Teenage Engineering shows smart speakers don't have to all look boring

Anyone who’s seen that Jony Ive Wallpaper cover, which is literally a blank slate of white, will readily associate its stark simplicity with one peculiar trend in modern consumer tech design, something I’d call maximalist minimalism. You’ll notice it easily in the smart speakers that are growing abundant all around us: Apple’s HomePod is just a rounded cylinder, Amazon’s latest Echo is a cylinder with a fabric cover, and Google’s Home Mini keeps the fabric but