Sony incorporates Google Assistant into its new wireless smart speaker

Panasonic, Anker, and Mobovi aren't the only companies at IFA showing smart speakers with Google Assistant built in. Sony announced this morning that it will ship a $200 smart speaker in mid October. The Sony SF-S50G Wireless Speaker, which looks surprisingly like Apple's upcoming HomePod smart speaker, features a single full-range driver that fires up into a two-stage diffuser to produce 360-degree sound. That driver is augmented by a dedicated subwoofer firing down into the same diffuser to reproduce bass frequencies. Sony hasn't released detailed specs for the new speaker, so we don't know how big its amplifier is, but a spokesperson said it can comfortably fill an average-sized room with sound (defining "average" as a 25x16-foot living room or kitchen).