What You Need to Know About Amazon and Microsoft’s New Alliance

    Author Jen JiangPosted on Categories TechTags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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    On August 30th, Amazon.com (NASDAQ:$AMZN) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:$MSFT) have formed a new alliance in conjoining their voice-controlled virtual assistants to talk to each other. This will offer both their user demographics simultaneous access to their work, homes, and shopping online.

    This partnership is the first of its kind, where two technology companies collaborate on their artificial intelligence-powered virtual bodies to each other. While outsiders may be perplexed over the collaboration of the two competitors, their respective CEOs have something bigger in mind. The ultimate goal? To outsmart rivals Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri.

    What this looks like:

    • Amazon’s Alexa will ask Microsoft’s Cortana to do a range of activities including booking a meeting, reading out an e-mail, and making a to-do list.
    • Cortana users will call on Alexa to play music or turn on house lights

    As a counter, Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:$GOOG) stated that Google Assistant will soon be available on third-party speakers, home appliances, and more. Specifically, Google is speculated to partner with LG Electronics Inc. (NASDAQ:$LGEAF) where users will be able to control appliances, such as washers, dryers, and vacuums all from the touch of their Android or iPhone. Several technology companies are now vying for a share in smart homes.

    A further breakdown of the battle between the mega-giants:

    • Amazon launches the voice-controlled Alexa with its Echo speakers in 2014
    • Google launches its assistant on Google Home speakers in 2016
    • Apple Inc launches its HomePod powered by Siri in June, 2017
    • Amazon Echo claims 70.6% of the U.S. market share
    • Google Home claims 23.8% of the U.S. market share

    Later this year, users of Echo will be able to turn on their device and say: “Alexa, turn on Cortana”, and vice versa when operating on Windows 10 devices.

    Featured Image: twitter

    Author Jen Jiang
    About the author: Jennifer is a University of Western Ontario graduate with a degree in International Business. She strives to excel as a content creator in the digital sphere, working with clients in the Finance and Tech industry to leverage clickable taglines, images, and articles in driving traffic. When not writing, Jennifer enjoys photography, copywriting, and video production.