JBL recently announced the launch of new retro-style smart speakers, the Authentics 200, Authentics 500, and the portable Authentics 300. These speakers are unique in that they are the first to host both the Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa for simultaneous use. This means you can ask either assistant for help at any time, even if someone else is already using the other. For example, you could ask Alexa to play the “Sounds of the '80s” playlist, and then your roommate could ask Google to stop it. The speakers were announced at the IFA technology show in Berlin and are priced at $329.99, $699.99, and $429.99, respectively.
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Google and Amazon have never played well together, with no native YouTube app on Echo Show devices and neither company's music streaming service working on the other's smart speakers. But it looks like their relationship may be improving. They're collaborating on Matter, a new standard for the smart home, and now they're bringing their voice assistants together in a way that will benefit users. The assistants aren't connected to each other and have to be set up separately using JBL's app, but they "know" each other thanks to a Multi-Agent Experience (MAX) Toolkit. This allows for features like controlling each other's timers and music, and knowing when to let the other speak.
If you live in a household with multiple assistants, JBL's new speakers make it easy to control your smart home devices. You don't have to remember which assistant you or someone else in your home asked to start something, as any assistant can control it. This goes for smart home devices too, though you'll still have to set them up separately on each platform. With the new JBL speakers, you only need one speaker in the room to control your devices, instead of two. However, the cost of an Echo Pop and a Nest Mini combined is much less than JBL's cheapest offering. There are currently no plans to bring the new multi-assistant capabilities to more affordable speakers, including devices from Amazon and Google, but both companies are open to the idea.
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While third-party speakers have previously offered a choice of voice assistants, such as Sonos that offer a choice between Google or Alexa, the new JBL speakers are unique in that they allow you to use both assistants at the same time. This means that members of your household can have different preferences and can use the strengths of each assistant to their advantage. For example, Google is great for general knowledge questions and adding things to your Google calendar, while Alexa has exclusive features, such as tracking your package on Amazon or listening to your book on Audible. However, as a third-party speaker, the JBLs lack some of the features of Google and Amazon. There are no Google calling features on the speakers, and they can only do what a third-party Amazon Alexa speaker can do, so there are no Alexa Guard features or changing the wake word. However, the speakers have the same functionality as the original manufacturer's devices and the response time is the same as them.
According to Amazon and Google, the main motivation behind their partnership on the new JBL speakers was interoperability. They hope that by making it easier for customers to use either service, more people will use voice assistants overall. This is especially important after a year of layoffs in both companies' smart home divisions. The goal is to broaden the audience for smart home technology by making it easier for everyone to work together. However, while the Matter standard for smart homes is supposed to offer this kind of interoperability, smart speakers are not currently part of the Matter spec. This means that a Google Nest hub can't control an Alexa Echo or Apple HomePod speaker, even if they're all Matter-compatible. While having multiple personalities on one speaker provides greater utility, true interoperability will only be achieved when Google, Alexa, and even Siri can coexist on any smart speaker in your home, and you'll be able to choose which of the three to call upon at any given time.
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source of information:theverge.com
