Over three-quarters of consumers in the U.S. have used voice commands to operate a digital device, indicating a comfort with voice-activated services -- but adoption of digital home assistants is still comparatively low, with only 11 percent of consumers saying they own an Amazon Echo/Dot or Google Home, according to new research from GfK. Put simply, people are used to the idea that they can command a device with their voice: 69 percent have used speech to send a text, ask a question, or make a search on a smartphone. But with digital home assistants like Amazon Echo and Google Home introduced less than two years ago, it may take a little bit longer for the average consumer to warm up to the idea of using voice-activated intelligent assistants to power more aspects of their daily lives. But while these devices haven't reach critical mass yet, the bridge is there: As stated, a majority of consumers already use voice commands on their smartphones. And, moreover, voice commands have an inherently "human" element; unlike VR or Google Glass, people ask for information using their voice absolutely everywhere, everyday, and they always have.

The holidays have traditionally been an important time for the consumer tech world, with electronics makers placing big bets that shoppers will venture into Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales with open minds and open wallets. But for some manufacturers, this year might be more important than others. Products in categories that consumers aren't yet familiar with -- think digital home assistants, like Amazon's Echo -- tend to bank the most on a successful holiday season, according to retail analysts. But those encountering competition for the first time -- again, think Amazon's Echo -- face a double whammy. First, they need to convince the public their product is more than a novelty, then they convince the public to choose theirs and not its rivals.