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Huawei Snubs Google, Ships An Android Phone With Alexa (reuters.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the war-of-the-voice-assistants dept.

Huawei announced its flagship handset will gives users access to Amazon's Alexa assistant in the U.S., suggesting a new worry for Google, according to Reuters. An anonymous reader writes: "The adoption of Alexa by a prominent Android manufacturer indicates that Amazon may have opened up an early lead over Google as the companies race to present their digital assistants to as many people as possible, analysts said." Analyst Jan Dawson at Jackdaw Research even told Reuters that if Google's personal assistant lags in popularity when voice becomes the most popular interface, "that's a huge loss for Google in terms of data gathering, training its AI, and ultimately the ability to drive advertising revenue."

Tension may have started when Google decided to debut Google Assistant on their own Pixel smartphones. "While Google has expressed an interest in bringing its assistant to other Android smartphones, the decision to debut the feature on its own hardware may have strained relations with manufacturers, Dawson said. 'It highlights just what a strategic mistake it can be for services companies to make their own hardware and give it preferential access to new services.'"
Nvidia announced this week at CES that they'd be using Google Assistant for their Shield TVs, while Whirlpool and Ford both announced Alexa-enabled products. But this article argues Google Assistant has one thing that Alexa doesn't have: a search engine.

63 comments

  1. What happened to consumer choice? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Am I crazy to suggest that consumers ought to have access to any "digital assistant" they choose through any device, like they do on the web?

    I think these phones are glad-hand MBA wet dreams more than they are computing machinery.

    1. Re:What happened to consumer choice? by sglewis100 · · Score: 1

      Yes, you're crazy, because they do have access to digital assistants of their choice (not necessarily any, but certainly many). Samsung phones come with S-Voice AND Ok Google. Microsoft makes Cortana available for download. I don't think the Amazon Alexa app has voice response (it's meant to configure other Alexa devices) but there are numerous third party apps that tap into Alexa voice.Heck, my smart home app (Lowes Iris) used to have it's own voice control, although they discontinued it, mostly because it stunk.

      You're confusing "any assistant I want should be pre-installed" with "I can't have any assistant I want, because it came with X instead."

    2. Re:What happened to consumer choice? by Luthair · · Score: 1

      Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think either Google or Amazon is providing their digital assistant to be installed on any device.

    3. Re:What happened to consumer choice? by sglewis100 · · Score: 1

      Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think either Google or Amazon is providing their digital assistant to be installed on any device.

      Google Assistant can be accessed on any device via their Allo app. I think my original comment already mentioned the numerous third party apps providing Alexa to an Android or iOS device. Cortana can be downloaded. Samsung provides S-Voice on their devices. My point was, and still is, you can replace the voice recognition assistant that came with your phone.

    4. Re: What happened to consumer choice? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes because I want to install yet another messaging app just to get the bolted on voice assistant. Sort of like having to install Chrome just to run a proprietary print service which is the only way to print from Android. These guys give bloatware a whole new meaning.

    5. Re: What happened to consumer choice? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Take your point completely (but the app CUPS Printing at least sorts the printing problem!)

    6. Re:What happened to consumer choice? by hawguy · · Score: 2

      Am I crazy to suggest that consumers ought to have access to any "digital assistant" they choose through any device, like they do on the web?

      I think these phones are glad-hand MBA wet dreams more than they are computing machinery.

      I'd like to have the choice to disable "smart features" on my TV and just let it be a TV. If I want to add smart features, I'll buy an external device and if it dies or gets bricked by Malware, I can still watch TV. If my external smart device stops getting updates and becomes a magnet for malware, I can replace it. Instead of manufacturers doing half-hearted attempts at integrating smart features, companies that specialize in those devices can make them and compete with each other with devices at various price points, so instead of LG using the cheapest possible device to save $10 on the price of the TV giving a laggy UI with few features, I can pay $100 for a faster Roku (or Google TV or Apple TV or whatever) with a more responsive UI.

      I guess what I really want is an industry standard API to TV's that provides access to the tuner, remote control, etc, then I can buy a smart device from a number of manufacturers. Sort of like a Roku stick, but with tighter integration with the TV through an API so I don't need a second remote control to run it, and so the device can control TV features like changing channels, turning off the TV, etc.

