Tag: Alexa

Amazon Sued Over Alexa Recording Children’s Voices

In a new report, a Massachusetts woman is apparently suing Amazon over privacy related issues. The woman is seeking class action status to sue the company on the behalf on recording children’s voices on eight different states. The lawsuit was filed in the federal court on Seattle on the 11th of June. Amazon is being accused of illegally recording children via its Alexa voice assistant. Additionally, the illegal recordings were also being held by the company contributing,” a massive database of billions of voice recordings containing the private details of millions of Americans.”

The woman that filed the case stated that she had bought Amazon Echo Dot in August of 2018 and was not aware that her child was being recorded. The lawsuit states that children are not eligible to provide consent to being recorded. Furthermore, children at that age are incapable of understanding the implications of having their voices recorded by a company. Most children’ privacy-related issues are filed by referencing the federal COPPA (Children’s’ Online Privacy and Protecting Act) of 1996. This invokes state law, implying that Illinois, Florida, Michigan, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Washington all require consent from both parties involved in the case of “the recording of oral communications.”

For example, Apple’s Siri voice assistant abides by these laws by deleting any recordings taken for the tasks at hand. Amazon is being targeted with accusations of forming voiceprints comprising of millions of children. This could imply the company and even the Government being able to track kids’ use of Alexa devices in various locations while cataloguing detailed information on their life. Alexa can essentially record entire communications if the wake word is recognized. The prospect can be daunting considering the device can record private questions and encounters as well.

Amazon is clear in its stance regarding user trust and privacy, however, the company collecting data of children under the age of 13 violates the COPPA regulations. The Echo Dot Kids has a system for getting parental consent, but the argument states that this feature is easily bypassable by a child. Moreover, a report shows that the voice recording on default is saved for an indefinite period of time instead of just retaining it for the given task, as defined by COPPA. These recording cannot be deleted without contacting Amazon’s customer services.

Also Read: OnePlus Leaked User Email Addresses Caused By Security Flaw

The Amazon Echo Dot Kids serves the purpose of educating and entertaining children but the reality of storing data paints a dark picture for the tech company. A home is a place for comfort and letting one’s guard down but products like these seek to potentially invade the sacred sanctity from within.

June 15, 2019
Amazon Alexa Receiving Improvements On Indian Speech Patterns

Amazon had unveiled a new category of skill dubbed Cleo for its Indian markets back in 2018. The idea behind Cleo was to improve Alexa’s language model for its Indian users by learning from the customers themselves. The southeastern country is a key region for Amazon Alexa’s global team that is working on drastically improving the user interface.

The company identifying the potential in the market, worked on various regional languages to grow the linguistic capabilities of Amazon Alexa. The voice-based assistant has received a warm welcome in Indian homes with its Echo line up and is still gaining traction in the country. The Indian smart speakers market is currently dominated by Amazon Echo at 59 per cent of the market share while Google Home only has about 39 per cent, as reported by IDC (International Data Corporation).

With such a large user base it is inevitable that the company will seek to expand on its existing language parameters. The Amazon team dedicated to the Indian market have promised robust support on the upcoming regional languages capabilities of Alexa. The voice assistant in its current state is only capable of understanding Hinglish (Hindi-English) commands to a very limited degree.

Amazon is focusing on the content relayed by Alexa along with its contextual and cultural impacts. The company stated that Alexa must sound Indian when it comes to speaking Hindi. Several dialects and accents are being taken into account to give an actual life-like conversational experience with Amazon Alexa in real-world scenarios. Users can respond to Alexa’s English replies with Tamil, Marathi, Kannada, Bengali, Telugu, Gujarati and certain other regional languages.

Also Read: Microsoft Takes Down Online Facial Recognition Database Over Accusations

Amazon Alexa is being pushed by the company to stay relevant and practical in every home with near human-like natural conversations facilitated by Machine Learning. The company has heavily invested in India for developing skills for Alexa by hiring various scientists and engineers. Available in over 80 countries and compatible with 14 languages, the Indian variant would add a lot more languages to the existing list.

June 8, 2019
Amazon Echo Plus Unboxing And First look

The new Amazon Echo Plus (2nd Gen) has been launched and it hosts a lot of improvements over the previous generation. The new improved Echo Plus is different both inside and out. With improved sound quality and some evident design changes, the Echo Plus looks promising, to say the least. Launched at a price of Rs 14,999, we take a look at what it packs inside.

Inside The Box

The Box houses the device itself, a quick start manual and warranty information. Apart from this, it houses the wall adapter which powers the Echo Plus. The wall adapter has a really long wire, ensuring that you can place the device at a spot of your convenience.

Design Changes

The new Echo Plus has a brand new design with a fabric mesh on the outside, giving it a really classy look. This is quite an improvement over the previous generation which had a plastic build. The redesigned Echo Plus actually looks like a device which is meant to be a part of your home, rather than the machine-like design of the previous generation.

