It seems like the cool thing to do these days is to add a voice assistant to your product, even if it"s the kind of product that has been around for decades. Amazon"s Echo Wall Clock is a good example of this, but today, SGW Global announced the Motorola AX Series, so you can have Amazon Alexa in your home phone.
The use cases for the device are probably pretty obvious at this point, but you can call people using voice commands, such as, "Alexa, call dad", or you can call Alexa devices by saying, "Alexa, call mom"s Echo". You"ll need to press a button to do it though, so it doesn"t have far-field voice microphones.
Naturally, you can do all of the other things that Alexa can do, such as controlling your smart home devices.
“We’re thrilled by SGW Global’s commitment to bring the power of Alexa to new and existing customers through SGW’s wireless home telephone solution,” said Pete Thompson, Director, Alexa Voice Service. “Not only is Alexa built-in, this is the first device to offer both Alexa-to-Alexa and landline-to-landline calling via Alexa, which gives customers even more choice and convenience in how they communicate with friends and family.”
The device is somewhat similar to Amazon"s Echo Connect, but while the Motorola device is an actual phone, the Echo Connect is a box that turns an existing phone into an Alexa device.