Google is reportedly working on Chirp, an Amazon Echo competitor

Amazon Echo seemed doomed from the get go, but it's steadily gaining more and more users at a constant pace. What's more, we recently saw the expansion of its ecosystem with the Magellan Echo, a $60 smartwatch that connects and communicates with the Echo.And Google is not standing idly by: a recent report by Recode reveals that the company is working on a competitor for the Amazon Echo, called Google Chirp. It's currently being kept under wraps by Google, so no official information is out so far, but what we do know from Recode is that the device has little chance of launching next week at the Google I/O conference, being instead scheduled for later this year. From Recode's report:

A product team at Google is working on a hardware device that would integrate Google's search and voice assistant technology, akin to the Amazon Echo, Recode has learned.Google's device will resemble its OnHub wireless router, according to several sources. We don't know if it has a name yet, but internally the project goes by "Chirp."

As it turns out, not only will the device have similar specs and usefulness as the Amazon Echo, but seeing that Google Chirp will resemble the OnHub in terms of looks.So it seems Okay Google is about to be among the top phrases we use, if the rumors are to be true. And Chirp could indeed prove to be a useful implementation of Google's voice recognition system, one which has only gotten better in the past years - Google Now has gone from barely recognizing a couple of words to actually being a useful assistant, as long as you're comfortable talking to your phone while you're out and about.For now, this is little more than rumor and speculation, but I for one am keeping my hopes up that this will turn into reality. Would you buy a Chirp to keep around the house?

Image sources: YouTube, techinsider.io