Thursday, January 18, 2018

The Battle of the Voice Assistants: Google Assistant or Alexa

The recent CES saw a lot of new and innovative products, but most importantly we are now seeing trends where various gadgets whether it is house hold gadgets or otherwise, are adopting voice assistants into the mix. A common standard against which to measure performance of a voice assistant is how many products come with a particular voice assistant.

Currently there are many voice assistants out there, but the more prosperous of the lot seems to be the ones made by Amazon and the Google voice assistant. So who will take the lead in being the best voice assistant out there?
  
The Battle Between Alexa and Google Assistant Begins…
  
Talking of house hold appliances, at the recent CES Amazon’s Alexa has been inserted into a bathroom mirror whereby you can pass commands to the other house hold appliances through Kohler Konnect.

At the CES a number of products have built in voice assistants which you guessed right- Alexa and Google assistant being at the forefront.

Many smart speakers have a built in Google assistant like JBL, Altec Lansing and LG. Apart from speakers two leading TV brands have also adopted the Google assistant which are Sony and LG.

Getting into cars is another place where you’ll find the Google assistant courtesy of the new android auto.
  
YouTube Between Alexa and Google Assistant:
  
A little set- back for Amazon’s Alexa is that Google has recently blocked Alexa powered echo Show devices from YouTube. While this might be a deal breaker for some, Alexa is still ploughing on with house hold appliances such as fridges that dictate recipes to you while you cook, to bathroom mirrors that can control your other appliances.

In other news, Whirlpool remains non –committal when it comes to the best voice assistant out there. The users are given a chance to pick their favorite voice assistant on their microwave and/or oven appliances.

One of the most talked about gadgets at the CES this year has been the $1000 Vuzix smart glasses and these too feature Amazon’s Alexa to browse through the net for you.

  
So who’s the Winner?
  
While some say that hands down Amazon’s Alexa is the winner, others are a little dubious about the same.

Amazon is a long way off when it comes to countries outside Europe and the US; this may slow down its progress as compared to the Google assistant. The Google assistant too has more language support as compared to Alexa giving it a head start in world markets.

For now voice assistants are a novelty to a great many and while Google and Amazon do have their loyal fan base getting others to use voice assistants and their advantages stills remains a challenge.
What about other company’s voice assistants?

Coming to Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana and Samsung’s Bixby, all seem a far way off when it comes to the reigning champions Alexa and Google assistant.

But you got to hand it out to Samsung for remaining loyal to its own voice assistant by seeing bixby into its fridges, TVs and Smartphones.

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