How smart are smart speakers, really? Julio Ojeda-Zapata put this to the test when temporarily sightless due to a medical condition.Leaning on his Amazon, Apple, and Google speakers more than usual proved an often-frustrating exercise because Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant are still pretty dumb.

The home automation partnership featuring Amazon, Apple, Google, and others is taking off, with an official name for its standard, an enormous list of partners, and a release timeframe.

Apple is teaming up with Amazon, Google, and the Zigbee Alliance to create an open-source, security-focused communication standard for smart home devices.

In addition to Apple Music, Apple Podcasts is now available on Amazon Echo devices, showcasing Apple’s new commitment to services, even if that means supporting competitors’ devices and ecosystems.

Amazon has unveiled an array of Alexa-powered gizmos, some of which compete with Apple’s AirPods and HomePod, and others of which are just absurd, like an Alexa-powered smart oven, glasses, and even a ring.

Apple has temporarily suspended its Siri “response grading” program that had contractors listen in on Siri recordings. That’s good, but it’s unfortunate that it took media coverage to push the company to change its practices.

Apple has increasingly used its stance on privacy as a selling point, but The Guardian has revealed that, like Amazon, Apple lets contractors listen in on conversations held while Siri is active. The audio may be difficult or impossible to trace back to the individuals who are speaking, but Apple should still find a better way to improve Siri.

Bloomberg has revealed that Amazon pays people to listen to a subset of Alexa recordings for the purpose of improving the technology. Do you trust Amazon with recordings of everything you say within an Echo’s earshot?

If you use Apple Music but prefer Amazon’s Alexa-based smart speakers to Apple’s HomePod, good news! Apple Music is now available on Alexa once you install the Apple Music skill, at least in the US.

In a shocking announcement, Amazon has announced that Apple Music will soon be available through its Alexa voice assistant on its Echo smart speakers.

Apple’s HomeKit home-automation ecosystem has been growing slowly but steadily, and numerous companies took advantage of CES 2018 to announce new HomeKit-compatible devices. Explore the most compelling new devices with HomeKit expert Josh Centers.