Lenovo has announced a new voice-activated speaker to rival the Amazon Echo and Google Home, but is receiving a huge helping hand from the former.
The new Smart Assistant comes packing Amazon’s Alexa smarts, enabling users to play music, ask questions, listen to the news, order an Uber, control smart home gadgets and access thousands more Skills from Amazon’s library.
While the Smart Assistant actually looks a lot like the Echo, albeit a little more refined, it might actually win out over its predecessor, thanks to the inclusion of Harman Kardon audio tech.
The premium audio version will cost $180, which is the same price as the Amazon Echo.
In terms of other hardware variances over its inspiration, the Smart Assistant has eight far-field microphones around the top ring compared to the Echo’s seven.
The idea is for the assistant to be able to pick up commands from anywhere in the room.
The standard versions are available in light gray, green and orange, while the Harmon Kardon Edition is black. All will go on sale in May, although UK price and availability are yet to be confirmed.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
