Google is working on an Echo Show competitor (GOOGL, AMZN)

TechCrunch

Here’s what we’ve seen about this rumored device so far, and how it could change Google’s role in the smart speaker market and the smart home:

The Manhattan device will have a touchscreen panel about seven inches diagonally — comparable to the Echo Show.
The smart speaker will house the Google Assistant and run voice apps, but will be powered by a variant of Android.
The device will allow users to make and receive video calls — potentially using Google Hangouts and/or Duo — just like Alexa users can on the Echo Show. But by running a version of Android, Google could attract developers to the platform who wouldn’t need to learn a new ecosystem, which could give its smart speaker a key advantage over Amazon’s.
Google is also exploring partnerships with Best Buy and Enjoy to help with home installation of both the Manhattan smart speaker as well as other smart home devices.
The company is looking to allow the smart speaker to control smart home devices, but consumers often have issues with setting them up. That’s why
partnered with Best Buy to help educate consumers on its professionally installed service, and why Amazon made the
, which is supposed to allow easy device setup.

The rumored Manhattan device follows the development arc that we expect to see from the smart speaker market. Screens add versatility to smart speakers, and as we discussed in the Smart Speaker Report, the Echo Show’s screen made it generate more excitement and made people perceive it as a useful addition to the home. Google’s trying to make sure it stays competitive with Amazon so that it can leverage its Assistant’s advantages over Alexa, but Amazon is gaining a significant edge both in install base and in the variety of smart speakers and smart screens it offers.

Smart speakers — Amazon's Echo, for example — are the latest device category poised to take a chunk of our increasingly digital lives. These devices are made primarily for the home and execute a user's voice commands via an integrated digital assistant. These digital assistants can play music, answer questions, and control other devices within a user's home, among other things.

The central question for this new product category is not when they will take off, but which devices will rise to the top. To answer this question, BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, surveyed our leading-edge consumer panel, gathering exclusive data on Amazon's recently released Echo Show and Echo Look, as well as Apple's HomePod.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

Apple’s HomePod looks likely to find a place in the smart speaker market but won’t dominate its space like the iPhone or iPad did.

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You can also purchase and download the full report from our research store.

Google is working on an Echo Show competitor (GOOGL, AMZN)

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