      I don't even care if it works with a cable-card since I've given up cable long ago -- cable companies "won" that battle, but I think they are losing the war.

    7. Re:What happened to consumer choice? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Indeed. It's like making a TV with a built-in VCR or combining the base unit[1] & monitor of a computer or a stereo that looks like separates but isn't.

      [1] The thing that secretaries & marketing people call the CPU. WTF *is* it called?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    8. Re: What happened to consumer choice? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      At least there isn't systemd for Android. Yet.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    9. Re:What happened to consumer choice? by mlts · · Score: 1

      Ideally a phone should be like a computer. It might come with a default OS/firmware, but one should be given the option to change things easily. For example, if I want a Google-free experience, I should be able to have a device loaded with Amazon's store natively, Alexa present, and so on. Or, perhaps F-droid as the store/repository of choice with no commercial presence by any companies if I so chose.

      Sometimes, you can replace some things. Nova Launcher, a custom keyboard go on any new Android phone I have so I have the same UI regardless of brand. However, there are still a ton of underlying apps that shouldn't be there. Yes, one can firewall them with root access, but the ideal is to have nothing on the phone unless it is absolutely needed.

      tl;dr, have a default bloatware experience the phone ships as default, but have an option to be able to load something custom and usable. If I don't want a part of the Amazon ecosystem, I throw on GApps.

    10. Re:What happened to consumer choice? by yuriklastalov · · Score: 1

      While this will make the pedants crazy, it still is technically the CPU, even it it's a SoC or whatever.

      In any case, inventing new descriptive words to correct a misapprehension that doesn't even matter in the first place is always the best way to go. Bonus points for making people feel stupid for not knowing your preferred nomenclature.

    11. Re:What happened to consumer choice? by yuriklastalov · · Score: 2

      The most common argument against what you're proposing is the Security problem. Essentially, people are carrying around these micro-computers (teehee) and putting their entire lives on them. These same people are best assumed to be too incompetent to properly manage their own devices, because statistics show they actually are that stupid, or careless, or whatever. Thus, it beholds the companies who make these things to make them "unhackable", even at the expense of those of us who would prefer more flexibility in the system.

      That is why root is practically never easily available, boot loaders are increasingly impossible to unlock and the OS's are systematically reducing the types of features that can lead to security problems.

      Sure, to the unhinged it looks like a giant conspiracy to ensure that consumers are permanently locked into an ecosystem where they have no control over anything whatsoever, and can be spied upon and manipulated at will by whatever corporate interests the maker of the device has made deals with. Shortly we'll find phones being legally tied to the owner, as a form of Identity, and as such the owner will be responsible for anything the device does, even though they can exert practically no control over it in the first place. And now that Google has killed off CyanogenMod, we'll see a glorious new day where all devices are Google Approved and we can start feeding all of our day to day existence into the (increasingly powerful) AI's that power these stupid assistants, because what could possibly go wrong?? I want CyberJesus at the GOoglePlex to know everything I'm doing.

      Wait, was I presenting myself as the non-unhinged party here? Shit.

    12. Re:What happened to consumer choice? by Ingenium13 · · Score: 1

      That basically already exists in the HDMI spec. It's called CEC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... and it's pretty well supported in my experience. It's how a Chromecast can turn on your TV and change inputs when you connect to it. Usually the play and pause buttons on your TV or amplifier remote will pause and resume whatever is playing on the chromecast. Same with Kodi on a raspberry pi or similar device.

  2. How is this a problem?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google can make the Google Assistant part of the mandatory apps for Play-Certification...

    1. Re:How is this a problem?! by Streetlight · · Score: 1

      Just what I was thinking. If a phone manufacturer didn't want Google Assistant as part of the Google Play Store or the OS, then they couldn't call the OS Android and couldn't put the Play Store app on their hardware. The situation would be like Amazon's use of a somewhat crippled Android OS and it's inability to call it Android and give access to Play Store. I'm not sure it's hurt Amazon too much, though look what happened to the Fire Phone, or whatever it was called.

      --
      In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
    2. Re:How is this a problem?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And lose even more customers in China, where Google is blocked...

