by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, August 30, 2017

Google announced on Wednesday that its Assistant will soon become available through three third-party smart speakers, extending the reach of its search engine and the possibilities of advertising to more hardware devices.

The latest news covers devices from Zolo Mojo by Anker, which goes on sale in late October; TicHome Mini by Mobvoi, and the GA10 by Panasonic, and Google expects to announce more hardware makers this week.

Beginning later this year with manufacturers like LG, the Google Assistant will control appliances such as washers, dryers, or vacuums from the smart speaker, Android phone or iPhone, or any other device with which Google Assistant connects.

The integration into appliances will allow Assistant users to to give commands such as “OK Google, wash my clothes” or “OK Google, start vacuuming.”

Google says the Assistant today already supports more than 70 home automation manufacturers, including Honeywell, Netatmo, TP-Link and Wemo.

The news that Google will partner with three new hardware manufacturers supports a growing trend around voice search and the integration of devices with virtual assistants.

On Wednesday, Microsoft and Amazon also announced an extended partnership that enables Alexa to talk with Cortana and Cortana with Alexa. The two companies managed to integrate the technologies to support each others’ actions.

MediaPost.com: Search Marketing Daily

(22)