From Amazon Echo to Google Home and Apple HomeKit, home tech is taking over With sales of Google Home, the smart home hub from the tech behemoth, launching early next month, and Amazon Echo and Apple HomeKit already whirring in homes from coast to coast, the dream of the truly smart home edges ever closer to reality?and mass adoption.
While that?s great news for tech evangelists, it?s a potential source of more confusion than excitement for your average consumer, whose knowledge of smart home ?ecosystems? is often obscured by the increasing number of options out there.
That?s where we come in. From price to compatibility and, of course, style, here are the details on the offerings from Apple, Amazon, and Google: how they differ, how much they cost, and all the basics you need to know. Want more info on how to make your home a smart one" Check out our guide to doing just that.

Amazon Echo

Photo via Amazon
The Amazon Echo

When Amazon entered the smart home ecosystem fray in November of 2014, it made quite an impression. For one, the Amazon Echo is a Bluetooth-connected speaker that also plays music from Spotify and Pandora. But Echo went beyond the usual automated-control-of-lights-and-HVAC home tech paradigm with a voice-activated virtual assistant, Alexa, that can turn on the news, set alarms, give users intel on the day?s weather, and answer simple questions like ?How many ounces are in a cup"?
The Echo hub?a cylindrical, nearly...