    3. Re:How is this a problem?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The play store app is useless for the largest market for smartphones anyway, ie China. You think Google is willing to give up that whole market?

  3. What's the point? by TodPunk · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm still waiting for the digital "assistants" to be able to do much. I've played with them, and they are very, very basic. The number of things they can do accurately and reliably is quite small, and that's if you don't have an accent or quirks in your speech. I can't even get any of them (Siri, Alexa, Cortana) to reliably play a song that isn't from their preferred music store. They are all like that in almost all of their functions. It's a walled garden of suck.

    I will give Amazon the credit that they're so far the only ones that have published a list of the things you can say to their Alexa. This is really useful support info and lets me know that it's mostly about ordering things and really basic queries like the population of a town or the conversion of quarts to ounces.

    --
    This forum Sig is licensed under the LGPL.
    1. Re:What's the point? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      >I'm still waiting for the digital "assistants" to be able to do much.

      We use ours to control the insteon switches. That's about it. It's very handy to be able to say "turn off all the lights".

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    2. Re:What's the point? by TodPunk · · Score: 2

      Nice! On the one hand, I completely agree that this is a very handy feature. On the other hand, you're essentially describing a very complicated "clapper" here, right? I don't at all wish to imply that this complication could not have advantages, like not turning off the lights when someone just gets excited or whatever. Just seems like a bit of a Rube Goldberg machine for turning off lights.

      --
      This forum Sig is licensed under the LGPL.
    3. Re:What's the point? by Ralgha · · Score: 1

      How did you interface it with the Insteon system?

    4. Re:What's the point? by EvilSS · · Score: 1

      So for myself one of the uses is this: "Alexa turn on the Theater"

      - Sets the lights. Turning some off, others to 10%, color temp to 2200K
      - Turns on the TV
      - Turns on the Receiver
      - Turns on the BD player
      - Sets the input on the TV to HDMI2
      - Sets the input on the Receiver


      Can't do that with a clapper.

      --
      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    5. Re: What's the point? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You need help.

    6. Re:What's the point? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You can do it with one button on a programmable remote. So - meh ?

    7. Re:What's the point? by EvilSS · · Score: 1

      You can do it with one button on a programmable remote. So - meh ?

      Not from a different room.

      --
      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    8. Re:What's the point? by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      Can you do it with a programmable remote from the kitchen when your hands are covered in meat juice? (With out having to decontaminate the remote after?)

    9. Re:What's the point? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      I can't even get any of them (Siri, Alexa, Cortana) to reliably play a song that isn't from their preferred music store.

      The great catch 22. Why do you think they are good at their own music store? Because they can scrape the data and pronunciations and identify what you mean by things. But then we don't want to give these assistants access to any of our lives or data because of privacy, so all we're able to do is complain that they aren't personally useful to us because they don't understand people's names, or that M83 is a galaxy not a band, or that when I say Guus I'm not saying Kroos because I happen to have some dutch music in my collection.

    10. Re:What's the point? by TodPunk · · Score: 1

      He didn't specify it was an IR remote. =c) Radio remote would be fine. A phone widget button could do it, wouldn't even need to open an app.

      --
      This forum Sig is licensed under the LGPL.
    11. Re:What's the point? by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

      Of course you can do it with a clapper. Have the clapper play a message that says "Hey Alexa..."

    12. Re:What's the point? by yuriklastalov · · Score: 1

      So wait, are you arguing for giving even more data to Google because it will help them make their fucking AI even better at manipulating you? Who would have thought that the legacy of Western Civilization and Christianity was to create a society that, upon realizing God wasn't real they went about creating one themselves. Have fun with your Google CyberJesus. I'm afraid I'll be dragged along for the ride, bitter that people like you enabled the forthcoming cyberpunk dystopia just so you could turn your fucking home theater on in one lazy upper-middle class step. FUck you.

    13. Re:What's the point? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      It has certain advantages compared to the clapper, like you can give aliases to groups of things, like 'fucking lights' as well as 'all the lights'. So when you need emphasis, it still listens.

