Smart Speakers are internet-connected speakers controlled by voice commands coupled with an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant responding to the owner’s requests. These voice controlled personal assistants are often referred to as Voice Assistants (VA).
The most popular VAs are Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Google Assistant with Siri powering Apple’s HomePod and Cortana controlling Microsoft enabled devices. Traditional electronics companies are rapidly playing catchup and Samsung recently announced its own Bixby powered speaker which is scheduled to arrive in mid-2018.
The more sophisticated devices are capable of playing more than music and what you can do with a smart speaker depends largely on which VA your speaker has inside it – Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri work in different ways and work with different apps and services. VAs can help you with:
- Listening to an audiobook
- Requesting information – the voice equivalent to inputting a search query
- Making reservations
- Adding items to a shopping list
- Performing mathematical calculations
- Playing music
Smart Speakers are experiencing rapid growth and are seen by industry analysts as the future for streaming services. See Are Smart Speakers the future of Streaming?
Smart Speakers and Streaming Services
Alexa and Google Assistant are supported by most streaming services including Amazon Music Unlimited/Prime and Google Play as you might expect. And as with most things Apple, HomePod is a premium priced offering that works best with other Apple devices.
Spotify
Spotify supports Alexa (Premium account required), Google, Cortana and Spotify Voice (iOS). Spotify Voice is activated by a Long-press on Search 
to bring up the Listening screen. Once in the Listening screen, you can play your favourite songs, artists, albums, podcasts, videos, and playlists. You can also Search for friends. Typical voice commands are:
- ‘Play something I like’
- ‘Play Drake’s latest release’
- ‘Play my Daily Mix’
- ‘Recommend me something’
- ‘Play some hip hop’
Qobuz
Support for Qobuz HiRes is available on Bang & Olufsen smart speakers which incorporate GoogleCast and when used with a smartphone. Samsung offers HiRes support in a number of its products including the Samsung R3 Smart Speaker.
CD Quality streaming is supported by Sony, Harmon Kardon, Chromecast Audio and LG Smart Speaker products.
DEEZER
DEEZER offers voice control via Amazon Alexa and Google Home for users with a HiFi subscription.
