Subscribe
Sign in
Lenovo Smart Assistant — Amazon Echo competitor with Alexa inside
15
Replies
Best
Chris Messina
Top Hunter
Very curious the deal terms here. Why didn't they go with a neutral platform like Houndify? Is Amazon paying a referral for items purchased on Amazon through devices like this?
Report
Share
@chrismessina Interesting question. What would the implications be if Amazon was paying the referral? Also, do you know any similar devices that have used Houndify? I love Hound on iOS and have been wondering when I might find an Echo-like device that implements it.
@chrismessina I suspect we'll see a flurry of devices like these. Lenovo (NOT a hot b2c brand) inherits consumer credibility & awareness from "Alexa inside" status. Amazon benefits from faster growth of the Alexa platform. The pared down price and designer-inspired hardware don't hurt the Alexa "I need branding" image either. (Am I curious about the terms? Yup. Price point remains low, so the bulk of the expense is in future years, tied to sales volume, or tied to digital product sales.)
@chrismessina I guess if they went with Hound, they'd have to convince developers to support yet another platform.
Built in collaboration with Amazon, the elegantly designed Lenovo Smart Assistant recognizes users’ voice commands and uses Alexa to conduct web searches, play music, create lists, provide calendar updates and much more.
From the Lenovo blog post: "We know that 65 percent of people around the world already use voice recognition technology on their phone, PC or tablet."
Given that only 40% of the world has internet access, this statistic seems rather dubious...
@mattsilv Interesting. Is it an inartful attempt to say that 65% of people [with Internet access] use it? I don't know the stats, just asking!
It does look a little bit like the end of a cigarette. Is there an option to have an orange glow at the top? ;-)
Lenovo smart assistance looking exciting and impressive, and it is a very cool feature. Very curious the deal terms here. Very curious the deal terms here.
@windmaple The price is likely the primary draw is it is $50 cheaper, and it has the added boost of what many would consider to be better aesthetics.
@windmaple They also claim to have better speakers. The higher-end version of it is made in partnership with Harman Kardon speakers
That looks like the body of an Amazon Echo bot with the bottom of a Google Home