In among the swathe of new products at CES 2018 - the world's largest consumer technology show - it's the new Lenovo Smart Display Google Assistant product that's stood out from the crowd, given its clear position to take on the Amazon Echo Show in the screen-based, voice-controlled smart home race.

That's been made possible, in part, by Qualcomm, thanks to its new Home Hub platforms to support Google's Android Things. As Google Assistant relies on the cloud to source information, cloud computing and edge computing come into play - which is where adaptations of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 624 and Snapdragon 212 platforms come into play.

This hasn't just opened the door for Lenovo either. In addition, Harman is making a Google Assistant smart home product and we expect many more to follow, too.

The lack of an official Google Pixel Home Hub might seem like an oddity - particularly in the presence of the Google Home lineup - but we suspect Google is more interested in preening its software, letting Qualcomm leverage the compute and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) tackle the design and production logistics.

Qualcomm's investment doesn't stop at Google's door, though. The company has also announced an industry-first speaker platform to support Microsoft Cortana - hinting that Microsoft (or other OEMs) may have similar smart home hubs for the Cortana voice-assistant up their sleeves.

Along with its automotive investment, also outlined at CES 2018, Qualcomm's strategy to move beyond smartphone into potentially giant home-based platforms such as these is a surefire plan for business success.