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Phil’s Ramblings

May 2017 The Lenovo Smart Assistant is one of several
new Lenovo products that will be unveiled at
New develop- the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show. It will
ments and new be available for purchase in May 2017. Here
products based is what it will look like:
on the Amazon
Echo personal
assistant device
are making news
this month. Any-
one who pur-
chased an Ama-
zon Echo in the
past year or two
is already aware that Amazon has been push-
ing out new apps for this device almost weekly.
Not only can the Echo give you the weather
forecast, keep your calendar, remind you of ap-
pointments and bring you up-to-date on the lat-
est sports scores, but it can play music for you,
control IoT devices in your home, play games, While it resembles the Amazon Echo, there
tell jokes and much, much more. are some notable differences:

Not to be outdone, Google launched their · Color: An Amazon Echo comes in
Google Home personal assistant device late black or white, the Lenovo Smart As-
last year. It is designed to provide the same sistant will be available in green, or-
functionality as the Amazon Echo, but relies ange or light gray.
upon Google’s vast storehouse of information
about its customers and Google’s experience · Price: An Amazon Echo costs
with Artificial Intelligence (AI). Most reviews $179.99, the Lenovo Smart Assistant
have the two devices running virtually neck and will be $129.99.
neck in features, but give the overall edge to · Microphones: The Lenovo device's
the Echo right now because of its head start in microphone portion protrudes from the
signing up IoT partners. Those same reviewers top of the device and has eight far-
expect Google home to catch up in short order, field microphones instead of seven.
given their background in data analysis and AI.
While personal assistants like the Amazon
While these two devices have been getting all Echo and Google Home can be helpful, they
the press, new competitors are entering the aren't known to have great speakers. The
arena. Lenovo has worked out an agreement Lenovo Smart Assistant Harman Kardon®
with Amazon to use “Alexa” (the software and Edition will provide better sound quality. It will
voice used in the Echo) on a similar piece of
hardware that Lenovo has designed for this
marketplace. (Continued on page 4)

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