Plain and simple, Amazon is owning the home voice assistant market at the moment, at least in the US, with their Echo line of devices. Many have wondered, including us, why Google hasn’t responded with their own hardware with, if nothing else, their Google Now voice assistant inside.
If a Recode’s sources are correct then Google is indeed working on a hardware device, similar in form to the OnHub router, code-named “Chirp”. Unfortunately, it’s not expected to launch at Google IO as a physical product you can buy. However, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that they will announce it, and its developer platform so that developers can commence the work of integrating their services into Google’s home voice assistant offering.
Unfortunately, for the international audience, there is a very good chance that the “Chirp”, or whatever it ends up being named, will be US only at launch, if not on an ongoing basis. You still can’t officially buy a Chromebook Pixel or an OnHub in Australia, or many other nations. In a world where the internet has made borders almost irrelevant, it is amazing the amount of geographic lock in that continues to this day.
We’re excited for a Google hardware entrant into the home voice assistant market, and even if it is region restricted it’s safe to assume more than a few of us will be importing one.
Are you excited by the Home voice Assistant concept? Let us know what you would want to see out of a Google-powered device.
