Apple Works On Amazon's Echo Competitor

By Edwin Kee
Apple works on an Echo competitor
This upcoming product will most probably be announced at WWDC 2017, where it will sport a premium price tag in line with Apple's philosophy. Apple

Apple looks like they are about to be a threat to Amazon’s Echo, with the latter having performed exceedingly well ever since it was released. Apple’s retort? Siri will have a role to play, as Apple’s very own artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm will be the basis for an upcoming Echo competitor. It is said that this future Apple product will boast of a high-end audio setup thanks to the inclusion of a single woofer as well as 7 tweeters while offering a price tag that will certainly be Apple-sque, which is another word for premium.

The highly anticipated personal assistant accessory from Apple will no doubt be powerful in its own right, where the word has it that it will feature acoustics that will blow your ears away, in addition to stashing away computing capability that is not too different from that of more recent iPhone models in the market. This will place it in the high-end market, and Amazon Echo will be the more affordable option if you are looking for a personal assistant device for your home. As for its announcement, there is a very high possibility that we could be looking at an announcement sometime in June 2017, although nothing concrete has been confirmed to date.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who is now a familiar name with those who follow rumors and leaks concerning Apple products, has shared additional information concerning the upcoming Siri-based home artificial intelligence product. Kuo has reason to believe that Apple will announce this unnamed product at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June, prior to preparing for a 2H 2017 launch. It is interesting to see how much attention has been shown to the iPhone 8 and everything that has to do with the 10th-anniversary version of the iconic smartphone, so to hear of a home artificial intelligence device from Apple is welcome news.

A custom ARM processor will no doubt be running proceedings from underneath the hood of this upcoming device, where it should be able to go toe to toe with the iPhone 6 at the very least in terms of processing power and capability. Kuo believes that this upcoming device will target the high-end market, for folks who would prefer to fork out a premium in order to enjoy a superior entertainment experience and audio quality. However, one does wonder whether such people with a healthy amount of disposable income would already have a top of the line audio system in their homes before that, which means the Apple product will occupy a very niche position in homes and perhaps, offices.

How successful will this Apple product be when it arrives? There are indicators that point to shipments of over 10 million units within the first year of the product’s availability, and depending on its relative success, there might be extended models introduced down the road -- pretty much like how Amazon has done with its Echo range. We look forward to seeing how Siri is up to the challenge, and whether iOS users will bite on the bait.

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