Amazon's Alexa to Meet Google's Assistant in a Las Vegas Showdown
January 07 2018 - 9:29AM
Dow Jones News
By Katherine Bindley
If the annual CES technology show in Las Vegas were a high
school dance, Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google would be
the kids who stayed away, preferring to throw their own parties.
Only this year, the tech giants are all dressed up and looking for
dates.
They're seeking and supporting partners for their voice-operated
platforms, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. In the grand
tradition of such classic battles as Android versus iOS and Mac
versus PC, there's a showdown in the voice-operated world over
who's going to be in charge of your home.
Despite CES's role as an international meeting place for digital
giants and startups alike, the titans of tech -- not just Google
and Amazon, but Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and Microsoft Corp. --
have been largely absent in recent years. They might have sent
staff, but they didn't set up big tents or booths, or buy big ads
to cover Vegas buildings. Microsoft once dominated the tech show,
but pulled back its public-facing activities after 2012.
"Both Google and Amazon kind of thought it was cool not to go to
CES," said Patrick Moorhead, chief analyst with Moor Insights &
Strategy. "But it's a required thing because of this new plane of
competition in home automation and digital assistants."
CES will be the ideal battleground this week, with 3,900
exhibitors, many showcasing home products with voice-operated
capabilities -- not just speakers but entire entertainment systems,
kitchen appliances and security platforms. But since making and
supporting a reliable voice assistant can cost billions of dollars,
even well-heeled companies with broad product lines are pairing
with the industry leaders.
Amazon and Google aren't just interested in new areas to embed
their voice assistants. They also need to expand their ever-growing
arsenals of voice-activated apps, what Amazon calls "skills" and
Google calls "actions."
Amazon needs to have a presence at CES if it wants to partner
with the best, said J.P. Gownder, an analyst with market research
firm Forrester, while Google needs to show it's serious about the
smart-home market to make up for lost time.
"Amazon has a bit of a head start here. They have more
partnerships. They have more skills than Google has actions," he
said. "But Google is not taking it lying down."
"Everything going forward is about partnership. No company can
be successful by itself," said Gary Shapiro, chief executive of the
Consumer Technology Association, which produces CES, formerly known
as the Consumer Electronics Show. "Every tech company has to be
there because they're afraid they're going to miss out."
Alexa was all over CES last year. This week, even more of its
capabilities will be on display. Among other things, it will be
able to turn up the volume on a Hisense Smart TV, operate a
Whirlpool microwave, even draw a bath and dim the lights from
within Kohler's $1,600 bathroom mirror.
Amazon is sending a number of executives to the show, including
David Limp, senior vice president of devices and services. During
CES, the company will also be hosting workshops and presentations
focused on Alexa-based products.
"Amazon is excited to support our partners at CES and you'll
continue to see Alexa show up in new use cases, categories, and
devices through the week," a company spokesman said.
Amazon will have an outdoor promotional area near the show's
epicenter at the Las Vegas Convention Center. But close by, a much
larger space is allocated to Google, which also bought "Hey Google"
ads covering cars of the Las Vegas Monorail.
Google is also sending executives to the show, but its
technology will be found in many other booths: LG will be
showcasing with a built-in Google Assistant, while Cauldryn, maker
of heated water bottles, is joining with Google to integrate
voice-activated controls.
The smart home controlled by voice assistants is the hub for a
broad range of industries -- energy management, retail, content
delivery, even next-generation transportation, said Jonathan
Collins, an analyst with ABI Research. Whoever controls the smart
home, he said, will tap into a valuable information stream.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 07, 2018 09:14 ET (14:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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