Smart speakers play music, give weather forecasts and tell bad jokes. They may also allow Amazon contractors to eavesdrop on owners’ most intimate moments, according to a report in The Sun, a UK tabloid. Worries about privacy can block or slow adoption of technology. So how realistic are the breathless sales forecasts new devices inspire? Within six years, 75 per cent of homes will have a smart speaker, claims venture capital firm Loup Ventures. By 2025, it estimates global sales excluding China will have grown sixfold to 291 million. Tech’s biggest companies, including Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google, are bullish about smart speakers too. The risk is that smart speakers will go out of fashion as quickly as any other gadget… Google Glass, has been the biggest flop. When the product launched in 2012, Business Insider forecast sales of over 21 million by 2018. But privacy worries meant users were dubbed “glassholes”. Within three years, Google stopped development of nerd specs for consumers. Smart speakers are already far more popular. But sales forecasts look frothy even without fears that the devices may be used for snooping.

Lex.