CES 2017: Huawei to Pre-Load Amazon Alexa Virtual Assistant in its Flagship Smartphone

We’ve seen it in third-party speakers and cars already at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but Amazon’s Alexa is also about to become a smartphone personal assistant. Chinese mobile company Huawei used CES 2017 to announce it will be the first handset maker in the U.S. to pre-load the voice-activated AI into a phone.

The HUAWEI MATE 9 will be the first smartphone to integrate with Amazon Alexa. Speak to the future #HuaweiCES2017 pic.twitter.com/Eg5NBhpV7j

— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) January 5, 2017

Less than a week ago, Alexa was almost exclusive to Amazon’s tablets and Echo smart speakers, but anyone who picks up the US version of Huawei’s flagship Mate 9 smartphone – set to launch “early 2017” – will also be able to invoke the virtual assistant.

Huawei’s announcement sets the stage for Alexa to compete directly in a mobile market already busy with AI assistants battling it out for supremacy. Apple’s Siri is still only available on iOS devices and Macs running macOS Sierra, although rumors have persisted that Cupertino is working on its own Siri-powered connected smart speaker, while the AI is likely to feature heavily in any autonomous car system the company may be working on.

Meanwhile, Google recently upgraded its Google Assistant for its own-branded Pixel phones, and last year Samsung acquired Viv – developed by the creators of Siri – for integration in its next round of flagship smartphones.

Tags: Amazon, Huawei, CES 2017
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