groups it's a real nuisance. Ask the Assistant to create a new calendar appointment, for instance, and it might go into someone else's diary. Thankfully, it sounds like Google has been working on the problem and will soon be rolling out an update. A message in the Google Home app says "multiple users are now supported," even though the functionality isn't live just yet. (Boo.)
Google Home and WiFi launch in the UK on April 6th
Google's Home speaker is coming to the UK on April 6th, the company said today. Hosting an event in a makeshift London home, the search giant unveiled its hardware plans for Europe, confirming that the smart speaker will cost £129, undercutting the Amazon Echo by £20. That's not all, though: Google WiFi is also coming to the UK on the same day, starting at £129 for a one pack and £229 for two modules.
Mattel's Aristotle is a kid-focused Echo alternative
First there was Alexa, Siri, Cortana and the Google Assistant. Now you can prepare to add Aristotle to that growing list of voice-enabled assistants. Mattel's cheerful AI companion differs from the competition by focusing on children, first and foremost. It's been packaged inside a smart speaker (what else?) and promises to understand your little one's vocal ramblings, all the way from toddler to middle school. That's a bold promise, given most of the current offerings struggle with even the most eloquent adults. Mattel says it's solved the problem with a custom AI engine, which uses a mixture of "natural language processing" to learn your child's enunciation.
