At a company event held in Beijing, Chinese Internet giant Baidu Inc. BIDU launched itsvirtual voice-activated personal assistant, Duer, for its Android-based smartphones.
Baidu displayed Duer's ability to place orders online with an edition of the software embodied in a little robot.
With the launch, Baidu aims to take on Google GOOGL, Microsoft MSFT and Apple AAPL, which already have their respective voice assistants Google Now, Cortana and Siri.
Duer, which roughly means “Du Secretary,” is available as part of the Baidu Android search app installed on millions of smartphones across China.
Using the voice command, the app will initially enable users to order food, make restaurant reservations, buy movie tickets, book flights and control smart devices around the home and pets. Gradually, more services will be available, including health care, education and finance.
With the launch of features like Duer, Baidu plans to increase its presence in the Chinese market. Duer can help in driving more traffic and sellers towards Baidu's platform.
Online to offline (O2O) is a fast growing sector in China and is viewed as the future model of e-commerce in the country. Growth in the space is aided by a shift to smartphones from personal computers. Therefore Internet companies need to offer as many services as possible to customers through their smartphones, which will therefore be a new source of income. Hence, Chinese companies and investors are currently investing in the space.
More and more users are expected to turn to voice interaction. So Baidu’s launch does make sense.
Baidu holds a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
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