CES is fully in gear at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. They are showcasing all the best, brightest, and sometimes downright odd new gadgets to bring into the tech world. As you might imagine, voice assistants, and voice commands are quite popular right now with the frontrunners of Alexa from Amazon and OK Google from Google Home. Over the last few years, voice commands and voice assistants have become more advanced, understanding more words and overall lifestyle commands. That is not slowing down.
A number of different companies brought their ideas of voice assistants to the table. One notable copycat appears to be that of the Amazon Show. If you are unfamiliar with this product, it is a display screen with a speaker. The original versions of Amazon Echo are simple standalone speaker units. Now the screen is a big part of what sets it aside from the standalone speaker. Now you can speak to your assistant and it won’t only talk to you or provide you with information or music, but it can display information on the screen. Think of it as a voice assistant computer without the need for a keyboard.
If you need directions the display will show the map, if you need a recipe, the display will show that also. While Amazon Show is the first to market with this type of device, Google also jumped into the arena. They don’t create their own screens though. Instead, they work with third party vendors to create the display portion. The Google Home Assistant then does the voice work. The display screens integrate with Google suite of products including Gmail and Google Maps.
The Lenovo display is bulky however and must be plugged in, in order to work. For those concerned about privacy, there are two buttons on the device which can turn off the camera and microphone within the device whenever the user wants to do so.
LG stepped into the voice industry with “Cloi” (pronounced Chloe). This AI (artificial intelligence) will connect to other smart devices in your home. Cloi can remind you of your schedule for the day and if you’re going to the gym it will connect to your smart washing machine so the machine knows to clean on the “Sportswear” cycle. It can also connect to your Smart TV to choose your programming, connect to the soundbar to monitor the audio, and even to other products such as the vacuum or air conditioner. By speaking to Cloi, all of these items can be turned on or off and to different settings.
Watch below as the representative from LG speaks about and to Cloi.
Samsung isn’t holding back either. They presented their “Bixby” digital assistant. With this digital assistant and app through your smartphone, you can control your smart TV, house lights, songs on Spotify, and so much more. If you have “Smartthings” home appliances, Bixby can control the entire house from the screen of your phone. Watch below as Samsung demonstrates Bixby.
Amazon in the Bathroom?
Yes, it’s happening, Amazon is making its way into the bathroom too with smart devices inside. There is a Smart Toilet, we know, a little too close for comfort. You can control your toilet from your phone. Need to flush it? There’s a button on the screen for that. Want the seat warmed? A button on the screen for that too. Amazon can be in your faucet too. If you want a certain amount of water to come out of the faucet, just tell Alexa and it will be done for you.
Voice is growing in its application all over. This is most likely only the beginning. The world of the Jetsons? Here it comes!
