Amazon's strategy of just swallowing up their competition seems to be working just fine. This time they're coming after Microsoft's Cortana.
Using the business model of getting maximum exposure, Alexa will be integrated into Windows 10 PCs starting in 2018.
Battle Of The Digital Assistants
Amazon is trying to get Alexa out there as much as possible to dominate the digital assistant market. Amazon Alexa will be integrated with HP, Lenovo, Asus, and Acer Windows 10 laptops and desktops this year. In order to be released on Windows 10 computers, there will be an Alexa app released for Windows in the spring.
The new app is being announced in time for the Consumer Electronics Show, where many of the devices that will feature Alexa integration will be unveiled.
"Hands-free access to Alexa on PCs can be helpful to customers in many ways, like making it simple to interact with your smart home, get news or weather, set timers, and more," said Steve Rabuchin, vice president of Amazon's Alexa division in Acer's press release. "This is a big step toward making Alexa available wherever customers might need her."
HP's Pavilion Wave PC will support Alexa. Another company that announced the integration is Acer, which said that the digital assistant would launch on the Aspire 5, Aspire 7, Spin 3, Spin 5, Switch 7 Black Edition, Swift 3, Swift 5, Swift 7, Aspire Z24, Aspire U27, and Aspire S24. Asus say some 2018 models of the Zenbook and Vivobook laptops will feature Alexa.
Some will use Intel's Smart Sound Technology that allows for Alexa to be able to listen to commands even over music.
Amazon And Microsoft Integration
Last year, Amazon and Microsoft announced a partnership. They promised that they would integrate Alexa and Cortana together by the end of 2017. Both companies announced the move at the end of August. This would've allowed the digital assistants to talk to each other.
Amazon says that the new Alexa app for Windows 10 PCs has nothing to do with the Alexa/Cortana integration. It would be tough to see how the two assistants would be able to cohabitate the same device without some confusion.
Amazon and Microsoft weren't able to agree on a date when both digital assistants would be able to interact. And both companies ended up missing the cross-platform integration target date.
Amazon is managing to stay ahead of its rivals but only barely. Apple still hasn't released its smartspeaker, the Homepod, yet. Google Assistant is lagging behind in the smart speaker market but can be found on smartphones.
