Facebook makes it official

Better late than never?

Two weeks ago we were reporting on Amazon’s forthcoming entry into the hearable realm with their own earbud offering in development. Since then we’ve seen Microsoft announce “Surface Buds”, Samsung build Bixby into their ‘Galaxy Buds’ product and continued growth in the smart speaker space overall. Now we have Facebook taking another crack at the assistant market and Alibaba pushing their assistant into cars. Is there enough voice assistant demand to go around? There may be...in fact, one venture capitalist predicts the keyboard will be gone in five years. What's going to fill the void? Intelligent assistance.

Voice on Voice - #21 (If you want this in your inbox click here and to add RAIN's Voice on Voice Weekly Podcast to Your Flash Briefing click here)

?of the day

Hey Portal, do we need a Facebook voice assistant?

Facebook has announced that it is working on a voice assistant to grapple with Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant. Despite the company’s previous foray into assistance on messenger (‘M’) ending in a shutdown and their Portal device utilizing Alexa, the tech giant believes it can create a new competitive device in the space. Reportedly, the assistant effort is being led by Facebook’s augmented reality and virtual reality division and that group has already contacted suppliers in the smart speaker space. More on CNBC

Free 9??9??

Behind the Music

Last week Amazon launched a free version of Amazon Music for Alexa device users. The service is ad-supported and targeted toward customers who own an Alexa device but aren’t yet Prime members or full-service Amazon Music subscribers. The same week, Google launched a similar feature for Home device owners making the free tier of their YouTube Music service accessible with ads. With music listening continuing to be a primary use of smart speakers, it’s no surprise to see these companies utilizing device ownership as an opportunity to convert users to paid members of their broader services ecosystem.  More on CNET

?? New meaning to "smart car"

Alibaba's in Cruise Control

Alibaba has announced that it will be creating a slew of apps for connected cars allowing drivers to “find restaurants, queue up and make reservations at restaurants, order food and eventually complete a plethora of other tasks using voice, motion or touch control.” 3rd-party developers have also been invited to create apps for the car running on Alibaba’s AliOS. Much like existing apps running on Chinese ‘super apps’ (like WeChat) these car apps will be developed as “mini apps” that use up less bandwidth and can run on top of larger Alibaba apps natively on the AliOS. To grow adoption of the AliOS in vehicles, Alibaba has strategically worked with manufacturers to create partnerships ensuring it will be installed in a variety of vehicles available. More on TechCrunch

?? Stats Don't Lie

207.9 Million - Projected 2019 Global smart speaker install base, up 82% YoY (data from Canalys)

16%- Decrease in use of computers by Google Home smart speaker owners (data via Search Engine Land)

?? Chart of the Week

(Canalys)