In today’s so-called smart home, you can dim the lights, order more toothpaste or tell the kids to go to bed simply by talking to a small Wifi-connected speaker, such as Amazon’s (AMZN.O) Echo or Google’s (GOOGL.O) Home.  This voice-first market – combining voice with artificial intelligence (AI) – barely existed in 2014. This year, Voice Labs, a consultancy, expects 24.5 million appliances to be shipped.  Other big tech firms have their own plans: Apple (AAPL.O) is taking its Siri voice assistant beyond its mobile devices to PCs, cars, and the home; Baidu (BIDU.O) last month bought Raven, billed as China’s answer to Amazon’s Alexa intelligent personal assistant; and Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) plans to incorporate Viv, its newly acquired virtual assistant, into its phones and home appliances.  But not everyone thinks the future of communicating with the Internet of Things needs to be vocal.    Read the article…………