These appliances don’t depend on smart speakers for voice control

Smart appliances that can be controlled with voice commands are nothing new, but IAI Smart is showing a new line of Emerson Smart appliances at CES that respond directly to voice commands. They don’t need a smart speaker in the middle, and they don’t rely on a broadband connection, an app, or anything other infrastructure—everything is processed locally. If you’re leery of the privacy and security vulnerabilities of IoT devices, this could be the answer.

Emerson Smart devices—tower fans...