Main voice assistants and their differences

It is that software associated with the operating system of certain devices which is capable of interacting with human beings through voice commands. 

At the beginning, voice assistants were practically only able to respond to simple questions, information searches as weather forecast or native actions of the phone as "call Jordi". 

But machine learning, on one hand, and integration with third-parties services on the other, have been making them advance dramatically in both their possibilities and the own interaction, which becomes more conversational and natural. 

ince the early versions of Apple´s virtual assistant, the popular Siri, 5 years ago, things have changed very much. 

At first, this software was associated only to iPhone, but both Apple and the competitors that have been emerging behind it have jumped to other platforms, from computers to almost any connected device. 

We had already mentioned it at the beginning of this post: it is the pioneer among voice assistants. 

Initially, it was only present in iPhone devices with iOs, but little by little it has been introduced in notebooks and desktops of the company. 

The qualitative leap comes also from Home Pod, an intelligent speaker capable of managing from home automation devices to our persona lpreferences regarding music. It learn from us to make our lives easier (and obtain patterns of use and consumption). 

It is Microsoft´s Siri. It is surprising to see how two companies that emerged at the same time, with such an amazing penetration Windows got to have on the market, have taken two very different paths (in favor of Apple). 

Cortana is available on devices that incorporate Windows from version 7. The idea is that this voice assistant helps you interact with your devices, from the simple taking notes to their set up. It is smart and it works well, but it has just taken off. 

By the way: it is also available in Windows Phone handsets, but it is well-known they have not been a success. 

If search is one of the main functions of voice assistants, how was going the search engine giant to be out of the game? 

In addition, do not forget that Google is also behind Android phones, which are the most widespread in the world. 

For Google all conversational, natural language and voice interaction is a priority for years. That is the reason why it has begun to prioritize the mobile versions of web pages and adapt their interfaces to voice. 

This assistant is available in many of the services of the big G, from the search in the browser to Google Maps and of course on our Android phones, just ask them what you need to know in every moment and you will be answered immediately. 

Google, like Apple, has its own smart speaker called Google Home. Another invention that can manage your home, agenda and your every day through active listening. 

Last but not least, we are going to talk about Alexa. Amazon is behind Alexa, so imagine what the strategy is about. 

Amazon wants you to use Echo, its smart speaker series, to have a digital butler at your home. Like Google and Apple alternatives, you can perform all kinds of actions related to home automation or agenda, but what interests Amazon most is that you buy (as always). 

Obviously, Echo and Alexa are linked to an Amazon account, so you can place orders only by saying it. It is a very oriented to sale without friction voice assistant. The voice added to purchase in a click makes you be hardly aware of been paying. 

Of course it is: a change that has made us to readjust for the umpteenth time, and which has been so natural and progressive that we have hardly realised. 

To understand the impact of voice assistants, we should understand other two trends. 

The first is simply the mobile. Smartphones have been gaining unstoppable market share as browser device. 

First, because the number of this type of phones has grown exponentially (its price has fallen and its use has become democratized). Second, because connections are faster (and they will improve with 5G), cheaper and are not so limited in terms of downloading volume. 

The second trend is the Internet of things. Increasingly there are more devices connected in an autonomous way, from wearables as activity bracelets to smart speakers as Echo Amazon or Apple Home Pod. All of them are likely to be operated by using voice commands with virtual assistants as only interface. 

We have already seen how things are changing. Our internet use and consumption habits were linked to a computer screen, but they have gradually passed to a mobile phone screen. 

There is no much doubt that the next will be different. We are living such a transcendental change that means to forget about the screen and begin to interact in a radically different way. 

This change, which is paradigmatic, represents at the same time that we have to adapt at all levels: from SEO, in which searches will be more semantic and natural (and that rating top 2 would no longer have the same effect) to the new formats of advertising that may arise: will radio spots be back to our intelligent speakers?