Alibaba enters voice-activated market with its Tmall Genie
Genie will be available from August 8, priced about US$73: cheaper than Google’s US$130 Home offering and Amazon’s US$180 Echo
Alibaba has launched its own home assistant device, similar to Amazon’s Echo, as China’s internet giants races to capture a growing share of the market.
Dubbed the “Tmall Genie X1”, the device is powered by the “AliGenie” voice assistant system and is similar to the Amazon Echo. Users can ask for weather information, the news, set reminders and ask for their favourite song to be played.
The Genie X1 is being seen as another way of Alibaba to cement its leading position in the Chinese e-commerce market.
By simply vocalising their requests to the Genie, consumers can order anything from the latest smartphones to imported snacks on the Tmall marketplace. It can also keep users updated on the delivery progress of their order.
“The Tmall Genie X1 will help connect users to Tmall in a more personal way, and could allow Alibaba to sell more smart home devices by being linked up to the Genie,” said Kitty Fok, managing director for research firm IDC China.