Post by Luckychoices on May 7, 2017 20:16:59 GMT -8
This is my third and final post (for now) of a Seeking Alpha article that I thought might be interesting to the board_especially considering the comments made today about both Alexa and Siri.
Amazon's Alexa Leaving Apple's Siri In The Dust By Gary Bourgeault
Summary
• Alexa being added to more and more products and services.
• Apple still looking to build an Echo-like speaker for use with Siri.
• Improving Siri quality still an issue.
• The voice assistant battle may already be over before Apple even gets going.
As I've done previously, I'm including a few comments made by Wiseyou because I considered them worth sharing. If the article and/or Wiseyou's comments strike a cord and you feel the overwhelming need to comment as well, please do so. Sharing thoughts and ideas regarding Apple is why we're all here. Well, that and to say, Cheers to the AAPL Longs!!
======================
Wiseyou
Comments (343) |Following |Send Message
@jackriordan1,
Alexa is a baby compared to Siri. Alexa speaks only 2 languages (English and German) while Siri speaks 32 (including all major European and Asian languages). Since its launch in Amazon has sold about 11 million devices containing Alexa (Echo, Dot, Tap) since its launch while Apple's Siri is an integral part of over a billion devices (iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple TV) worldwide.
While most people consider Apple TV a video streaming device, but it also plays music on home stereos, televisions, or speakers in over 50 million homes, i.e. 24 million sold in 2016 and over 37 million sold between 2007 and March 2016 (http://bit.ly/1pk4XEp). Unlike Alexa devices, where you talk to microphones on the device and have shout at the device when it is playing music, the microphone for Siri on Apple TV is located on the hand controller.
Alexa has access to the Amazon music with over 2 million songs (with a Prime membership for $99/year or individual Echo plan for $48/year) or tens of million of songs on Amazon Music Unlimited ($79/year individual and $149/year for family) or 30 million songs on Spotify ($120 per year). Siri has access to your Apple music in iCloud or Apple Music ($120 per year), which provides access to over 30 million songs.
05 May 2017, 08:06 AM Report Abuse Reply 1 Like
======================
Wiseyou
Comments (343) |Following |Send Message
Gary,
While Apple TV does not allow you to load a Spotify or Amazon Video directly onto it through the App Store, you can play Spotify Music or Amazon Video on whatever device connected to your Apple TV from a Mac or iOS device (other than Apple TV) through AirPlay. Of course, you can use Siri to command your device to play music and it will do so through Apple TV.
A lot of people don't realize that the Apple TV microphone is in the handheld controller. It is true that the controller has to be close to you. However, it is convenient because you can talk to Siri even though your Apple TV is across the room and talk quietly to her to change the music. It is really annoying that you cannot get Alexa to listen to you through the music that she is playing and have to shout at her. To get Apple TV's Siri to listen, however, you must press the microphone button on the hand controller, unlike iPhones and iPads that are always listening for "Hey, Siri".
Note that Android users can now use Alexa as an App. I have not tried it but it works well. I understand that the German language option is available only on Amazon devices and not Android devices.
Finally, according to a number of sources, Apple is working on an Echo like device that may be announced soon. It is clearly a great idea. One possibility is that the Apple TV will incorporate speaker jacks and microphones.
Both Alexa and Siri suffer from one major problem. They have trouble recognizing names of certain performers. For example, I cannot get my Alexa on Echo or Siri on my iPhone to recognize two of my favorite Cyrille Aimée or Tish Hinojosa. If Apple and Amazon were to devote some resources to teaching Siri and Alexa respectively the names of performers, composers, and that would give them a leg up in implementing music commands.
Finally, Apple is the only one that can and has the market clout to include Asian music (but has not done so), e.g. Korean (K-pop), Mandarin (mandopop), Cantonese (cantopop), Japanese (J-pop), Hindu/Urdu Bollywood/Collywood music in Apple Music and iTunes. At present, Alibaba's Xiami is the only streaming service that is providing modern Asian music to a billion of Chinese around the world. Believe me, the music market in Asia larger than U.S/Europe. It is a multi-billion opportunity for Apple to build an ecosystem for Asia.
05 May 2017, 11:00 AM Report Abuse Reply 0 Like
======================
Wiseyou
Comments (343) |Following |Send Message
Gary, there was a recent article here on SA reporting that Apple is close to a deal with Amazon to play Amazon video on Apple TV. There is no reason that Apple would not want to have Amazon video on Apple TV. It is likely that Amazon wanted to charge Apple more than Apple was willing to pay.
Alexa, by the way, has no direct access to your music on your Apple devices or iCloud. You can of course play your music on Echo, via AirPlay, as you can to any Bluetooth device. Apple will not give Amazon access to the iCloud. Only Apple devices equipped with ability to encrypt and decrypt data from iCloud would be allowed access.
Note that Amazon does not allow your Echo to have access to your music on Amazon or Google cloud either. It only has access to your Amazon music library to which you must upload your songs. The Amazon music library allows you free storage of only 200 songs. If you to store more songs, you have to pay.
Why doesn't Google or even Amazon allow Alexa access to user clouds? The reason is because Amazon devices with Alexa are not secure. Anybody can speak to Alexa and ask her to access the content of the services that she is logged in to.
People should also be aware the Alexa records every conversation that is spoken around her and that this is stored on Amazon's servers. There has already been a court case where Alexa recorded conversations were subpoenaed on a murder case.
Does Siri listen and record all conversations that go on around her? I don't think so. To activate Siri, you either have to press the home button of the iOS device or the Siri key on newer Macbook Pros. All iOS and Mac devices require a login.
