The best smart speakers you can buy Engadget 2 hrs ago Nathan Ingraham
When Amazon first introduced Alexa and the Echo speaker six years ago, the idea of talking to a digital assistant wasn t totally novel. Both the iPhone and Android phones had semi-intelligent voice controls but with the Echo, Amazon took its first step toward making something like Alexa a constant presence in your home. Since then, Apple and Google have followed suit, and now there s a huge variety of smart speakers available at various price points.
As the market exploded, the downsides of having a device that s always listening for a wake word have become increasingly apparent. They can get activated unintentionally, sending private recordings back to monolithic companies to analyze. And even at the best of times, giving more personal information to Amazon, Apple and Google can be a questionable decision. That said, all these companies have made it easier to manage how your data is used