Apple is said to be ‘finalizing’ the design of its Amazon Echo killer

Why it matters to you

There’s still no official word but the latest information suggests Apple is close to completing work on a digital assistant device to take on Amazon’s Echo speaker.

Several years after Amazon launched its Alexa digital assistant as part of its Echo home speaker, Apple is said to be moving toward the launch of its own version of the device.

The claim comes from blogger Sonny Dickson, a guy who over the years has called it right with a number of Apple leaks. In a tweet posted on Thursday, Dickson said the Cupertino-based company is “currently finalising designs for their Alexa competitor, expected to be marketed as a Siri/AirPlay device.”

Apple is currently finalising designs for their Alexa competitor, expected to be marketed as a Siri/AirPlay device.

— Sonny Dickson (@SonnyDickson) April 27, 2017

The blogger added that the product is may carry some form of Beats technology, and run a variant of iOS, with the latter point suggesting it could come with a touchscreen, something Amazon’s Echo device lacks though might one day include.

There have long been rumors that Apple is looking to build Siri — its own digital assistant that launched five years ago with the arrival of the iPhone 4S — into a piece of hardware similar to the Echo, and Dickson’s tweets this week suggest the company could be gearing up to unveil it in the coming months.

So, what would Apple’s offering let you do? Well, if it’s anything like Amazon’s Echo speaker and its Alexa assistant, or Google’s Home offering incorporating Google Assistant — or indeed Siri — users will be able to call out questions on any number of topics and expect a spoken reply within seconds. Want to listen to a song from your music library? Then simply call out the track and let your digital assistant take care of it. Echo and Home also let you control your integrated smart home appliances, so we can expect similar functionality involving Apple’s own technology.

We can also expect the tech giant to offer up something special in the way of features or hardware quality to help it stand out from its rivals and grab attention in the marketplace.

News that Apple may be close to unveiling its Echo/Alexa rival came on the same day that Amazon unveiled the Echo Look, a hands-free, voice-activated camera for the home that the ecommerce company is touting as a kind of fashion assistant so you can see how your outfits look in full-length snaps. Wonder if Apple is already working on a rival offering …