CES 2018: Amazon Alexa v Google Assistant fight gets fierce

If victory belongs to whoever's virtual assistant can interact with the most unlikely range of household appliances, then Amazon has already won. The firm's voice-activated digital helper has been added to a bathroom mirror that can - via cloud service Kohler Konnect - pass commands to smart kitchen taps, a shower system and even a smart toilet. "That means'Alexa, ask Kohler to flush my toilet' is something you might end up saying in the near future," mused Blair Hanley Frank at news site Venturebeat. Who needs a copy of Reader's Digest when Alexa is free for a chat, instead? In all seriousness, the battle to be your smart home's virtual butler is hotly contested and a huge range of gadgets on show at the latest CES tech show in Las Vegas now boast ways for users to interact with them via assistants including Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri and others.