The Tmall Genie is a smart speaker developed by Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group, using the intelligent personal assistant service AliGenie.[1] Introduced in July 2017, the device consists of a cylindrical body with omni-directional speakers and an LED light ring at the bottom of the device.[2] As with other smart speakers, the Genie supports web searches, music streaming, home automation devices, and placing orders for products from Tmall.[3] Voice interaction with the device is currently limited to Mandarin,[4] but plans to extend voice recognition to include Sichuanese, Cantonese, and eventually all major Chinese dialects were announced in March 2019 when Alibaba allocated 100 million yuan (US$15 million) for research and development.[5][6]
Consumers in smaller cities, especially older ones [read: those who are older (not older cities)], are not always 'savvy with keyboards', says an Alibaba representative, and are more likely to treat smart speakers as a companion, calling up traditional operas or health information, or audio-books for grandchildren left in their charge. Younger consumers may be more comfortable in putonghua [Chinese for Mandarin (meaning: "common speech")], but that does not mean that dialects will disappear, because speaking a dialect feels like 'home', she adds.