Smartphones may loosen their grip over family life as voice devices rise

Amazon's digital assistant, the Echo, next to a can of Pringles potato chips, whose size it is often compared to. SAN FRANCISCO -- The smartphone's grip over our every moment may be slowly loosening as digital assistants leap into speakers and other devices that bring the Internet into the public sphere. So far, the field belongs to Amazon's Echo and its voice-activated assistant Alexa. An early hit since it became widely available a year ago, it is still in only a sliver of homes. But its interactions, distinctly different from smartphone use, have caused academics to take notice.