Telecoms.com

Could the smart assistant race be swaying to Google?

Amazon is in the lead, but announcements at CES could see momentum gathering in the Google offices, as the pair battle for market share in the fast emerging smart speaker space.

• 09 Jan 2018

2018 to be breakthrough year for smart speakers, but China evades the grasp

New findings from research firm Canalys estimate the global smart speaker market will increase to 56.3 million shipments in 2018, but the elusive Chinese market still ducks and dives.

• 05 Jan 2018

Amazon and Google probably lost money on smart speakers but it doesn’t matter

The build up to Christmas saw Google and Amazon both discount their smart speakers, but perhaps we should look at the hardware as nothing more than a expensive PR campaign.

• 04 Jan 2018

iOS HomeKit bug allowed remote access to smart locks

As consumers sit down at their computers to buy Christmas presents for the near and dear, the last thing they want to know about is a bug which allows the tech-savvy to override smart home devices.

• 08 Dec 2017

What adds up to $95 billion? Q3 for Google, Microsoft and Amazon

$43.7 billion for Amazon, $27.7 billion for Google and $24.5 billion for Microsoft. And it hasn’t even hit the Christmas sales period yet.

• 27 Oct 2017

Google bids for AI leadership with new Pixel 2 smartphone

Internet giant Google’s big gadget unveil is all about positioning itself for the artificial intelligence era, not becoming an iPhone killer.

• 05 Oct 2017

Sonos launches platform-agnostic smart speaker

Clever audio gadget maker Sonos has shown the way forward in the smart home with the launch of a speaker that will support all the major voice assistant platforms.

• 04 Oct 2017

The Telecoms.com Podcast: Talking turmoil

Our team of talkative telecoms trouble-makers turn their sceptical gaze onto the turmoil at the top of TIM this week, where Vivendi is exercising far more control than its 24% shareholding would seem to allow. Later they wrestle with the many challenges surrounding the smart home, which in Scott’s case includes even being able to say it properly. Lastly the guys tackle the age-old question of how operators can best move with the times and ask whether they’re even capable of change.

• 02 Oct 2017

The virtual battle for the soul of the smart home

Google has made its move in the prolonged battle with Amazon for control of the smart home, but are the speakers a glamourous distraction from the real fight.

• 29 Sep 2017

Infographic: What Brits think of the smart home

The smart home is proving to be one of the most hotly contested areas of the burgeoning technology industry, but how do we actually feel about the idea of a connected home.

• 28 Sep 2017

Alexa’s footprints are starting to appear all over the place

While Google is doing its impression of a petulant child, storming home from the park with its football tucked under its arm, Amazon has drafted a host of reinforcements for its Alexa offensive.

• 28 Sep 2017

Smart speaker battle starts to get nasty

Amazon and Google are miles ahead in the battle for the living room, and the fight was always going to get sour at some point. Withdrawing YouTube from Echo Show was the first shot.

• 27 Sep 2017

Prepare yourselves, the talking fridge is finally here

Apparently Google is trying to break the record for the most number of frivolous IoT gadgets. Yesterday we had a connected denim jacket, and today we have 87 LG kitchen appliances.

• 26 Sep 2017

Walmart wants to deliver straight to your fridge

Walmart wants to raise the stakes in the connected economy with a new service that gets delivery drivers to pack your groceries away as well.

• 25 Sep 2017

The Telecoms.com Podcast: Back in business

Scott and Jamie put the band back together with the help of Iain from Light Reading. The telecoms tyrants pick up where they left off by arguing the toss over net neutrality, Europe’s 5G progress and some new gadgetry for IFA. In classic journalistic tradition they end up debating whether any of it actually matters and completely fail to come to a unanimous conclusion on anything.

• 04 Sep 2017

IFA 2017 is more connected than ever

The world’s second biggest consumer electronics show is increasingly all about connected devices as IoT becomes endemic.

• 31 Aug 2017

Alexa gets into bed with Cortana

Amazon and Microsoft have announced their previously competing voice-driven AI assistants are now an item.

• 30 Aug 2017

Telecoms news you may have missed

With days getting hotter, the pubs becoming more appealing and summer holidays last approaching, most would forgive you for missing a few of the telecoms stories from last week. We’ve got your back.

• 10 Jul 2017

Qualcomm launches domestic IoT chip platform

At the Computex tech show mobile chip giant Qualcomm launched its Mesh Networking Platform designed to improve domestic routers with IoT in mind.

• 30 May 2017

Alexa, with your new calling feature, what’s the point of a landline?

Amazon has taken its smart home move up a level (re)entering into the calling and text market, potentially piling further misery on the telcos who are continuing with an identity-crisis in the digital economy.

• 10 May 2017