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apple will need to work hard to catch up. With the Echo Dot, any speaker can gain access to Alexa. Samsung has said it might add Amazon's digital voice assistant to its $5,000 super fridge, and Ford and Toyota want to add it to their cars. Even Google has invested in the smart home, with its Nest unit selling devices like smart thermostats (which also work with Alexa). So far, Apple just has HomeKit, a platform for developers to integrate smart home devices into its iOS mobile software. Typically, the company releases a fully formed product that combines hardware, software and services. In the case of HomeKit, it's counting on partners for the products. "It's such a departure from how Apple normally does things," Jackdaw Research analyst Jan Dawson said. "It's an experiment on Apple's part I'd argue hasn't gone that well."