United States:
Smart home technology that has long been knocking at doors will settle
into the mainstream after rival gadgets and services become hassle-free
guests that get along with one another, industry insiders say.
While smart home offerings have been around for years, attention has
been heightened by Google, Amazon and Apple maneuvering to be at the
heart of managing devices capable of wirelessly taking commands or
feeding information.
"We need to look at problems in the home from a holistic perspective
and realize it is the value of all these devices working together that
will drive adoption of the smart home," EVRYTHNG senior vice president
of connected products Curt Schacker said.
He was speaking in Silicon Valley on Tuesday for the start of a 20th
anniversary Connections conference devoted to smart homes and the
fast-growing Internet of Things.
EVRYTHNG works with businesses to manage data gathered from just
about any object given a "real-time digital identity" by using computer
chips, sensors or even scannable codes.
"We think every single thing in the world can benefit from a digital identity," Schacker said.
Last week, Google unveiled a virtual home assistant device that will
challenge Amazon Echo as the Internet giant laid out a future rich with
artificial intelligence.
Google Home, about the size of a stout vase, will hit the market
later this year, vice president of product management Mario Queiroz
promised at the Internet giant's annual developers conference.
Home devices will incorporate new Google virtual assistant software introduced by chief executive Sundar Pichai.
"Our ability to do conversational understanding is far ahead of what
other virtual assistants can do," Pichai told a packed audience.
"We are an order of magnitude ahead of everyone else."
Home devices combine machine learning, online search, voice
recognition and more to allow people to get answers to questions, manage
tasks or control devices by speaking naturally, demonstrations showed.
When Home hits, it will challenge Amazon Echo voice-controlled
assistants that have proven to be a hit since the Seattle-based online
retail colossus unveiled them two years ago.
Echo models are infused with Alexa virtual assistant software that
can be built into anything "from a lawn sprinkler to a ceiling fan,"
Amazon Echo chief evangelist David Isbitski said at Connections.
"We started thinking about Echo and Alexa and it was hard for us to
imagine in a couple of years any kind of interaction with technology
will not be voice driven," Isbitski said.
"It is easy to see that voice will be everywhere."
He envisioned an era of "ambient computing" in which, as depicted in
science fiction, people speak commands and machines respond and obey
with the help of artificial intelligence.
"The Internet of Things enables these smart home scenarios we have been talking about for years," Isbitski said.
A section at Amazon's online retail website is devoted to smart
devices that work with Alexa, an open network that invites developers to
teach the software new skills.
Amazon last year established a $100 million Alexa Fund to provide venture capital for innovators working with the technology.
"We are crawling; we are going to be walking pretty quick and we are
all looking forward to running toward that smart home that we have
always envisioned," Isbitski said.
Meanwhile, Apple has been wooing developers with a HomeKit framework
for using the technology giant's devices and Siri virtual assistant to
manage smart appliances, fixtures and more.
Apple is believed to have HomeKit news planned at a press event taking place in San Francisco in June.
Speakers at Connections were skeptical that one smart home device
would rule them all, given the array of service providers and gadget
makers along with the fact that the web of smart things is growing to
include cars.
Mark Skarpness chairs IoTivity, a project aimed at establishing
standards that would let the gamut of smart devices work together.
"I think the market will get much bigger if you are not spending all
your time competing on connectivity and instead competing on what we can
do for you," he said.