We already know the LG G6 will have some kind of AI assistant on board: either Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa. Most reports have claimed it’ll be Google Assistant, but LG has just sent out a cryptic teaser for the upcoming G6, which will be announced at Mobile World Congress on February 26, that seems to hint that it might not be as simple as either/or.
The teaser says that the G6 will be a “next generation smartphone”: so far so standard. But “brought to you first by LG”? The Pixels already have Google Assistant and the Huawei Mate 9 is (supposed) to be the fist device with Alexa. So what gives?
As you already know, the company has two main options available. According to a report from CNET, the tech giant will apparently opt for Google’s AI offering, which will make the G6 the first non-Google smartphone on the market to feature the popular Assistant. But is this simple addition really sufficient to claim it as a “next generation” device?
But CNET also reports that Assistant wasn’t LG’s first choice. The company initially wanted to include Alexa on the G6 but felt the software wasn’t quite ready yet. LG apparently still plans on bringing Amazon’s digital assistant to the device, but at a later date. Perhaps that later date has ended up being sooner than we expected? Could the LG G6 feature both assistants at launch? That would certainly be “more intelligence” and a “next generation” innovation.
If the G6 will ship with Assistant and Alexa on board, it would have a huge competitive advantage over its rivals, even if it won’t be using 2017’s chipset of choice, the Snapdragon 835. Having access to both digital assistants would make the interaction with the device a lot better, as it would allow you to pick and choose your service depending on your usage habits rather than choose your phone based on your digital assistant preference. Car manufacturers are also keen to have all AI options built-in.
Even if LG does just opt for one or the other digital assistant, we will probably see both from at least one manufacturer this year. In addition to the G6, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8 will come with a digital assistant called Bixby and Huawei has already partnered up with Amazon to bring Alexa to the Mate 9 soon. Whether either of those companies also have plans to add a second AI assistant we don’t know, but once someone does, others will soon follow.
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