There are mainly two such products in the smart speaker market currently - Amazon Echo and Google Home. However, Microsoft is set to unveil its own version (powered by Cortana and Harman Kardon as the third party device maker) in the coming months.
Not much has been detailed in the specs for now but what remains similar with both Amazon and Google's competing products is that it will probably look and work like a speaker. As more companies jump on board to launch their iterations of voice activated home assistants, we wonder what would be next for such devices and what role would they play in the IoT (Internet of Things) grand scheme. Below are some possibilities which I foresee:
1. The next generation of voice-activated assistant (smart speaker) will most likely spot a screen. Sure, voice activation is cool, be it asking Alexa for news and to top up your fridge, commanding Google (home?) to turn on the TV for or asking Cortana for advice, However, the user experience still seems crippled without a user interface (in case the speaker/microphone dies)
2. Recognizing different voices.
3. String commands together. For now, each command needs to be separate. In the future, this limitation will probably be overcome.
4. Remote controlling over different locations. For now, while IoT still has limited applications, but in the future it would certainly work, security wise however, would pose a problem
5. Locating items within your house/areas of control. Ok this might be creepy. But to do so will mean that artificial intelligence has progressed to becoming "sentient" and knowing your house's blueprint entirely. This can work well when you are so used to misplacing items or work against you by an intruder/hacker. Of course, I dont think at this current moment there is any simple technology that allows for such an implementation, much less a home-based system.
Any other opinions? Feel free to add on
