Amazon Alexa and Google Home

Amazon Alexa and Google Home – “The Virtual Assistant’s War”

Didn’t you know about the war going on right now? It’s World War 3, and it’s a bloodbath, except there isn’t any blood or deaths. This war is fought in the virtual world with virtual assistants. It’s become known as “The Virtual Assistant’s War.” For the heavyweight championship of tech giants, it’s Amazon vs. Google. We know the companies. We know what they’re about, but how will this tech war impact all of us? Before we know these products, let’s figure out how virtual assistants work for us.

IBM Shoebox in 1961 Before Amazon Alexa and Google Home

Amazon and Google weren’t the first to bring virtual assistants to the real world. It was the IBM Shoebox in 1961 and could only recognize a few words and numbers. It was slow-moving until the real tech boom began kicking things into high gear. From Dragon speech software for roughly $6,000 in the mid-1990s to IBM’s Watson winning Jeopardy in 2011. Now Alexa has surpassed 10,000 different skills, and Google Home is expanding to other continents. Those are leaps and bounds over the past few years compared to the first 50 of the virtual assistant’s history. This technology is here to stay, and the opportunities are endless with no boundaries in sight.

How do Amazon Alexa and Google Home Work?

So how does one virtual assistant work? Well, you speak “Hey Google” or “Hey Alexa,” and your assistant is ready to work for you. What does this mean for you? Virtual assistants listen to passive devices, which means they’re awake but not really unless called upon. This is a good thing; it can tune out everything else and make it seem like no one is there. Yet it can be awful as it’s listening to you without you realizing it.

The tech giants are blazing a path without a third competitor’s insight. Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home each bring qualities, company faithful, products, and varying specs. So how do you decide which is suitable for you, your family, your work, or your personal life? Let’s explore both and see which is right for you.

Price of Amazon Alexa and Google Home

Both companies have the same idea and have executed vastly different game plans for their products. A wide range of products varies in price, from $20-$240 for Alexa-enabled devices to $20-$699 for Home devices. The pricing is roughly the same, depending on a few factors to fill your every desire. So what separates the two virtual assistants? The company? The product? It’s actually what you would like to accomplish with each virtual assistant.

Below is a current list of devices using virtual assistants:

Alexa Supported Devices

• Echo, Echo Plus, Echo Dot, Echo Look, Echo Show, Echo Spot, Tap, Sonos One smart speaker, Lenovo Smart Assistant, Harman intelligent Allure Kardon speaker, Kitsound Voice One smart speaker, Eufy Genie (by Anker), Invoxia Triby, LG SmartThinQ Hub, Onkyo VC-FLX1 smart speaker, Spark by Clazio touchscreen smart speaker, Fabriq and Chorus smart speaker, Jam Voice portable speaker, Vobot clock, Yeelight Voice Assistant (outside China), Polk Audio Comman/d Bar soundbar, Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Element 43-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV, Amazon Fire and Fire HD tablets, Huawei Mate 9, HTC U11, TCL Xess tablet, Moto X4 and Smart Speaker, Asus ZenBook and VivoBook laptops (2018), HP Pavilion Wave desktop, Lenovo ThinkPad X1 laptops (2018), Acer Aspire/Spin/Switch/Swift notebooks, Acer Aspire all-in-one desktops, Amazon Dash Wand (2017 version), GE Sol LED Lamp, LG InstaView smart refrigerator, Nucleus Anywhere Intercom, Omate Yumi Robot, ecobee4 smart thermostat, Ecobee Switch+ light switch, iDevices Instinct light switch, First Alert Onelink Safe & Sound smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector (2018 version), OV by ONvocal headphones, Lynx robot, Orion Labs Onyx smart walkie-talkie, iMCO CoWatch, Martian mVoice Smartwatches, Omate Rise Smartwatch, Bragi Dash and Dash Pro earbuds, Ford vehicles (select models),BMW vehicles (all 2018 models), Mini vehicles (all 2018 models), Toyota vehicles (select 2018 models), Lexus vehicles (select 2018 models), Garmin Speak, Muse by Speak Music, Roger (app), EchoSim (website), Amazon iOS and Android shopping apps (only for purchasing products from Amazon.com), Amazon Music iOS and Android apps (only for music playback), and Amazon Alexa mobile app.
  • Total of 66 devices/apps/partners as of 2/19/18. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Alexa

Google Home-supported devices:

• Google Play Music Free and Premium, YouTube Music (the US and Australia only), Spotify Free and Premium, Pandora  (the US only), TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Google Chromecast (Chromecast, Chromecast Audio, Chromecast Ultra), Vizio, Toshiba, Philips, Sony, Bang & Olufson, B&O PLAY, Grundig, Polk Audio, YouTube, YouTube TV (the US only), Netflix, CBS All Access, CWTV, Viki, and Google Photos and Calendar.
  • Total of 23 devices/apps of 2/19/18. Source: https://support.google.com/googlehome/answer/7172483?hl=en
  • The list doesn’t include 1,500 home control partners.

Amazon has a big lead with total devices and apps. Google has home control partners, which Amazon is beginning to venture into more and more. Both play to customers’ preferences, and it is an arms race to see who they will work with next. Either way, these two continue to gear up for the long haul.

