Google Will Now Talk Through Speakers, Fridges and Vacuums

It remains unclear how many consumers want to have a relationship with - let alone take orders from - their microwave or refrigerator.

But Google is betting that voice activation will make it easier, more fun and thus, more monetizable.

Of greater strategic interest may be the fact that Samsung, the company which effectively realized the promise of Google's Android operating system for phones, is now developing its own voice-driven products, suggesting that increasing competition in the category may cause profits suffer until there is a shake-out. JL


Mark Bergen reports in Bloomberg:

Its voice-based chat service is now compatible with home devices, including speakers and refrigerators. After arriving on Google’s smartphone and speaker, the company hopes its chat-bot can field search queries and become a vehicle for online commerce. LG Electronics plans to bring the service to washing machines and refrigerators. Google said the assistant would soon be in things like sprinklers and vacuum cleaners. Absent from the partner list is Samsung, which is developing its own voice assistant.
Google’s push to place its digital assistant, the search giant’s new product centerpiece, inside every consumer appliance imaginable is edging forward.
The Alphabet Inc. unit announced that its voice-based chat service is now compatible with a wave of home devices, including speakers and everyday household appliances like refrigerators. After arriving on Google’s smartphone and speaker in 2016, the company hopes its chat-bot can field regular search queries and become a vehicle for online commerce.
On that front, Google faces stiff competition from Amazon.com Inc., which is also trying to spread its digital assistant Alexa. For example, on Wednesday Amazon and Microsoft Corp. announced a deal to make their digital assistants talk to each other. Later this year, people using Alexa will be able to ask Microsoft’s Cortana do a range of tasks, including reading work emails. Cortana users will be able to ask Alexa to buy stuff from Amazon.
LG Electronics Inc., the first Android handset to use Google’s assistant, announced at a conference in Berlin that it plans to bring the service to upcoming washing machines and refrigerators. Google said the assistant would soon be in things like sprinklers and vacuum cleaners. The company also unveiled new speakers with the feature -- the first beyond Google’s own Home device -- made by Panasonic Corp. and Mobvoi, a Chinese startup that counts Google as a strategic investor.
Noticeably absent from the partner list is Samsung Electronics Co., a major manufacturer of Android phones and home appliances that is developing its own voice assistant.