- The Information reports Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is working on "an Amazon Echo-like device with a speaker and microphone that people can use to turn on music, get news headlines or set a timer." It adds Siri, which will naturally power the assistant, will be opened up to third-party developers through an SDK to be unveiled at the WWDC conference (runs from June 13-17).
- While Siri supports some third-party services such as Yelp, Apple hasn't yet released an SDK that any developer can use to create Siri-powered services. Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) rolled out an SDK last year for Alexa, the voice assistant powering its Echo speaker line, which has gradually turned into a hit and was recently updated to include cheaper hardware.
- The report comes a week after Google unveiled a "conversational" assistant service that builds upon Google Now, and said it would support third-party services. Microsoft competes in the voice assistant space via Cortana, and Facebook has dipped its toes into the market via M, an assistant (currently in beta) that combines AI-based and human services.