Google Home and Amazon Echo soon will have VOIP features where one can make calls over Internet Protocol.
Amazon has sold more than 8.2 million Echo home speakers, says Consumer Intelligence Research. Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL) launched its artificial-intelligence supported home speaker system last fall but hasn’t disclosed shipments.
Amazon and Alphabet are racing to add more features to the internet-connected home devices. It’s not clear if telecom regulations would get in the way of Amazon’s Echo or Google Home adding communications features, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Amazon’s Echo AMZN, +0.75% or the Google GOOGL, -0.32% Home could be used to make or receive calls, people familiar with the matter said, a functionality that would give them further control over consumers’ digital lives at home.
Meanwhile, observers speculate that Amazon might offer a search service via its Echo home devices, which would pose a threat to Google’s core advertising business. A top Amazon executive signaled paid search plans at an advertising industry meeting on Jan. 19.
While Google’s business has weathered the migration of search to mobile phones from desktop PCs, voice-assisted technology from Amazon, Apple (AAPL) and possibly others could pose a long-term threat, analysts say.
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