About two months ago, when Amazon announced two new Alexa-powered devices, the Echo Dot and Amazon Tap, many of you voiced the same thought: this is the kind of product Google should be working on. With "OK Google" commands being some of the most powerful voice search and personal assistants on the market, Google shouldn't have a lot of trouble inviting itself into your home and living room or making automation independent from your phone and more integrated with your life.

At the time, we knew (check Artem's comment) that Google was indeed working on an Echo competitor, codenamed "Chirp," and we were rooting for a Google I/O announcement. It seems that this is actually founded in reality as Recode has now obtained information that verifies the original rumor we heard. According to the site's sources, the device will look like the OnHub routers, but that's where the details become scarce.

It's likely that the Chirp, which will probably have a different name by the time it hits the market, will be talked about and demoed at I/O next week, but the release date might not be immediate. Recode says the plans are for it to land sometime this year, but there's no indication of the price, other features, or capabilities of the device.

This, along with Virtual Reality, are purported to be part of Google's big themes for I/O so the event is looking more and more exciting. With Google @Home realistically dead in its original iteration, it's interesting to see what approach Google takes now to sneak into the home and integrate with your lifestyle and the different devices and technologies that are already in it.

Source: Recode