Amazon willing to allow Apple's Siri on Echo speakers, executive says

Posted:
in General Discussion
Amazon is open to supporting third-party voice assistants like Apple's Siri or Google Assistant on its Echo speakers, the company's senior VP of devices said on Wednesday.




"If Apple or Google want to come call, my phone number is out there. They can call," David Limp remarked to CNBC. "I hope there is a day when that happens. I don't know if I can envision it, but I hope it happens, on behalf of customers."

Currently the Echo line uses Amazon's Alexa assistant, which has been popular enough to spread to other devices, including third-party offerings like phones and thermostats. It in fact spawned the entire "smartspeaker" product category -- Amazon's main competition being the Google Home, and Apple's newly-announced HomePod, coming in December. Microsoft is meanwhile working with partners on Cortana-enabled speakers.

While Google has been eager to put Assistant on third-party hardware, Apple has so far reserved Siri exclusively for its own products. It's therefore unlikely that Siri will appear on an Echo anytime soon.

The HomePod takes a different tack than most smartspeakers, concentrating on high-end audio with features like seven tweeters, a subwoofer, and beamforming for vocals. It will also sell for a much higher pricetag -- $349, about $169 more than the standard Echo, and $220 more than the Google Home. An Echo Dot is just $49.99, though it requires existing speakers for quality sound.

HomePod owners will also be able to use the speaker as a hub for HomeKit devices, enabling control away from home. At the moment, only iPads and the Apple TV can serve as hubs.
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 37
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member
    No way this will happen but if it did, would be fun to try this:

    "Hey Siri, what's the best smartspeaker?"

    "Not the one you are currently using."
    lollivermacky the mackyavidthinkerwatto_cobrawillcropointsergiozargonaut1stjbdragon
  • Reply 2 of 37
    DracarysDracarys Posts: 72member
    I can see Google allowing their Assistant on Echo, but hell will freeze over before Apple allows Siri on it
    lollivercaliwatto_cobrajbdragon
  • Reply 3 of 37
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,053member
    Amazon feels the heat huh? I wouldn't want any personal information on my iPhone to go to Echo. Apple would never allow this integration. Even though the HomePod is expensive, I'd buy it over the Echo any day for the superb sound quality and technologies behind it. In fact, I'd get 2 HomePod and put them left and right in my living room.
    lollivercaliwatto_cobraargonautjbdragon
  • Reply 4 of 37
    NY1822NY1822 Posts: 621member
    I'm down for 2 homepods and many as gifts
    lollivercaliwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 37
    slprescottslprescott Posts: 765member
    fallenjt said:
     In fact, I'd get 2 HomePod and put them left and right in my living room.
    With 2 HomePods, do they somehow agree on which speaker gets the right vs. left channel so that you hear in stereo, not dual-mono?
    coolfactor
  • Reply 6 of 37
    I don't know much about the Echo, but given that there is an Android Apple Music app, would it be crazy to have an Echo Siri app?

    Then again, if Echo supported Bluetooth HSP and/or HFP profiles, you could simply pair it and use the Echo's built-in mic with your iOS device...

    ...apparently they do not: Supported Bluetooth Profiles for Echo. Perhaps just as well. I don't know if this would be a good idea in practice (I'm just having a crazy thought day).
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 37
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    NY1822 said:
    I'm down for 2 homepods and many as gifts
    Ah, to be rich.
    watto_cobracoolfactorargonautjbdragon
  • Reply 8 of 37
    tzeshantzeshan Posts: 2,351member
    fallenjt said:
     In fact, I'd get 2 HomePod and put them left and right in my living room.
    With 2 HomePods, do they somehow agree on which speaker gets the right vs. left channel so that you hear in stereo, not dual-mono?
    Interesting question.  Who will answer if you say Hey Siri?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 37
    applesauce007applesauce007 Posts: 1,698member
    I am not surprised.  I guess Amazon paid close attention to the WWDC keynote.

    1.  The SIRI voices use of machine learning to clearly say Sunny, Sunny and Sunny in intelligent human "tones" it's simply an amazing feat of artificial intelligence.  It's NOT a recording folks, SIRI appears to know about human tones and emotions.  "I love machine learning because I am a Machine.....Learning."

    2.  SIRI supports the most languages and as Apple works on translations, HomePod can become the ultimate translator.  It would take years of work for Amazon to catch up in terms of ML.