The new Echo Plus is shorter but broader but is lighter than the previous version. The device has 4 control buttons on the top. Two of these let you control its volume while one is to disable your microphone and the other is to launch Alexa without having to call out to her. The Amazon logo has been moved to the bottom of the device. The Echo Plus has an LED rim which flashes blue when Alexa is listening to you or is saying something. The ring turns red when you deactivate the microphone. Near the bottom end of the device is the 3.5 mm aux port and the power port.

Audio Features

The Echo Plus claims better sound quality than the previous generation and is equipped with omnidirectional Dolby Audio. The device has a 0.8-inch tweeter and a 3-inch subwoofer. The tweeter is present in the lower half of the device, therefore improving the overall sound output. The improvement in sounds quality is quite evident and it has a pretty broad volume range. The Echo Plus is able to fill the room with good quality sound. Obviously, the sound quality will not match that of a dedicated speaker.

More than the output, the device can also hear you over the sound of whatever is playing. For example, even if you’ve got rock music blaring at full volume, Alexa responds to you and makes sure your command is executed. An interesting feature is the ability for it to connect to other Alexa enabled devices. So you can pair up your Echo Plus device with an Echo Spot or an Echo Dot and play your content across multiple rooms. Additionally, the device can also be connected to other speakers via the Aux port, which will result in better sound. Unfortunately, the device needs power at all times and is therefore not portable.

Home Control & Smart Capabilities

The highlight of the Echo Plus is the fact that it is a smart speaker. This means that the device has the ability to connect with and control smart appliances at your home as well as perform a variety of tasks with the help of Alexa.

The device can control switches, cameras, thermostats and bulbs among other smart devices. You can then control these devices just by using your voice. With Alexa’s increasing popularity, more and more manufacturers are producing devices which have Alexa integration.

Apart from connecting to smart devices, the speaker can perform multiple tasks, thanks to Alexa integration. You can ask the Echo Plus about the weather, a roundup of the latest news, to tell you a joke or even manage your calendar. It can also book a cab, order food and get you information from multiple sources. The device also has the feature to make calls through your mobile, but this is not available in India as of now.

Also Read: Top Smartphone Deals On Amazon Great Indian Sale

Rounding Up

The impressions from our initial use of the device prove that the Amazon Echo Plus (2nd Generation) is an obvious improvement over its predecessor. With a better and classier design, enhanced sound quality and integration of multiple features, it does stand out in its segment. The Echo Plus is available on Amazon for a price of Rs 14,999.

You can check out our video of the Amazon Echo Plus below:

October 26, 2018
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Launched in India

Amazon has launched their most powerful streaming stick in India. It is called the the Fire TV Stick 4K and it comes with the new Alexa Voice Remote. The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K can directly stream content from your Amazon prime video/music account to your big screen television. Certainly, to use the streaming service you must be a subscriber of Amazon prime video which costs Rs 129 per month or Rs 999 for an annual subscription.

As the name suggests, the updated Fire Stick can now stream content upto 4K resolution and other than prime video it can stream content from multiple other content providers. The content providers include ZEE5, hotstar, Netflix, EROS Now, SonyLIV and hungama play. Amazon recommends to use a Wi-Fi connection with speeds higher than 4 MBPS to provide a buffer free experience.

The new Alexa Voice Remote can perform actions by voice commands. The commands can vary from playing movies/videos to sports news and even weather details. Additionally, the voice remote can also control lights or other electronics that the user may have in their pre-existing Alexa ecosystem. Basically, the voice remote can control all Alexa devices with voice instructions. Some Alexa devices include Echo and Echo Dot.

Also Read: Amazon Launches new Echo Speakers, Subwoofer Starting Rs 4499 On Sale Now

Amazon Echo

Talking about audio, the Fire TV Stick 4K supports audio in Dolby Atmos surround sound technology. This technology is used for creating and playing back multi-channel soundtracks. 5.1 and 7.1 Speaker systems also make use of this technology.

Details

The TV stick has an inbuilt storage of 8 GB. It runs a Quad-core 1.7 GHz processor. The Fire TV Stick also has a PowerVR IMG GE8300 GPU. The TV stick has dual-band, dual antenna Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 with low energy consumption. It has a HDMI output port to connect to the HD-TV and a micro usb for power input.

Price & Availability

The Fire TV stick 4K with the Alexa Voice remote bundle has a price tag of Rs. 5,999 and is available for pre-order now. Amazon will be release it on 14 November and deliveries will begin soon after.