With the arms race in full swing, it’s all about advertising to get the most customers on your side. Thanks to the rent Superbowl and Olympics, we can easily venture down their marketing plans thanks to their recent commercials.

These commercials showcase the product and its intended use, but they scratch the surface with what it’s capable of. They’ve laid the hook for their customers, and they must watch the money pour in. With the new income, we can expect more features and products to showcase the virtual assistant’s abilities and skills.

Amazon Alexa and Google Home Reviews

With each new product version comes an updated operating system. It brings about the customer’s cause of concern for all technical bugs and updates a new product brings. As a result, it leads to plenty of customer reviews and complaints like the ones below.

• Amazon: https://www.cnet.com/reviews/amazon-echo-review/ 
• Google: https://www.techradar.com/reviews/google-home

Reviews are always best when viewed and read with a grain of salt. Over time those reviews get the issues fixed and change people’s minds. What gets overlooked is the reviews not being correctly updated and are current to the most recent update. These reviews provide a nice transcript of what has changed or improved with the virtual assistants. It’s like a kid watching a kid grow up over time.

So how do Amazon Alexa and Google Home Stack up?

It’s important to realize that regardless of version, we can easily see how they stack up against one another. So how do they stack up against one another? That’s a simple yet very delicate question to answer. The decision becomes clear if you break down everything to the bare bones of each topic. See the table below:

For a more in-depth look at specs, I suggest visiting https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/amazon-echo-vs-google-home/. They cover a lot of specs in this article.)

It’s effortless to sway people’s pick based solely on the specifications they have to offer. Looking past everything leaves you asking yourself one question, what exactly do you want your virtual assistant to do? That simple question wipes away all the question marks surrounding the specifications.

Alexa’s Capabilities

The opportunities are endless for this virtual assistant. Alexa’s capabilities span far and wide across our daily lives. From ordering products off Amazon, accessing your bank accounts, and even having it read your kids a bedtime story. The fun doesn’t stop there, as Alexa is constantly updated with new skills daily. To get the most from Alexa, you want to tap into those skills to reach their full potential.

The argument for Alexa is simple because it’s Amazon. Suppose that’s the only reason for choosing Alexa. You haven’t done your research to know what you will be getting. Yes, Alexa has the backing of one of the biggest and quickest-expanding companies in the world. Not to mention it’s being updated every second possible with new skills and abilities. You can’t forget Alexa’s flexibility to potential customers, developers, companies, apps, and everyone connected to Amazon. With expansion comes being stretched very thin. This is Alexa’s weak point, and Amazon knows it and, for this reason, will do anything to protect it. Amazon is very good at protecting itself from this as every move is calculated strategically to guard against it.

Google’s Capabilities

Google Home’s capabilities are mainly home-based. From making announcements throughout your home, real-time Google searches, and language translation. Home can revitalize how you communicate with your family in various ways. So much so that Google Home can ensure everything you say is correct even if you need clarification. Furthermore, Home is mainly for use at home and nowhere else. Under these circumstances, it limits what Google Home can do as a virtual assistant.

The argument for Google Home isn’t as simple as Alexa’s. Yes, it’s got the big company behind it, but so far, it’s only been an answer to Alexa. Don’t get me wrong, it’s made leaps and bounds from where it started, but it has a long road ahead. What Google Home brings to the table that Alexa doesn’t is the king of everything, knowledge. In this world, knowledge is king. Amazon may have Google’s search engine behind it, but it can still access most of what you’re searching for. This is one of the biggest things Google Home provides its customers. It’s a critical factor that can’t be overlooked when deciding which virtual assistant to choose.

Amazon Alexa and Google Home – so which one wins?

I could sit here all day and night talking about who has better this or that. Who offers more to each customer? What can they do or can’t do? Whether you want to stay loyal to a particular brand or an operating system, picking either is still a win-win. There is no loser in this war except our checkbooks. Amazon Alexa and Google Home have their positives and negatives, but it’s just like any other big purchase. Pick your virtual assistant carefully based on your need and use it the most. I recommend the trial run with friends who have the products since little research never hurts anyone.

My Pick – Is It Amazon Alexa OR Google Home

Alexa, Amazon, and Google Home

Having to pick a winner is never easy, but the choice is clear, Alexa. The final analysis is that Amazon will take Alexa anywhere it wants to. That being said, Google can do the same thing with the Home but not as fast.  Before we know it, Alexa will be everywhere we turn. Google could very well be just an in-home service with some branching out to other platforms. Amazon is still leading the pack with device capability and skills. Not to mention it’s being updated daily by programmers and developers with new skills that you can create!

It’s important to remember that if either company eliminated the WiFi aspect of their devices, they would win the war. This opens a spectrum of possibilities for their product, including seeing what people do without WiFi. You could call this the nuclear bomb to declare victory without questioning it. Consequently, this would eliminate the need for advancement and stall all progress. So don’t expect that to happen anytime soon.

Finally, the key is that many new home constructions include some smart home systems. Amazon Alexa and Google Home will continue to grow.