Amazon and Google, sitting in a tree…
Harman has announced that both Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant live harmoniously together inside a new range of JBL speakers, which have just been revealed.
Previously, on smart speakers such as the Sonos One, users had to select one voice assistant out of the two; it’s never been possible before to have Alexa and Google’s Assistant residing side by side in the same smart speaker.
That’s all changed on the new JBL Authentics 200, 300 and 500 smart speakers.
It’s a result of the Voice Interoperability Initiative that Amazon launched in 2019 and the Multi-Agent Experience (MAX) Toolkit which is available to devs on both sides.
“Our mission for Alexa is to create a trusted AI that makes life more convenient and fulfilling for anyone, anywhere,” said Aaron Rubenson, vice president of Alexa.
“To realize this vision, we’re working to make voice ubiquitous for customers across a range of products, including third-party devices that support multiple assistants. We see infinite possibilities for assistants to enhance customers’ lives, regardless of which assistant they choose to use.”
I wouldn’t say it’s a feature that has been high in demand but it could be super useful. For example, my smart home tech is pretty much powered by Alexa, but the Google Assistant is a much better responder for queries on random topics or sports scores.
Interestingly, it’s not just a case of Alexa or the Google Assistant both being on call whenever you need them, they can actually work together as well. Sort of.
Using Universal Device Commands (UDCs), which is a result of both Amazon and Google providing tools to devs, you can ask Alexa to start the music, for example, and then have the Google Assistant end the party.
This cross voice assistant feature also applies to things like timers, reminders and alarms.
It makes total sense because otherwise there could be a lot of chaos and confusion trying to remember what assistant you asked to do what all the time.
The JBL speakers themselves offer up AirPlay, Alexa Multi-Room Music (MRM), Spotify Connect, and Chromecast built-in so, in theory, you could get other speakers grouped up and have both Alexa and GA playing DJ.
The 500 is the pick of the bunch, offering up Dolby Atmos audio but the 300 can also be portable as it has a battery.
You can get the JBL Authentics 200, 300 and 500 speakers next month. Pricing is as follows.
Authentics 200: $329.99 / £299.99
Authentics 300: $429.99 / £379.99
Authentics 500: $699.99 / £579.99
