It looks like Google Assistant may have a competing feature soon. Yahoo Finance reports that Amazon is attempting to Alexa, its smart assistant, into a translator that would go beyond just words and phrases, which it’s currently able to do.
Yahoo Finance says that Alexa not only would translate phrases but also incorporate local culture into how it responds. They write:
“Asking the virtual assistant, ‘Alexa, what do I say to the father of the bride at a wedding in Japan?’ would solicit a different response and tone from Alexa than if you asked the assistant ‘What do I say to the master of ceremonies at a wedding in Japan?’ The understanding being that remarks you make to the father of the bride would be more formal and reverential than to the wedding’s master of ceremony.”
Sound familiar? It should because it seems like Amazon is taking cues from Google’s Pixel Buds as the company is reportedly trying to get the Assistant to translate in real time through multiple devices. In addition, Amazon wants to translate multiple conversations at once. Google tried this last year but didn’t go very well, even though the company hyped the feature a lot in its Pixel Buds. Google’s hype around the feature was one of the main selling points of the Buds.