06 May 2017, 12:58 PM Report Abuse
======================
Amazon's Alexa Leaving Apple's Siri In The Dust By Gary Bourgeault
Summary
• Alexa being added to more and more products and services.
• Apple still looking to build an Echo-like speaker for use with Siri.
• Improving Siri quality still an issue.
• The voice assistant battle may already be over before Apple even gets going.
As I've done previously, I'm including a few comments made by Wiseyou because I considered them worth sharing. If the article and/or Wiseyou's comments strike a cord and you feel the overwhelming need to comment as well, please do so. Sharing thoughts and ideas regarding Apple is why we're all here. Well, that and to say, Cheers to the AAPL Longs!!
======================
Wiseyou
Comments (343) |Following |Send Message
@jackriordan1,
Alexa is a baby compared to Siri. Alexa speaks only 2 languages (English and German) while Siri speaks 32 (including all major European and Asian languages). Since its launch in Amazon has sold about 11 million devices containing Alexa (Echo, Dot, Tap) since its launch while Apple's Siri is an integral part of over a billion devices (iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple TV) worldwide.
While most people consider Apple TV a video streaming device, but it also plays music on home stereos, televisions, or speakers in over 50 million homes, i.e. 24 million sold in 2016 and over 37 million sold between 2007 and March 2016 (http://bit.ly/1pk4XEp). Unlike Alexa devices, where you talk to microphones on the device and have shout at the device when it is playing music, the microphone for Siri on Apple TV is located on the hand controller.
Alexa has access to the Amazon music with over 2 million songs (with a Prime membership for $99/year or individual Echo plan for $48/year) or tens of million of songs on Amazon Music Unlimited ($79/year individual and $149/year for family) or 30 million songs on Spotify ($120 per year). Siri has access to your Apple music in iCloud or Apple Music ($120 per year), which provides access to over 30 million songs.
05 May 2017, 08:06 AM Report Abuse Reply 1 Like
======================
Wiseyou
Comments (343) |Following |Send Message
Gary,
While Apple TV does not allow you to load a Spotify or Amazon Video directly onto it through the App Store, you can play Spotify Music or Amazon Video on whatever device connected to your Apple TV from a Mac or iOS device (other than Apple TV) through AirPlay. Of course, you can use Siri to command your device to play music and it will do so through Apple TV.
A lot of people don't realize that the Apple TV microphone is in the handheld controller. It is true that the controller has to be close to you. However, it is convenient because you can talk to Siri even though your Apple TV is across the room and talk quietly to her to change the music. It is really annoying that you cannot get Alexa to listen to you through the music that she is playing and have to shout at her. To get Apple TV's Siri to listen, however, you must press the microphone button on the hand controller, unlike iPhones and iPads that are always listening for "Hey, Siri".
Note that Android users can now use Alexa as an App. I have not tried it but it works well. I understand that the German language option is available only on Amazon devices and not Android devices.
Finally, according to a number of sources, Apple is working on an Echo like device that may be announced soon. It is clearly a great idea. One possibility is that the Apple TV will incorporate speaker jacks and microphones.
Both Alexa and Siri suffer from one major problem. They have trouble recognizing names of certain performers. For example, I cannot get my Alexa on Echo or Siri on my iPhone to recognize two of my favorite Cyrille Aimée or Tish Hinojosa. If Apple and Amazon were to devote some resources to teaching Siri and Alexa respectively the names of performers, composers, and that would give them a leg up in implementing music commands.
Finally, Apple is the only one that can and has the market clout to include Asian music (but has not done so), e.g. Korean (K-pop), Mandarin (mandopop), Cantonese (cantopop), Japanese (J-pop), Hindu/Urdu Bollywood/Collywood music in Apple Music and iTunes. At present, Alibaba's Xiami is the only streaming service that is providing modern Asian music to a billion of Chinese around the world. Believe me, the music market in Asia larger than U.S/Europe. It is a multi-billion opportunity for Apple to build an ecosystem for Asia.
05 May 2017, 11:00 AM Report Abuse Reply 0 Like
======================
Wiseyou
Comments (343) |Following |Send Message
Gary, there was a recent article here on SA reporting that Apple is close to a deal with Amazon to play Amazon video on Apple TV. There is no reason that Apple would not want to have Amazon video on Apple TV. It is likely that Amazon wanted to charge Apple more than Apple was willing to pay.
Alexa, by the way, has no direct access to your music on your Apple devices or iCloud. You can of course play your music on Echo, via AirPlay, as you can to any Bluetooth device. Apple will not give Amazon access to the iCloud. Only Apple devices equipped with ability to encrypt and decrypt data from iCloud would be allowed access.
Note that Amazon does not allow your Echo to have access to your music on Amazon or Google cloud either. It only has access to your Amazon music library to which you must upload your songs. The Amazon music library allows you free storage of only 200 songs. If you to store more songs, you have to pay.
Why doesn't Google or even Amazon allow Alexa access to user clouds? The reason is because Amazon devices with Alexa are not secure. Anybody can speak to Alexa and ask her to access the content of the services that she is logged in to.
People should also be aware the Alexa records every conversation that is spoken around her and that this is stored on Amazon's servers. There has already been a court case where Alexa recorded conversations were subpoenaed on a murder case.
Does Siri listen and record all conversations that go on around her? I don't think so. To activate Siri, you either have to press the home button of the iOS device or the Siri key on newer Macbook Pros. All iOS and Mac devices require a login.
06 May 2017, 12:58 PM Report Abuse
======================