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Lenovo Home Assistant is a $80 smart speaker with Alexa… when paired with an Android tablet

Earlier this year Lenovo unveiled its answer to the Amazon Echo. It’s called the Lenovo Smart Assistant and, like the Echo, it uses Amazon’s Alexa voice service and it’s expected to sell for $180 if and when Lenovo ever gets around to selling it. But it turns out Lenovo also has another smart speaker. It’s called […]

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Sony launches a $200 smart speaker with Google Assistant

Sony’s entering the smart speaker space with a little help from Google. The new Sony LG-S50G is a 360 degree speaker with Bluetooth, NFC, and WiFi support. It’s also designed for hands-free controls, thanks to Google Assistant integration, making it one of the first third-party speakers to support Google’s voice service. You can use your voice […]

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Google Assistant is coming to third-party speakers

Google Assistant made its debut on Pixel smartphones and the Google Home smart speaker last year. But a few months ago Google introduced an SDK that would let third-party hardware makers add Google’s voice assistant service to their own hardware. Now Google has announced that the first third-party smart speakers with Google Assistant are on […]

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Eufy Genie is Anker’s $35 answer to the Amazon Echo Dot

Amazon’s Echo Dot is a small, always-listening speaker that supports voice controls (and questions) thanks to Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant software. But Alexa is also available to third-party device makers, so while the $50 Echo Dot is Amazon’s cheapest Alexa-capable speaker, it’s not necessarily the cheapest Alexa-capable speaker. Case in point: budget gadget maker Anker is launching […]

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Xiaomi’s smart speaker costs just $45 (probably won’t speak English)

Amazon’s Echo may dominate the smart speaker space it helped create, but competition is growing. Google has a smart speaker. Apple’s is on the way. Microsoft is working with partners on Cortana-powered speakers. And now China’s Xiaomi wants in on the action. The company unveiled a new Mi AI Speaker during the same event where […]

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Amazon Tap is on sale for $70 today

The $180 Amazon Echo is still probably the best smart speaker powered by Amazon’s Alexa Voice Service, while the $50 Echo Dot is the cheapest. In between is the $130 Amazon Tap, which is bigger than the Dot, smaller than the Echo, and battery-powered, making it the only truly portable model in Amazon’s current lineup. […]

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Tmall Genie is Alibaba’s Amazon Echo clone (for China)

It’s taken a few years for Amazon’s Echo line of voice-controlled smart speakers to get any real competition. But these days there’s a growing number of alternatives, including Google Assistant and upcoming speakers from Apple, Harmon Kardon (and Microsoft), Essential, Samsung (maybe), and others. Now Chinese eCommerce company Alibaba wants in on the action. The company […]