Google is working on an Echo Show competitor (GOOGL, AMZN)

echo forecast august 2017

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Google is working a screen-equipped smart speaker to compete with Amazon’s Echo Show, reports TechCrunch. The device, codenamed "Manhattan," will be unveiled at an event later this week, along with other updates to the Google Home speaker and Pixel smartphone, according to the report.

Here’s what we’ve seen about this rumored device so far, and how it could change Google’s role in the smart speaker market and the smart home:

The Manhattan device will have a touchscreen panel about seven inches diagonally — comparable to the Echo Show. Google had also been working a number of TV-sized device projects, but with Amazon’s launch of the Echo Show smart screen, the search giant prioritized its direct competitor.
The smart speaker will house the Google Assistant and run voice apps, but will be powered by a variant of Android. The device will allow users to make and receive video calls — potentially using Google Hangouts and/or Duo — just like Alexa users can on the Echo Show. But by running a version of Android, Google could attract developers to the platform who wouldn’t need to learn a new ecosystem, which could give its smart speaker a key advantage over Amazon’s.
Google is also exploring partnerships with Best Buy and Enjoy to help with home installation of both the Manhattan smart speaker as well as other smart home devices. The company is looking to allow the smart speaker to control smart home devices, but consumers often have issues with setting them up. That’s why Vivintpartnered with Best Buy to help educate consumers on its professionally installed service, and why Amazon made the Echo Plus, which is supposed to allow easy device setup.

The rumored Manhattan device follows the development arc that we expect to see from the smart speaker market. Screens add versatility to smart speakers, and as we discussed in the Smart Speaker Report, the Echo Show’s screen made it generate more excitement and made people perceive it as a useful addition to the home. Google’s trying to make sure it stays competitive with Amazon so that it can leverage its Assistant’s advantages over Alexa, but Amazon is gaining a significant edge both in install base and in the variety of smart speakers and smart screens it offers.

Smart speakers — Amazon's Echo, for example — are the latest device category poised to take a chunk of our increasingly digital lives. These devices are made primarily for the home and execute a user's voice commands via an integrated digital assistant. These digital assistants can play music, answer questions, and control other devices within a user's home, among other things.

The central question for this new product category is not when they will take off, but which devices will rise to the top. To answer this question, BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, surveyed our leading-edge consumer panel, gathering exclusive data on Amazon's recently released Echo Show and Echo Look, as well as Apple's HomePod.

Peter Newman, research analyst for BI Intelligence, has put together a Smart Speaker report that analyzes the market potential of the Echo Look, Echo Show, and HomePod. Using exclusive survey data, this report evaluates each device's potential for adoption based on four criteria: awareness, excitement, usefulness, and purchase intent. Finally, the report draws some inferences from our data about the direction the smart speaker market could take from here.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

Amazon's new Echo Show is the big winner — it has mass-market appeal and looks like it will take off. The combination of usefulness and excitement will drive consumers to buy the Echo Show. The Echo Look, though, seems like it will struggle to attract that same level of interest.
Apple’s HomePod looks likely to find a place in the smart speaker market but won’t dominate its space like the iPhone or iPad did.
The smart speaker market will evolve rapidly in the next few years, with more devices featuring screens, a variety of more focused products emerging, and eventually, the voice assistant moving beyond the smart speaker.

In full, the report:

Showcases exclusive survey data on initial consumer reactions to the Echo Look, Echo Show, and HomePod.
Highlights the aims and strategies of major players in the smart speaker market.
Provides analysis on the direction this nascent market will take and the opportunity for companies considering a move into the space.

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