Amazon Echo? Alexa? Google Home? Actions? What does it all mean?!
We have talked about voice applications and voice-enabled devices, but before we continue our drilldown, let's start with a quick overview to better understand the various terms and solutions that are available on the market today. We will start with Amazon's products and then talk about Google's products, and we will devote a short section to Apple's HomePod as well.
Amazon Echo
Amazon Echo, frequently shortened and referred to as Echo, is a brand of smart speakers developed by Amazon. Some reports state that Amazon has been developing Echo devices since 2010, as part of its first attempts to expand its device portfolio beyond the Kindle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Echo).
The first-generation Amazon Echo, released in 2015, consists of a 23.5 cm tall cylinder speaker, with a seven-piece microphone array, and it requires a wireless internet connection to work. In the default mode, the device listens to all speech, monitoring...