Voice on Voice

In 2020, Siri was the second most popular voice assistant behind Google Assistant, with over 500 million users (compared to Google Assistant’s 1+ billion users). While its vast presence on mobile devices has given Siri a boost, the popular assistant has fallen short in meeting users’ expectations.

Last Tuesday, Amazon rolled out its new smart home products at its annual product launch event. The announcement included: the Astro smart home robot, Amazon’s first Alexa-enabled smart thermostat, the Echo Show 15, a Disney custom voice assistant, a video-calling device called Amazon Glow, the newest edition of fitness tracker Halo, and the official sign up for the Ring security drone.

The car is a hub of on-the-go activity — from taking and making calls to searching directions, drivers have their hands full (literally). As a result, voice assistants have become helpful tools by providing hands-free assistance. One use case emerging quickly is voice commerce in the car.

Voice technology’s deep roots in healthcare are only strengthening as companies and organizations discover the operational efficiencies that voice can drive. Early movers in the healthcare world like Saykara, Suki, and Robin Healthcare got their start building custom voice assistants for healthcare professionals to input and retrieve patient data without using their hands or breaking focus from their patients.

It hasn’t been smooth sailing for smart glasses. Marked by the failure of Google Glass (now repositioned for enterprise use), which was initially introduced in 2013, smart glasses are experiencing a revival as many other tech companies try their hand at the accessory.

One of the ways voice assistants are evolving to be more frictionless and valuable to users is through adding proactive capabilities that often don’t require speaking more. While we want our assistants to be there for us, they need to assist while being unobtrusive. Features like automatic camera tracking on the Facebook Portal and Echo Show smart displays keep users in the frame during pictures or video.

Asian consumers in China, India, and Southeast Asian countries have spearheaded the global adoption of voice. In 2018, iProspect found that 62% of smartphone users in China, India, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore have used voice-activated technology in the last six months. Usage has primarily been driven by the prevalence of inexpensive smartphones in the region, making capabilities like voice search and in-app voice features more accessible to consumers.

Google has been making substantial investments in its push to make Google Assistant the powerhouse of the Android smartphone. But the company has also been expanding its reach within the smart home through partnerships with popular household appliance manufacturers. Through its relationship with Samsung, Google Assistant now lives on Samsung TVs and can control Samsung SmartThings devices.

One of the most popular use cases of smart speakers is playing music, with 60% of smart speakers users saying they use their devices to play music. As a result, it’s no surprise that streaming companies are building robust voice strategies to tap into this preference.

The long-standing relationship between Google and Samsung, often wavering and hard to follow, is entering a new chapter with wearables. Samsung mobile phones leverage Google’s Android system (which includes Google Assistant), but Samsung also offers its own Bixby voice assistant and app store in the mix.