Category: Amazon Echo

A new report from Voicebot.ai suggests that 19.7% of Americans have at least one smart speaker in their homes with nearly 72% of them being Amazon Echo devices powered by Amazon Alexa.  The report goes on to suggest that by the end of the year, nearly 50% of households will have at least one smart speaker in their house.

The reports is based on a survey of 1,057 US adults and extrapolated from there.  While it may not be the largest sample size, it does give a solid indicator of where smart speakers going in the market and their adoption rate.  While Echo adoption was at 71.9%, Google was a distant 2nd at 18.4%.  The likes of the Hardon Karmon Invoke, powered by Microsoft Cortana, falls into the “other” category which accounted for 9.7% of devices.

For the second time in less than six months, it looks like Google is going to be revamping the online Google Store.  A report from Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources within Google, suggests that the revamp will have Google Assistant front-and-center in the redesign where Google will sell their devices and those of sister Alphabet companies like Nest.

The move is in response to Amazon and their own digital assistant, Amazon Alexa.  Amazon had a two year start on Google when it came to personal AI-driven assistants, with Amazon still holding an estimated 68% market share with their Amazon Echo devices compared to the 25% for Google with Google Home.  The disparity has the Mountain View company worried and they are going all out to meet Amazon head on in the space.

Amazon and Microsoft have been teaming up and it is for the benefit of end users.  The Seattle based eRetailer (and now grocery store owner) has announced a new skill for Amazon Alexa, the company’s personal assistant, that will allow you to access Microsoft Cortana, Microsoft’s personal assistant, from your Amazon Echo.

It may sound a little confusing but it is a big win for the some 145 million active monthly users of Cortana.  Essentially, it works like this:  If you have an Amazon Echo, you can say “Alexa, Open Cortana” and then give Cortana a command.  This will allow you to access specific information that you have in Cortana but don’t necessarily want to have to duplicate in Alexa if you are a marginal Echo user.

Eventually, both Amazon and Microsoft want to get the integration to the point where users won’t have to specifically call out Cortana but rather the Echo device itself determine which personal assistant can provide the best answer on-the-fly and leverage it automatically.

Today’s Deal is on the powerful and very popular Amazon Echo.  Today you can pick up the Amazon Alexa powered personal assistant device for $99.99.  That is a savings of $80 off the regular price.  The Echo has thousands of services that you can link to it in order to get news, information and, of course, order things from Amazon.  The Echo is a truly immersive experience for those that leverage Amazon Prime and the associated services like Amazon Music.

Echo is also aimed to give you personalized information such as commute time to work, leverage smart devices in your house like smart lights and garage door openers, get recipes for things to cook or drink.

Today’s Deal is on the powerful and very popular Amazon Echo.  Today you can pick up the Amazon Alexa powered personal assistant device for $129.99.  That is a savings of $50 off the regular price.  The Echo has thousands of services that you can link to it in order to get news, information and, of course, order things from Amazon.  The Echo is a truly immersive experience for those that leverage Amazon Prime and the associated services like Amazon Music.

Echo is also aimed to give you personalized information such as commute time to work, leverage smart devices in your house like smart lights and garage door openers, get recipes for things to cook or drink.

Today’s Deal is on the powerful and very popular Amazon Echo.  Today you can pick up the Amazon Alexa powered personal assistant device for $149.99.  That is a savings of $30 off the regular price.  The Echo has thousands of services that you can link to it in order to get news, information and, of course, order things from Amazon.  The Echo is a truly immersive experience for those that leverage Amazon Prime and the associated services like Amazon Music.

Echo is also aimed to give you personalized information such as commute time to work, leverage smart devices in your house like smart lights and garage door openers, get recipes for things to cook or drink.