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Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa fought for our attention at CES 2019 - The Verge Posted: 12 Jan 2019 06:00 AM PST Amazon's Alexa has become the household name when it comes to smart assistants, but its ongoing fight with Google Assistant is getting more difficult than expected. Products can support both Alexa and the Google Assistant, and since smart home companies want to sell products to as many customers as possible, Alexa has been getting fewer and fewer exclusive victories. Google used its massive presence at CES this week to send a message that it has bigger plans for the Assistant, too. Even at other companies' exhibits, Google deployed employees dressed in white clothes and Assistant-themed hats to talk visitors through the features it could provide on third-party devices. It also launched a new interpreter mode on Google Assistant that's being piloted at hotels in Las Vegas, New York, and San Francisco. In contrast, Amazon's presence felt small. Amazon had two main booths — one for Ring and another for Amazon Key — neither of which seemed fully prepared. At both booths, live demos of important Amazon features were not available. Ring's new Door View Cam wasn't activated nor connected to the app, and one booth over, Amazon's Key for Garage didn't have much to show. In an interview before the show, Amazon's SVP of devices and services Dave Limp said, "Customers do not care about an ad campaign on the Las Vegas Strip." And that may be why its presence felt diminished. Alexa has already established itself in the smart home industry, while Google Assistant still feels like the underdog with something to prove (even if it is technically on 10 times more devices, thanks to its presence on Android). But Alexa's apparent lead no longer feels as strong when you're looking at the breadth of gadgets out there, because third-party device makers aren't playing favorites. Devices like the U by Moen shower, the Lockly Secure Pro smart lock, and locks from August, all sport compatibility with Alexa and Google, while HomeKit looms on the horizon. Getting all those systems on one device took "the better part of last year" for Lockly, says CEO Lee Zheng. "Obviously Apple HomeKit will take a little bit longer." Very few companies have taken a definitive stance on smart assistants, and that means we'll continue to see these all-encompassing devices, allowing the different assistants to grow and thrive all at once. Alexa may have taken an early lead in this race, but it's not even close to being over yet. Let's block ads! (Why?)

CES 2019: In pictures - Engadget Posted: 12 Jan 2019 06:09 AM PST As we wrap up our reportage from this weeks Vegas showcase. According to CES, roughly 180,000 attendees hit the halls. In the thick of it all was photographer Will Lipman and our team of editors. Here, we try to capture some of the coolest highlights, some of the spectacle, and none of the queueing, toilet searching and taxi flagging. Google dominated the lot outside the Las Vegas convention center. Its was so involved that it had its own theme park ride. UBTech's Walker is an attempt to create the robot butler of our future. Features Editor Aaron Souppouris hunts down exhibitor booths. Impossible Burgers were being served up for free outside the CES halls. No meat, but still tasting like a burger. CES 2019 ran for three days, if you don't count the press day. Or all the very early briefings, embargoes and phone-calls that happen just before that. LG"s OLED universe is always a draw for crowds. This time, they were formed into curved shapes. BotBoxer didn't punch back, thankfully. But it didn't stop one of our editors hurting himself. Video producer Briah Oh makes one last check inside Engadget's CES trailer, right on the lot. The first bendable phone made a splash at CES, even if it was announced by Royole months before. The eternal struggle: trying to get out of the convention center when everyone else has the same idea. Follow all the latest news from CES 2019 here! In this article: ces2019, entertainment, gadgetry, gadgets, gaming, gear, inpictures, tomorrow By Mat Smith @thatmatsmith Mat once failed an audition to be the Milkybar Kid, an advert creation that pushed white chocolate on gluttonous British children. Two decades later, having repressed that early rejection, he moved to Japan, learned the language, earned his black belt in Judo and returned to UK, and soon joined Engadget's European team. After a few years leading Engadget's coverage from Japan, reporting on high-tech toilets and robot restaurants as Senior Editor, he now heads up our UK bureau in London. 0 Shares Share Tweet Share Save Let's block ads! (Why?)

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