Emerging Audio Terminals

There is little fidelity with a tiny single speaker. Have you looked at the specs on the Apple HomePod? https://www.apple.com/homepod/
Seven tweeters
High-excursion woofer
Six microphones
It all depends what you want to do with it. If it’s to play music, then perhaps the Google Home speaker is not the best candidate. If, on the other hand, you want to experiment with programming talking apps, and doing it as cheaply as possible, then Google Home may be the right choice.
Take a look at the improvements automobiles have undergone in the last 50 years. I remember my old Volkswagen that I had to coax to start, especially when it was damp outside. In the last 15 years, I have not had a single problem in starting a car. These initial speakers will continue to get better as time goes on.
Here is something I might use a Google Home as a development platform and evolve it as new products come into existence.

Val Gretchev said:

If it is a simple known interface, wouldn’t it be nice to redirect its input and output to a private server running a different App then the Google search engine. I can think of several applications for an audio terminal that works well in sending and receiving voice messages. I believe that the current application these 3 companies are promoting (music, switching electrical devices on and off) will wear off quickly. There are many much more serious applications that a device like this could be put to better use.

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Why do you want to run the server and modify the device. Just download the Alexa developers kit, write your code, upload, test, publish. Easy. Very similar for Google Home, I believe. It took about 10 minutes to sign up and get approval to access the Alexa Developers Kit.

gophert said:

Why do you want to run the server and modify the device. Just download the Alexa developers kit, write your code, upload, test, publish. Easy. Very similar for Google Home, I believe. It took about 10 minutes to sign up and get approval to access the Alexa Developers Kit.

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I had a medical application in mind when I wrote that. As you know, a person’s medical information should be a closely guarded secret between the patient and his/her doctor. Amazon and Google are in the business of selling information. Are you going to trust them with your personal medical information and assume they won’t sell it to your insurance company? What if the database comprises of everyone in your country?

The entertainment speakers I have indicated in this thread are good for only one thing: developing the skills of young people for very important jobs in the future. I am encouraging everyone who is interested to try out the Amazon and Google development forums and keep writing apps to gain maximum knowledge in this emerging field. You can even try Watson on the IBM developer’s website.

Entertainment speakers such as Google Home are not robust enough for use in the people’s homes. These devices must look and behave like the equipment you find in hospitals. They must withstand rough handling, industrial cleaning agents and be impervious to bacteria and human fluids. Again, the entertainment devices available now to everyone are designed for low cost. I bet the Google Home speaker couldn’t cost more than $15 to Google. If, for this application, you have to design the hardware, you may as well do it right and provide the secure servers.

Every new idea has to start with a marketing proposal. That is the purpose of the document I published previously. It is a trial balloon to see if anyone is interested. The next step is to write a comprehensive Functional Specification that serves as a roadmap for hardware/software development. It includes all functioning components, interfaces, and detailed engineering manpower and product development costs and schedule.

I hope this brief note helps you see the big picture.