Amazon acquires smart doorbell manufacturer Ring, HomeKit still on the way [u]

App-enabled doorbell manufacturer Ring has been bought by Amazon, adding to its lineup of security-related home automation products — but work and certification of HomeKit for the Ring Pro and Floodlight are still ongoing.

Mike Wuerthele 8 years ago 23

Test finds HomePod's Siri 'at the bottom of the totem pole' in smartspeaker AI

While the Apple HomePod is the "best sounding" smartspeaker and has a "measurably better" user experience in many areas, its underlying AI assistant — Siri — failed dramatically in a query test versus Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Microsoft Cortana, according to Loup Ventures.

Roger Fingas 8 years ago 113

Stacking up Apple HomePod, Amazon Echo and Google Home

Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Apple all have voice assistants vying for attention, and all are moving the concept of computer-human voice interaction forward. AppleInsider offers an abbreviated history of how we got here and the capabilities of these assistants and their devices in anticipation of HomePod. What do these things do? What do people use them for? And what is Apple doing differently?

Victor Marks 8 years ago 37

Ahead of Apple's HomePod launch, Amazon teases new voices for Alexa

With days to go before the launch of Apple's Siri-powered HomePod smart speaker, Amazon will unveil changes to its own personal assistant, Alexa, likely to come in the form of new voice options.

Neil Hughes 8 years ago 32

HomePod, the iPod for your home

Consider Apple's release of a new music-oriented device priced higher than its perceived competitors—which have already established an enthusiastic audience base over the past few years. How can it possibly survive in such a difficult position? The answer was: by being better in key ways that matter to users. iPod went on to become a legendary franchise in personal audio. Now Apple is doing the same thing again in home audio with HomePod.

Daniel Eran Dilger 8 years ago 79

Voice commands coming to Amazon's Alexa app for iPhone & iPad

People wanting to make use of Amazon's Alexa voice assistant will soon be able to talk to it through the company's iOS app, instead of depending on an Echo speaker or other compatible device.

Roger Fingas 8 years ago 5

Amazon Alexa making appearance in $1000 Vuzix augmented reality smart glasses

Amazon won't be the first company to deploy its Alexa voice assistant in glasses, with Vuzix stepping up to the plate to do so in mid-2018.

Mike Wuerthele 8 years ago 27

As Apple's HomePod misses Christmas, Amazon Alexa tops App Store charts for first time

In a first for the app, Amazon Alexa has topped Apple's U.S. App Store charts, backing claims that the Echo Dot speaker was the top-selling item on Amazon.com during the holidays.

Roger Fingas 8 years ago 83

Why Apple's Siri needs to become an 'ambient' ecosystem to compete against Amazon & Google

The HomePod — now due in 2018 — will mark Apple's first real attempt at making Siri an "ambient" voice assistant. Arguably, though, the company needs to push a lot harder if it wants people to choose Siri over alternatives from Amazon and Google.

Roger Fingas 8 years ago 59

Review: Sonos One brings high fidelity to smartspeakers

The Sonos One may be the best smartspeaker you can buy — and with its pricetag and upcoming features, will probably pose a serious threat to Apple's HomePod.

Roger Fingas 8 years ago 59

Apple's HomePod isn't about Siri, but rather the future of home audio

Introduced this summer at WWDC17, Apple's HomePod was immediately positioned next to Amazon Echo and Google Home by bloggers as a "smart speaker" serving primarily as a way to chat with a voice assistant. But that's not how Apple introduced it.

Daniel Eran Dilger 8 years ago 139

Sonos debuts One smartspeaker with Amazon Alexa, AirPlay 2 & Google Assistant coming later

Sonos on Wednesday launched the $199 Sonos One, a smartspeaker with Amazon's Alexa voice assistant, as well as support for Apple AirPlay 2 and Google Assistant coming in 2018.

Roger Fingas 8 years ago 5

Amazon & Microsoft reveal plans to allow cross-access for Alexa and Cortana

In an industry first, Amazon and Microsoft have announced that people will soon be able to access Alexa from Cortana, and vice versa, including through iOS.

Roger Fingas 8 years ago 14

Sonos to host Oct. 4 event for smartspeaker with multiple voice assistants

Sonos on Tuesday sent out a media invitation to an Oct. 4 press event in New York City, where the company is expected to reveal its all-but-announced smartspeaker with support for voice commands.

Roger Fingas 8 years ago 6

Sonos crafting smartspeaker with support for 'multiple' voice assistants

Sonos is developing a new Wi-Fi-enabled speaker with built-in voice control, which should moreover support "multiple voice platforms," according to a newly-published filing with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

Roger Fingas 8 years ago 5

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