Play games with your kids with Google Assistant

For a very long time, Amazon was the sole player in the smart speaker market. To Amazon’s credit, it was their bold gamble to put a speaker with a virtual assistant in the home that created the market we have today. Now, we have a full-fledged battle for the home between Amazon and Google.

The first volley in the recent battle came from Amazon that introduced the Echo Button, which ties into various games families can play on the Echo devices.

As a response, Google announced as many as 50 games for kids and families on its Google Assistant. The games include trivia, stories, activities, and even musical chairs. Google has an advantage in that the games work on all platforms with Google Assistant, which includes the Home range of devices, Android smartphones, and computers. Also, Google Home has another advantage. The Google Assistant can recognize as many as six different voices, and its response will differ for each.

Another advantage is the parental controls Google offers the Family Link app. Parents can now control the experience of Android devices given to their children.

At this point, it looks like Google will eventually pull ahead. The search giants lead in voice technology, recognition, artificial intelligence, and its presence in Android might pull the company ahead. Amazon relies too heavily on third parties to make skills for the device, whereas Google is creating a lot of first party activities. In the long term, consumers will be the victors in the war.