Three new Microvision Videos

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Apple REALLY wants you to use Amazon Alexa

Not sure what to make of this yet, but it's not an expected development.

There's a lot more cooperation between these big companies than most people would expect. Foxconn, for example makes phones for a number of huge players in smartphones, including Apple and Samsung.


Motley Fool

Apple Insider

Few new product categories within consumer electronics show the type of insane growth and adoption as smart speakers. Pioneered by Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) and its sleeper hit Echo, smart speaker sales are skyrocketing as consumers place devices in multiple rooms around their homes, accessing music-streaming services and controlling smart-home gadgets. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has mostly missed out on that boom though, as its HomePod didn't launch until earlier this year and is priced at a massive premium compared to the competition.

The tech titan rarely makes cross-platform plays, but Apple Music is one of those exceptions; the service has also been available on Android for years.

Alexa, Apple, Google.... Black box?

Have stuff to say, but the kid needs a ride.

CC Impressions

CNBC

Amazon wants to show you how much you can rely on its Alexa voice assistant to control everything in your home, from thermostats to TVs.

The company announced Wednesday it's partnering with homebuilder Lennar to create "Amazon Experience Centers" — model homes containing built-in Alexa-controlled appliances — in hopes of persuading homeowners and homebuyers to embed Amazon services into their houses.

Lennar is outfitting model homes with TVs connected to Amazon's Fire TV system, buttons that can reorder goods from Amazon, and Alexa-enabled products that allow customers to control the lights, TV, shades and other appliances with their voices. Customers can tour the homes in cities around the U.S. to get an idea of how they work.

Apple has taken a similar approach. It has already teamed with homebuilders to create model new homes with HomeKit-ready products that can be controlled from an iPhone or iPad with Apple's Siri assistant. Brookfield Residential is one such homebuilder.

For Amazon, it's another example of how badly it wants to be in your home. Doing so lets it collect valuable data on how you purchase goods.

Apple, Amazon and Google are all racing to get smart assistants into your homes. Most households probably only have room for one of those — so getting customers into the ecosystem when they're buying a home might keep them for the long haul.

( I have scraped this to not lose it.)