Lenovo packed a punch at CES 2019 with the reveal of two new smart devices: the Alexa-enabled Android-powered Smart Tab and an adorable Google Assistant enabled Smart Clock, bringing smart assistants to more areas of users’ lives.
The 10″ Lenovo Smart Tab is an Android Oreo powered tablet on its own and a touchscreen smart display — similar to Amazon Echo Show — with access to Amazon’s Alexa when docked.
The 2-in1 device comes with a dock — unlike Amazon Fire — that features two 3-watt speakers and three microphones to increase the available range of voice commands, and a mute button.
As an Android-tablet, users can download apps, watch Netflix or YouTube, play mobile games, browse the internet, and take (and post) photos with the front and rear cameras; as a docked smart display users can command Alexa to play music, check the weather, and more.
Lenovo presented two iterations of the new Smart Tabs, the M10 (US$200) and the P10 (US$300) which features more memory, storage and a fingerprint sensor.
Lenovo has previously included Google Assistant in their Smart Displays and is continuing this trend with the new Smart Clock, a smaller version of its Smart Display.
The Smart Clock has been referred to many on the CES floor as “adorable” and though designed to act as an alarm clock it offers a myriad of other features.
The Smart Clock is able to charge devices, play music, and as it is powered by Google Assistant users can put it on silent mode or turn off with a simple voice command.
The 4-inch touchscreen device features a fabric cover with a material that appears the same as was used on the Google Home Mini and features customisable clock faces.
Lenovo is pricing its Smart Clock at US$80, and it’s scheduled to start shipping early 2019.
Amazon and Google are pushing each other to continue putting their voice-assistants everywhere, creating their own smart home eco-systems that can be filled out with third-party devices — like Lenovo’s.
It’s surprising that Google Assitant wasn’t used in the Smart Tab, but the Lenovo Smart Display with Google Assistant isn’t going anywhere and indeed Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa are going to continue to be pushed into more devices, taking over the smart device market, leaving little room for other smart assistants — like Bixby — to make any kind of mark.
