In an effort that would rival Amazon's Echo, Google is reportedly working on a standalone device that would integrate the company's "Okay, Google" voice search tech.
From Recode:
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."
The report goes on to mention that Chirp is unlikely to make an appearance at Google I/O 2016, but it will likely debut later this year. If true, the move wouldn't be entirely unexpected. It would give Google a chance to expand the work it's doing with voice search outside of the realm of Android, potentially allowing the search giant another avenue to collect data on consumer search trends.
