Several years after Amazon launched its Alexa digital assistant as part of its Echo home speaker, Apple is said to be moving toward the launch of its own version of the device. In fact, the company may be closer to finalizing a device than we thought — according to the latest reports, Apple employees are testing prototypes in their homes.
The report comes from Bloomberg, and it notes that Apple engineers just recently started in-home testing — and that the device could finally be launched at WWDC in June. It’s currently unclear what the device will look like — or if it will come with a display like Amazon’s latest offering, or just a speaker.
The original claim of the speaker’s existence came from blogger Sonny Dickson, a guy who over the years has called it right with a number of Apple leaks. In a tweet, Dickson said the Cupertino, California-based company is “currently finalising designs for their Alexa competitor, expected to be marketed as a Siri/AirPlay device.”
Apple is currently finalising designs for their
Alexa competitor, expected to be marketed as a Siri/AirPlay device.— Sonny Dickson (@SonnyDickson) April 27, 2017
The blogger added that the product is may carry some form of Beats technology and run a variant of iOS, with the latter point suggesting it could come with a touchscreen, something Amazon’s Echo device lacks though might one day include.
There have long been rumors that Apple is looking to build Siri — its own digital assistant that launched five years ago with the arrival of the iPhone 4S — into a piece of hardware similar to the Echo, and Dickson’s tweets this week suggest the company could be gearing up to unveil it in the coming months.
So, what would Apple’s offering let you do? Well, if it’s anything like Amazon’s Echo speaker and its
We can also look for the tech giant to offer up something special in the way of features or hardware quality to help it stand out from its rivals and grab attention in the marketplace.
News that Apple may be close to unveiling its Echo/
We wonder if Apple is already working on a rival offering …
Updated on 05-09-2017 by Christian de Looper: Added news that Apple engineers are reportedly testing a prototype in their homes.