      Alexa is just a voice interface, you still have the insteon app. Also insteon lets you have a switch act as a master to other switches, so when they put in way too many light switch circuits, you can have all the independent switches in each room turn on and off all the lights in that room. So whatever the drunk builder/electrician though made sense when building the house, you can fix without pulling wires through walls.

      A side benefit Alexa adds to the Insteon features, is that it can talk to different bands of device, so you can buy Wemo gadgets or Philips Hue lights or other things and it will be able to control them all, but on your phone you need a different app for each brand. I expect someone has developed an all in one app, but I haven't seen it.

         

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    14. Re:What's the point? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      I googled "How do I control Insteon from Alexa" and followed the instructions.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    15. Re:What's the point? by Tony+Isaac · · Score: 1

      Google has published a list of questions you can ask its assistant, they list it right in their commercial!
      1. How big is a blue whale?
      2. What noise does a whale make?
      3. Do whales sleep?

      There, now you have it!

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    16. Re:What's the point? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not elegantly. But then I don't think asking a cloudbot is to turn on my TV is elegant either.

    17. Re:What's the point? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > have published a list of the things you can say to their Alexa

      This. It's ridiculous that for instance Cortana doesn't understand supposedly simple things like "show my alarms" and you have no way of looking up what it does understand.

    18. Re:What's the point? by tentenone · · Score: 1

      Take a look at OpenHAB

    19. Re:What's the point? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      So wait, are you arguing for giving even more data to Google because it will help them make their fucking AI even better at manipulating you?

      No I'm saying put up or shut up. Google isn't fucking psychic and one can only work with the data they have. But since you use the word manipulating I can see you're not in a mindset capable of having this discussion maturely. Thanks for invoking God though. I can see now I'm dealing with a fanatic and there's no point in talking to you any further.

    20. Re:What's the point? by EvilSS · · Score: 1

      He didn't specify it was an IR remote. =c) Radio remote would be fine. A phone widget button could do it, wouldn't even need to open an app.

      Yes, getting an RF remote to IR bridge (it is my gear we are talking about here, and it doesn't use RF it uses IR), and placing them all over my house or picking up my phone, unlocking it, and launching an app, finding the right screen, and pressing a button on it is much easier than just saying "Alexa, turn on the theater".

      --
      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    21. Re:What's the point? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      In my copious spare time. I've still got a bunch of switches to install.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    22. Re:What's the point? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      Oh, I get it. It does multiple different APIs. Thanks.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    23. Re:What's the point? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      And found this.. http://www.insteon.com/support...

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
  4. Or not? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What about no assistant? Can you opt out? Probably only by opting in first, accepting some obnoxious eula, and registering some settings which are ignored anyway.

  5. The Cathedral and the Bazaar by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is simply competition at work. At this time, we can use either service with a PC, tablet, phone, or even a Raspberry PI. May the best service win.

  6. i figured something like this would happen by FudRucker · · Score: 1

    since android is built on Linux and is (mostly) open source eventually google's dominance on android would meet competition sooner or later and it would take a big player with deep pockets to do it and Amazon is a player that meets those qualifications, maybe within a couple of years there will be android phones that gets system updates from Amazon, or maybe the Co-Op method of development where several hardware vendors and phone service carriers will all pitch in on the development of the OS and apps that goes in to their products

    --
    Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
    1. Re:i figured something like this would happen by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 3, Funny

      I can't take it. When is this sentence going to END??

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    2. Re:i figured something like this would happen by Namarrgon · · Score: 1

      maybe within a couple of years there will be android phones that gets system updates from Amazon

      Like this one?

      --
      Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
    3. Re:i figured something like this would happen by Hognoxious · · Score: 2

      I don't see a period/full stop, so brace yourself for part two.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    4. Re:i figured something like this would happen by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      Could be worse. Could be German.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  7. Dolls houses by codeButcher · · Score: 1

    So what is Alexa good at except ordering unwanted doll's houses?

    --
    Free, as in your money being freed from the confines of your account.
    1. Re:Dolls houses by kamapuaa · · Score: 1

      Wow, what a find! Thanks for sharing. You're great!

      --
      Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
    2. Re:Dolls houses by Streetlight · · Score: 2

      Check out this three minute YouTube video of Scottish accents in a voice controlled elevator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

      --
      In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
    3. Re:Dolls houses by hawguy · · Score: 1

      So what is Alexa good at except ordering unwanted doll's houses?

