First Ring Daily 537: Assisting the CES Assistants

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On this episode of First Ring Daily, Apple is now on Samsung TVs, Amazon has 100 million assistants and Google has nearly a billion.

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Conversation 10 comments

  • Laminar Flow

    07 January, 2019 - 12:43 pm

    <p>Brad you should try connecting the Invoke to a Google home mini via Bluetooth and see how it works.</p>

  • tj

    07 January, 2019 - 1:10 pm

    <p>I've had a home commercially monitored alarm system for 13 years. I would not tell anyone what you are installing or how or where or number of sensors/cameras. Due to criminals could be listening.</p>

  • jdmp10

    07 January, 2019 - 2:02 pm

    <p>I definitely think Apple is more lying than displaying ignorance to the market cause I don't fathom that a company a size of Apple with its various resources could be so asleep at the wheel as to not seeing the future coming.</p><p><br></p><p>Apple tries for all its worth to show itself to be for the people in their approach to many things, their hardware, their services, their practices, the Anti-Google in many ways but underneath it all, more so I think now under Tim Cook than Steve Jobs that they are a moneymaking operation first and foremost and that the privacy or anything else they preach to their users and investors is a means to the ultimate end, keeping everyone on-board the Apple ecosystem and continuing to set record profits.</p><p><br></p><p>I am not singling out Apple though in this, any of the giant tech companies operate the same way. The reason Apple gets targeted though is because they aren't transparent with their agenda like Google is. Google makes no bones about what they are trying to achieve, they are clearly about getting as much data about you as possible to sell to their advertisers to dish you those third party services based on your likes and usage. A little off-topic I know but I have never viewed Apple in the light that so many of their loyal users do. Sure they do some legitimate good from time to time but to blindly accept all they claim as truth is definitely not right either. It's like when you go to a car dealership and the finance manager confidently tells you I can get you this payment with this rate, then when the actual numbers are being crunched, it's anything but what he claimed but since your in the seat already, they (the salesman and finance manager) hope that you'll agree to paying a few bucks more so you don't have to waste your time again at another dealer.</p>

  • gregsedwards

    Premium Member
    07 January, 2019 - 2:36 pm

    <p>FWIW, the Invoke has none of those features you guys mentioned. No multi-room, no stereo mode, no choice of assistant (if you don't count Alexa through Cortana). That said, I do believe some of those features may be coming. Microsoft has already made moves in this direction by recently adding multi-user Cortana support (which is still not working for me…yet) and Xbox pairing (also not working consistently, if you have multiple Invokes and Xbox consoles). I would be interested in any buying an extra Invoke if anyone reading might want to sell one. I have three of them, and I'd love to get another for my basement. Looking to pay $50-70. Let me know!</p>

    • SvenJ

      Premium Member
      07 January, 2019 - 6:02 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#392601"><em>In reply to gregsedwards:</em></a><em> </em>It's kind of a shame too. I have two Invokes, the second bought at fire sale prices. They do seem to be updating features, though slowly and with zero fanfare. I used to get a weekly, 'here's what's new', e-mail. That stopped forever ago. I find Cortana's voice much more pleasant than Alexa and Google Assistant, and the volume dial on the invoke is super convenient. The Invoke is sadly relegated to a periodic tap on the head for a fun fact or music streaming. </blockquote><blockquote>P.S the MS store says they have them for $50. Don't know if they actually have them if you try to buy one.</blockquote><blockquote>https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/harman-kardon-invoke-with-cortana-by-microsoft/8rl7xlnwn95v?activetab=pivot%3aoverviewtab</blockquote><p><br></p&gt;

      • gregsedwards

        Premium Member
        08 January, 2019 - 10:14 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#392667">In reply to SvenJ:</a></em></blockquote><p>Showing $199.95 for me right now. They've run numerous fire sales over the past few months, so maybe it's just a timing thing.</p>

    • Ed

      Premium Member
      07 January, 2019 - 10:41 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#392601"><em>In reply to gregsedwards:</em></a><em> it’s definitely my favorite Bluetooth speaker I have. I bought it at $50 and I thought it was worth that for a very good Bluetooth speaker. Have not been disappointed.</em></blockquote><p><br></p>

  • WayneRobinson

    07 January, 2019 - 5:47 pm

    <p>Paul. Sitting in my courtyard in Newcastle, Australia, enjoying my morning coffee on an unusually cool summer's day while watching First Ring Daily… then you mentioned "Butt Recognition Software" and I completely lost it! That has now joined raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens as one of my favourite things. </p>

    • Ed

      Premium Member
      07 January, 2019 - 10:38 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#392662">In reply to WayneRobinson:</a></em></blockquote><blockquote><em>indeed, won’t forget that for awhile. :-)</em></blockquote><p><br></p>

  • SvenJ

    Premium Member
    07 January, 2019 - 5:50 pm

    <p>I think Brad has a fair point about the reason people have (or got) Amazon vs Google assistants. I have some of both, but my Amazon devices are discrete dedicated units, echos, shows, etc. Most of my Google assistants are built into something else, phone, watch, etc. I have one mini that I bought to see how it behaved. I wonder what the ratio is of Google assistants in fixed appliances to those in mobile devices. I would guess Amazon still has the edge if you look at it that way, though that may not matter. If you are comfortable with the Google assistant on your mobile devices and are not yet invested in fixed AI, I imagine you might tend towards Googles devices. That is certainly an edge. That is an edge MS might have had with Cortana being on Windows Phones (had they continued their trajectory rather than flaming out) when they tiptoed into the smart speaker race, way to late and with little determination.</p><p><br></p><p>P.S. for a while there, you could hardly buy anything with there being a Google Mini thrown in, TVs, refrigerators, microwaves…..</p>

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