Dish Network Adds Google Assistant Integration
Dish Network became the first television service to add Alexa integration back in May 2017. This week it announced another milestone by adding Google Assistant for use with Dish services. This integration was originally announced in January as coming this year and is now live. Dish will work when you connect a Google Assistant-enabled device to a Hopper, Joey and Wally set-top box. There is no onboard microphone array in the Dish products so all of the voice and intent recognition is handled by a device such as Google Home or Pixel. In a write-up on the announcement, TechRadar’s Nick Pino commented:
“Once you’ve connected the Google Assistant to your Hopper you’ll be able to use commands to change the channel, rewind a show or movie or set the DVR for an upcoming event. You’ll also be able to use Google Assistant to launch apps on your Hopper and search for content based on channel, title, actor or genre.”
How Media Will Impact Voice Assistant Competition
Competition for voice assistant adoption in the home continues to be a fierce battle. Recent data from Voicebot and Canalys show Google Assistant making significant inroads with consumers, rapidly expanding market share and closing the gap with Amazon Alexa. However, a key to that expansion will continue to be integration with other smart home devices. Among the most important integrations is media.
When smart speakers first arrived in market, integration with popular music streaming services quickly became a must-have feature. Amazon set the standard and Google adopted this approach ensuring that Spotify, Pandora, iHeartMedia and other services were available. Integration with television is rising in importance now that voice assistants are becoming more embedded in everyday consumer lives. The announcement is good news for Dish customers that prefer Google’s voice assistant ecosystem and for Google as it closes the smart home integration gap with Alexa.
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