      Except Alexa wont accidentally order an unwanted dollhouse, if you ask it to order a dollhouse, it will rattle off a list of matches and ask you which one you want.

      I can believe it's so easy to order that a child can do it, but that's kind of the point of Alexa/Echo -- make it easy to order. You can add a shopping PIN if you don't want your 4 year old to order a dollhouse.

    4. Re:Dolls houses by ThatsMyNick · · Score: 1

      No, it wouldnt ask for any of the Amazon Choice items. It is a preselected item, so you dont have to listen to a list of matches and choose one just by the name. The point is to "make it easy to order", right? That is exactly what they are doing. They may have removed doll house, temporarily from the list, because of news going around, but it will work for the rest of items on Amazon Choice.

      And PIN not being compulsory is certainly Amazon's fault. Even if you know how to set a pin, it will affect many other users. Not a good idea to ship with a phone.

  8. Hawaii by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hawaii. Stupid h1-B editors.

  9. whats the point of having assistant or secretary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    if you dont end up putting your penis inside of her?

  10. Now we need "Alexa, ask Google..." by NReitzel · · Score: 1

    After a year of so living with Alexa I find her to be exceptionally useful for many things, not including deep searches. For everyday things (and being Amazon, for selling things) she does a marvelous job but the AI behind Alexa is pretty much an Eliza-class AI. Google has and is in the position to continue developing better deep-thinking AI's, as does IBM.

    I think Google and Amazon need to bury the hatchet, and add "Alexa, Ask Google..." to Alexa's skill set. There comes a time when a user wants a better search result than one gets with Alexa's default Bong search. A skill that would permit Alexa to consult with a better AI would be a very useful addition. In that same vein, it might be nice for Amazon to buy some IBM hardware and add "Alexa, Ask Watson..." to the universe of skills.

    We're better together.

    --

    Don't take life too seriously; it isn't permanent.

    1. Re:Now we need "Alexa, ask Google..." by rtb61 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      The problem with digital assistants is they are not assistants by any stretch of the imagination. Far more accurately they are corporate spies and overseers, that monitor you 24/7/365 and report on you to the corporate controller. That corporate controller then tells your supposed digital assistant to tell you what to do, so more like a corporate remotely controlled digital overseer making you the slave who obeys.

      I am cutting back on all this crap, until all services are localised, no cloud controlled by others, no listening in and recording from a distance, no controlled responses, no long term records, assessments and manipulations.

      Digital assistants as provided are absolutely not digital assistants, they are rank awful invasions of privacy.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    2. Re:Now we need "Alexa, ask Google..." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't speak for the others, but Alexa is a digital bored housewife that sits at home and orders stuff you don't need off QVC all day.

    3. Re:Now we need "Alexa, ask Google..." by GuB-42 · · Score: 1

      "Alexa, Ask Google..."

      Alexa, according to Google, which door leads to freedom?

  11. I don't want any of them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not a fan of having all my shit recorded. Sorry!

  12. Google is blocked in China... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why would Huawei ship a phone with something that cant even be used in it's biggest market? Seems like common sense to me to go with a competitor that will work infinity times better. How did this even manage to be a story?

  13. Re:whats the point of having assistant or secretar by Greystripe · · Score: 1

    I would actually be surprised if there are not already items that work with Alexa that you can do that with.

  14. This sentence ends when you understood that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    since.android.is.built.on.Linux.and.is.mostly.open.source.eventually.google's.dominance.on.android.would.meet.competition.
    sooner.or.later.and.it.would.take.a.big.player.with.deep.pockets.to.do.it.and.Amazon.is.a.player.that.meets.those.qualifications,.
    maybe.within.a.couple.of.years.there.will.be.android.phones.that.gets.system.updates.from.Amazon,.or.maybe.the.CoOp.method.
    of.development.where.several.hardware.vendors.and.phone.service.carriers.will.all.pitch.in.on.the.development.of.the.OS.and.apps.
    that.goes.in.to.their.products

    there FTFY.

    disclaimer: no offense to the op or our engrish skills.