    Time will tell.
    lollivercaliwatto_cobraargonautStrangeDays
  • Reply 10 of 37
    sockrolidsockrolid Posts: 2,789member
    Amazon is open to supporting third-party voice assistants like Apple's Siri or Google Assistant on its Echo speakers, the company's senior VP of devices said on Wednesday.
    No thanks, Amazon.
    Echo audio quality is too crappy.
    Amazon's data-mining users is too creepy.
    caliwatto_cobraargonautjbdragon
  • Reply 11 of 37
    NY1822NY1822 Posts: 621member
    ireland said:
    NY1822 said:
    I'm down for 2 homepods and many as gifts
    Ah, to be rich.
    Best Buy 18 month financing at 0%, can't beat it
    caliwatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 37
    NY1822NY1822 Posts: 621member
    tzeshan said:
    fallenjt said:
     In fact, I'd get 2 HomePod and put them left and right in my living room.
    With 2 HomePods, do they somehow agree on which speaker gets the right vs. left channel so that you hear in stereo, not dual-mono?
    Interesting question.  Who will answer if you say Hey Siri?
    After reading some reviews on Alexa, people are stating if 2 devices are near each other they both will answer. Some people change the "hot word" to Amazon on one device and leave "Alexa" on the other.
  • Reply 13 of 37
    NY1822NY1822 Posts: 621member
    Google is imitating the marketing in Apple's new IPad Pro commercials for their Google Home in their 2 new commercials....its on 9to5Google.....same beat in background "and cool/hip millennial talking"
    cali
  • Reply 14 of 37
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    NY1822 said:
    Google is imitating the marketing in Apple's new IPad Pro commercials for their Google Home in their 2 new commercials....its on 9to5Google.....same beat in background "and cool/hip millennial talking"
    LOL. In one day they "imitated" Apple. I doubt even Google is that good. 
    https://9to5google.com/2017/06/07/watch-new-googl-home-ads-temporary-price-cut-video/
    edited June 2017
  • Reply 15 of 37
    kevin keekevin kee Posts: 1,289member
    fallenjt said:
     In fact, I'd get 2 HomePod and put them left and right in my living room.
    With 2 HomePods, do they somehow agree on which speaker gets the right vs. left channel so that you hear in stereo, not dual-mono?
    I guess that you just need to allow them to decide. But from what I understood regarding spatial awareness, it's all done automatically. Say you move Speaker A to the left of Speaker B, each will assume its position in relative to the other. If you then decide to move A again back to the right of B, they will re-assign their position again. As for who will speak, I guess it will be the dominant one (just kidding).

    And no, Siri is not allowed in any of non Apple products. I don't think so.
    edited June 2017 watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 37
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,335member
    I think Apple did a stellar job of differentiating the value proposition of HomePod, i.e., uncompromising audio performance first and iCloud/Apple Music/iTunes connected voice assistant a distant (for now) second, versus competitive products like Amazon Echo. The HomePod is simply the latest Apple product that recognizes the immense value of controlling and optimally tuning hardware, software, services, and ecosystem in such a way that the end product is so much more than simply a sum of its component parts.

    The Echo with Alexa is no slouch and Amazon is a brilliant company. But there's little to be gained by Apple or its customers by putting Siri into a third party hardware device. In many ways Siri is simply an API/UI that's intimately bound to the Apple hardware, software, services, design, style, brand value, environmental, etc., capabilities that are unique to Apple and valued by Apple customers. Extracting Siri from its home universe just so it can be used as an alternative voice UI on Echo greatly diminishes its total value contribution to the "greater than the sum of parts" expectations held by Apple's customers.

    All voice assistant technologies are still in their early stages of development and maturity. We're also on the cusp of AI, AR, VR, and machine learning becoming mainstream vehicles for delivering additional consumer value in connected products like HomePod (and everything else Apple does). Apple will undoubtedly take Siri in some form far broader and deeper into everything it does. It does not make sense for Apple to chain themselves to someone else's products in a way that slows them down or tarnishes the relationship they have with friends and foes alike. Apple's Siri does not need Echo and Amazon's Echo does not need Siri. Mr Limp's statement is a chaff flare.
    brucemcStrangeDays
  • Reply 17 of 37
    mjtomlinmjtomlin Posts: 2,673member
    tzeshan said:
    fallenjt said:
     In fact, I'd get 2 HomePod and put them left and right in my living room.
    With 2 HomePods, do they somehow agree on which speaker gets the right vs. left channel so that you hear in stereo, not dual-mono?
    Interesting question.  Who will answer if you say Hey Siri?

    It wouldn't be any different than having any other 2 iOS devices in the same room. My iPhone SE is always quickest to respond over my iPad Pro. They both start, but the SE must be the first to say, "I got this", and the iPad backs down.
  • Reply 18 of 37
    igorskyigorsky Posts: 752member
    Siri on Echo = zero upside for Apple. 

    No thanks, Limp. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 37
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,564member
    A couple of days after Apple's HomePod announcement Amazon "offers" this arrangement? Why didn't they offer this before? And why is the offer through the media rather than through private calls? It doesn't sound sincere.
  • Reply 20 of 37
    bestkeptsecretbestkeptsecret Posts: 4,265member
    NY1822 said:
    I'm down for 2 homepods and many as gifts


    If only they were yellow...


    argonaut
Sign In or Register to comment.