Following the flock, smartphone makers are striving towards equipping ‘voice assistants’ in smartphones. Nokia’s AI-based voice assistant ‘Viki’ is in preliminary stages and Samsung is expected to launch Bixby (their Viv-powered voice assistant) via its next flagship — Galaxy S8. Even search giant Google is no behind and has recently released its super-intelligent Google Assistant via its Pixel smartphone series.
Another smartphone manufacturer has now hopped up to join the list. Reports suggest Chinese manufacturer Huawei is working on its own voice-based AI service. The company has hired an aggressive team of almost 100 people for the development of its assistant. Huawei’s voice assistant is presently in its early stages and will be released in China only. The successful progress under the AI arena would deny the need of Alexa integration for Huawei smartphones in future.
The company launched its flagship device Mate 9 in the US, the past month. The smartphone was released in China a couple of months ago, prior to the U.S. launch. It came equipped with Amazon’s voice assistant ‘Alexa’ which made it a distinctive phone under the Huawei brand. The phone is currently available for U.S users and as an OTA for international users. Huawei’s own voice assistant might dismiss Alexa in a distant future, though reports suggest it will be used in China only.
Moreover, Huawei’s engagement with Voice assistant in China implies Google Assistant won’t be available for future Huawei handsets in the country. That would result in massive losses for Google, as the company expected revenues via third party integration.
Huawei is another Android manufacturer after Samsung to work on the development of its voice assistant. The mentioned field is crowded but possesses extensive potential. Soon, consumers will have a variety of options to choose from. Apple’s Siri has been present in this space for long and is seen has a reliable source, but new assistants are certainly equipped with better functionality.
