where Windows is ubiquitous, usage of Cortana
is almost entirely on desktop.
This situation indirectly sheds light on a core
problem for Alexa: as voice assistants are
available on a wide range of devices, with Apple
and Google even baking their own assistants
directly into their devices’ functionality, Amazon
can’t afford to neglect its hardware efforts.
Fortunately, it hasn’t – but especially wisely in a
mobile world dominated by Apple and Google,
Amazon has foregone attempting to directly
take on either and so risk a repeat of the failed
Fire Phone from 2014.
“If you could wave a magic wand and have a
mobile OS that’s successful in phones, sure,”
Limp explained in an interview with WIRED,
alluding to the obvious obstacle. “But the fact
of the matter is there are two to choose from
and that’s the state of the industry, and in our
world we try to work with those OS as best we
can.” The battle for mobile dominance might
be over, but another revolution could be on
the horizon – and Amazon is priming itself to
pounce on that upheaval.
THE ECHO SET TO ECHO EVEN
MORE WIDELY
While Amazon didn’t take the veil off an “Echo
Phone” at its Seattle event, the company still
took the challenge right to Apple in markets
relatively nascent. Consider the example of the
new Echo Studio, Amazon’s answer to the
HomePod. The new, high-end version of the
standard Echo smart speaker supports 3D Dolby
sound, which the Studio can boom through
three mid-range speakers and a 5.25-inch