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Google said to be working on challenger to Amazon's Echo

Standalone "Chirp" hardware could incorporate the search giant's familiar "OK Google" command, according to a report.

Steven Musil Night Editor / News
Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. He's been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late '70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers.
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Watch this: Watch out, Alexa! Google might be making its own Echo

Google is working on standalone hardware for the home that will integrate the web giant's search and voice technology, according to a report Wednesday by Recode.

The device, which is going by the internal name "Chirp," is said to resemble Google's OnHub wireless router. Such a device would likely make Google's familiar search command "OK Google" available throughout your home, a growing market for tech titans and startups.

The device is seen as a competitor to Amazon Echo, the internet-connected wireless speaker wrapped around a digital personal assistant named Alexa.

Chirp is unlikely to launch at Google's I/O developers conference next week but is expected to debut sometime this year, Recode reported.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.