The smart speaker has been a big hit in 2018, with consumers buying more of them than ever before. Despite the hype, though, the device is far from a one-size-fits-all product. It helps that customers have different expectations of smart speakers. Customers are increasingly relying on these voice-activated devices as a way to listen to music, get the news, set timers, order food, find local businesses, check traffic, control smart home devices, and much more. If you think of it as a digital assistant, then the smart speaker is a modern-day variation of the personal assistant.
Being the early adopters, Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Google’s Assistant are already very popular with consumers. But other companies have been striving to build their own intelligent assistants that can perform specific tasks for users—these range from Cortana, Microsoft’s Cortana, Amazon’s Echo, Google Home, and so on. In case you are wondering, Amazon Echo is a cylindrical speaker with a 360-degree speaker on top that uses far-field beamforming technology that allows you to control it by voice.
Getting to Know More Alexa vs. Siri vs. Google Assistant vs. Cortana
Alexa
Amazon’s Alexa is a virtual assistant that has been available on its Echo line of home smart speakers for the last several years. The Echo range of products and Alexa itself are widely popular, and Amazon has been steadily improving the Alexa platform since its launch.
The Amazon Echo is the preeminent voice-activated home assistant. It’s the best you can buy. If you want privacy, you can opt out, and it’ll still work. If you’re just looking for a device to make your life better, the Echo is the very best there is. If you’re an Apple fanboy, you sure don’t have to buy the Echo to use Apple Music or Siri, but if you’re an Android user and have a Prime subscription, you sure will love the Echo’s integration with services like Prime Music and Voice Assistants.
Siri
At a time when voice assistants are taking the place of our smartphones, a new study is shedding light on which of the three most popular smart assistants is the best. The study, conducted by the University of South Australia, showed that Siri is the most reliable of the three, scoring higher in reliability in English and Australian English.
The iPhone has a voice assistant built into it called Siri. Siri is available through Google Assistant, and it is also an option on many of the other operating systems that use Google Android. Siri was created by a company called Siri, Inc., which was later acquired by Apple. But Apple still has the rights to Siri and can use it for Siri Simulator (a sort of virtual assistant) for a limited time.
Google Assistant
Google Assistant is the newest competitor in the smart home hub race to rival Amazon Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Samsung’s Cortana. Assistant is Google’s answer to all those devices that have been stealing internet of things (IoT) market share, and it’s part of the company’s larger strategy to take back control of your digital life. Assistant lets you set reminders, listen to music, read the news, control your home appliances, and more. Assistant is available on all Android and iOS devices and in the Google Home smart speaker.
Google Assistant is a virtual assistant and digital helper which runs on the Google Home smart speaker, and it is the first virtual assistant to be built into a smart speaker. It was launched as a part of the initial “Hey Google,” and it was expanded to other devices, including the Pixel smartphones and the Google Wi-Fi mesh router. The user can ask the Assistant to perform common tasks such as sending messages, playing music, creating reminders, etc. Google Assistant is also expanded to the Google Pixel smartphones through the Google Assistant app.
Cortana
“Cortana” is a new voice recognition system from a company called Parsa. This system is designed to work with voice-enabled devices like Google Home, but it works with other software as well, as well. It’s not exactly clear which devices it will work with, but the company plans to announce its first partners by the end of the year. The system is designed to work with other devices like Amazon Alexa, so it’s likely that Amazon’s Alexa-enabled devices won’t be compatible at first.
We have all heard of Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant, and Cortana—and we even know that Alexa is the leader of our household. Alexa has already been integrated into the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show, and the Amazon Tap. The next phase is for it to integrate into other devices like the Apple TV, Xbox One, and Google Home.