Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa are no longer solely the domain of super cheap smart speakers. Google, in particular, has been courting third-party hardware makers pretty aggressively in an attempt to put the consumer AI on as wide a range of products as possible.
Bang & Olufsen’s BeoSound 1 and 2 certainly hit the high of the spectrum. The pricey speakers are the first in the company’s line to get Google Assistant functionality, though B&O has already promised to add it across its devices. Both models already feature the tech necessary for such an addition, including an array of five mics.
The company’s also added four buttons on top of the device, which can be assigned to various functions, like weather, news and the like. New models will ship with Assistant on board starting next month, priced at of $1,750 and $2,250 for the 1 and two, respectively.
