China unveils its answer to Amazon’s Echo: The $118 LingLong DingDong will take on Alexa – and speaks both Mandarin and Cantonese

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China may be behind in the smart home industry, but research shows it will be a $22.8 billion business by 2018.

However, one firm is getting a head started with a voice-activated, cloud-based smart home speaker that does something the leading devices can’t – it speaks Cantonese and Mandarin.

The speaker, from Chinese firm LingLong and known as the DingDong, has an AI with a music library of 3 million songs, can take memos and share updates regarding news, traffic and weather in what the firm calls ‘cinema-like sound quality’.

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LingLong DingDong is a a voice-activated, cloud-based smart home speaker designed with a music library of 3 million songs, can take memos and share updates about news, traffic and weather in what the firm calls 'cinema-like sound quality'

LingLong DingDong is a a voice-activated, cloud-based smart home speaker designed with a music library of 3 million songs, can take memos and share updates about news, traffic and weather in what the firm calls ‘cinema-like sound quality’

MEET LINGLONG DINGDONG 

LingLong DingDong is China’s  voice-activated, cloud-based smart home speaker that speaks both Cantonese and Mandarin that costs $118.

It takes memos, organize schedules and share updates about news, traffic and weather.

The device also answers questions, gives directions and plays music for its library of nearly 3 million songs – songs are available in high-quality 320Kbps format . 

The device comes in four colors: red for prosperity, white for purity, traditional black and purple. 

Amazon is currently one of the top leaders in this space, which released its Echo in 2014 – smart speaker powered by Alexa.

Users can ask Alexa to do a range of activities such as request an Uber or order their usually from Dominos – and there is more than 3 million units in the world.

After watching its success, China doesn’t want to be left behind as more and more people are looking to virtual assistants for help around the house and knowns that getting to the market first will introduce millions of people to the technology.

Although the new product may sound bizarre to Western ears, Beijing-based firm LingLong has invested heavily in the DingDong, reports Joshua Bateman withWired.

According to LingLong, its device is able to communicate with 95% of China’s population, despite the fact that in China the Mandarin and Cantonese languages are spoken in different tones and accents.

DingDong for short, the smart speaker costs the equivalent of $118, but it is designed with all of the features one would expected in a voice-activated, cloud-based smart home speaker.

It answers questions, coordinates schedules, gives directions and plays music and audiobooks, in addition to sharing updates about news, weather and traffic.

Although the new product may sound like a gimmick, LingLong DingDong is in fact a real device from Beijing-based firm LingLong Co. Pictured is YouTuber HardYun reviewing one of the smart speakers in a video

Although the new product may sound like a gimmick, LingLong DingDong is in fact a real device from Beijing-based firm LingLong Co. Pictured is YouTuber HardYun reviewing one of the smart speakers in a video

China doesn't want to be left behind as more and more people are looking to virtual assistants like Amazon's Echo (pictured). DingDong for short, the smart speaker costs the equivalent of $118 and does a majority of the things the Echo can do

China doesn’t want to be left behind as more and more people are looking to virtual assistants like Amazon’s Echo (pictured). DingDong for short, the smart speaker costs the equivalent of $118 and does a majority of the things the Echo can do

The device comes in four colors: red for prosperity, white for purity, traditional black and purple.

And the design of the ‘peerless high-quality speaker’ is part of the Chinese culture as well – it symbolizes tiānyuán dìfāng—the notion that ‘heaven is round, Earth is square,’ a concept that Charlie Liu, LingLong’s senior marketing manager, says is central to LingLong’s design language, reports Bateman.

The device comes in four colors: red for prosperity, white for purity, black and purple (pictured). And the design of the 'peerless high-quality speaker' is part of the Chinese culture as well – it symbolizes tiānyuán dìfāng—the notion that 'heaven is round, Earth is square'

The device comes in four colors: red for prosperity, white for purity, black and purple (pictured). And the design of the ‘peerless high-quality speaker’ is part of the Chinese culture as well – it symbolizes tiānyuán dìfāng—the notion that ‘heaven is round, Earth is square’

AMAZON ECHO VS GOOGLE HOME 

Google’s $1230 Home speaker is triggered by the phrase ‘Hey Google’ while Amazon’s Echo uses Alexa.

Amazon’s smart speaker is available in two versions – the full sized $180 Echo shown here, and a smaller, $50 version called the Echo Dot. 

LingLong DingDong can answers questions, coordinates schedules, gives directions and plays music and audiobooks, in addition to sharing updates about news, weather and traffic - similar to that of Google Home (pictured)
Users can ask Alexa to do a range of activities such as request an Uber or order their usually from Dominos – and there is more than 3 million units in the world

LingLong DingDong can answers questions, coordinates schedules, gives directions and plays music and audiobooks, in addition to sharing updates about news, weather and traffic – similar to that of Google Home (left) and Amazon’s Echo (right)

There is also three commands to wake the device – DingDong DingDong,Xiaowei Xiaowei (a girl’s nickname), and BaiLing BaiLing (skylark).

A majority of DingDong owners use the technology as a music player, which offers a library of about 3 million songs.

Songs are available in high-quality 320Kbps format and are be played using the simple command ‘DingDong, play a song’.

Although many feel this may be an Echo copycat, Liu said the firm did pull their inspiration from Amazon’s device.

HOW DO WE REALLY FEEL ABOUT VOICE ASSISTANTS?  

Creative Strategies, a service that tracks trends and develops deeper insight into key industry topics, released their findings that looked at how consumers are using these virtual assistants and how they really feel about them.

The firm ran two studies: Once looked at Alexa that covered 1,300 early adopters across the US and the UK.

And the other focused on 500 mainstream consumers and their use of smartphones based digital assistants.

Creative Strategies revealed that 21% of its panel never used Siri, 43% never touched OK Google and 72% have never asked Cortana anything.

They also found that 2% of iPhone owners have never used Siri and only 4% of Android owners have never used OK Google, which suggests those who own the phone do indeed call on the powers of the digital personas.

Approximately 395 of consumers use their voice assistant in their home, 51 percent in the car, but only 1.3 percent at work and 6 percent in public.

Creative Strategies explains that the reason most usage is in the car is due to the hands-free law that regulates driving and texting.

Those who have never used a voice assistant reported feeling uncomfortable with talking to their technology – particularly in public.

When it hit the market, everyone in China wanted one, but was unable to purchase one because of the language barrier. 

A Chinese tech news portal found that many of the residents are more than happy to welcome technology like DingDong.

Zol.com’s 2014 survey shows that 54.9 percent of the respondents are very interesting in transforming their homes into smart homes and even though they fully aren’t onboard, the rest said they are ‘fairly interested’, reports CKGSB Knowledge.