October 4, 2018
A One Year Old’s First Word Was ‘Alexa’ And That Is No Laughing Matter

Technology is ever evolving and there is no denying that our lives are much easier now. We have technology in everything in our lives and sometimes it is hard to fathom what our lives would be without certain inventions and advancements. Smart home tech is a new arena where big companies like Amazon and Google excel and smart speakers, in particular, have become very popular. One incident in the UK, however, gives us a glimpse of how intrusive technology has become.

The parents of one-year-old Joe conceded that their son’s first word was rather conventional. Us humans emphasise a lot on a kid’s first word and more often than not, it is either “mum” or “dad.” Seldom is it the name of a virtual assistant which lives around the house. Joe’s parents revealed that his first word was “Alexa” to an Amazon Echo in their home.

While this can easily be shrugged off an isolated incident and even be joked about, it shouldn’t. Smart devices, while helpful, are intrusive. And you cannot solely blame technology here as we, human beings, allow certain pieces of technology to intrude in our lives. Amazon’s Alexa-powered smart speakers are very successful globally and compete with the likes of Google Home Mini and Apple HomePod. To trigger a response from a smart speaker, the word “Alexa” has to be spoken. This gives us a hint at why Joe would know the word Alexa since there are is an Echo device in their home.

This incident raises some telling points about our relationship with technology. Kids and young adults prefer iPads and PlayStations over outdoor activities and most of their online activities are not monitored. An exposure to technology and the internet at an early age can be damaging for many kids as we all know that not everyone has a pleasant experience on the internet. Cyberbullying has grown rapidly over the years and affects so many people these days.

Our relationship with technology needs to be checked, if not curtailed. Maybe if we scrutinise this incident enough, we will be able to come to an understanding where we need to draw a line with technology. Now, excuse us while we ask Alexa to make us some coffee.

June 11, 2018
Amazon Echo Spot With Circular Display And Touchscreen Launched in India

Amazon has added another Alexa-powered smart home speaker to its repertoire in India. After launching it in the US in September 2017, the company has now launched the Echo Spot in India. The smart speaker with a display is on sale in India for Rs 12999. However, it is available for Rs 10999 for now, as an introductory offer.

The Amazon Echo Spot is a mix of the Echo Dot and the Echo Spot. The Spot has a 2.5 inch circular display with a resolution of 480 x 480 px. The Echo Spot is like a smart alarm clock powered by Alexa which can also be connected to external speakers via Bluetooth or a 3.5mm headphone jack. This means that users can retail the smart functionality of an Echo Spot and add better sound quality to the system using their own speakers.

Other than a display, the Spot does what a smart speaker powered by Alexa would do. It can make calls, call an Ola, order food on Zomato, play music and more. However, thanks to its display and a camera, the Spot can also make video calls by just asking it do it. Users can also watch news from NDTV, Times Now, ESPN Cricinfo, Aaj Tak, and more.

Amazon Echo Spot Specs

Specifications Amazon Echo Spot

Display 2.5 inch

Resolution 480 x 480 px

Dimensions 104 x 96 x 91 mm

Weight 419 grams

Speaker Size 1.4? speaker

April 25, 2018
Amazon Alexa Moves One Step Closer To Human-Like Interaction With New Feature

Artificial Intelligence is great. The way it has grown over the years and especially the implementation of it with our smartphones and smart home devices is really impressive. While people joke about how AI is still very robotic and not close to being human-like, Amazon has taken the first step in fixing that. It has announced the launch of a follow-up mode for its voice assistant, Alexa.

Alexa, now present in everything from smartphones to smart speakers, is a great tool for people with smart home devices. However, asking questions to Alexa, or pretty much any AI assistant can be very monotonous and robotic. For every time, you need to say the keyword like “Hey Alexa” or “OK Google” to make them listen to you.

With the new mode, users can ask follow-up questions to Alexa without saying the keyword every time. Alexa will now listen for five seconds after the first response. If the Alexa-powered device is ready for a follow-up question, the blue indicator light will flash. This will be an indication for the user to ask their question. For people paranoid about their devices listening to them all the time can switch off this feature. Also, if no follow-up question is asked within the time frame, the device will restore to the sleep mode.

Amazon has also clarified that it won’t listen to you all the time. It claims that Alexa will not respond if it isn’t “confident you’re speaking to her”.

For example, if she detects that speech was background noise or that the intent of the speech was not clear.

This new feature is in the right direction for AI enthusiasts. However, people like Elon Musk have been vocal about their apprehensions related to Artificial Intelligence. The new feature won’t go down well with people who don’t like AI as of now.

March 13, 2018
Essential PH-1 Halo Gray Colour Available To Buy On Amazon

The Essential Phone had a lot of hype to live up to. It was, after all, created by Andy Rubin, popularly known as the “father of Android.” However, the smartphone was met with heavy criticism for its camera performance, especially at that price point. Over the months, the company reduced the price of the device from US$ 699 to now US$449. It recently launched three new colour variants of the device as well. Now, Essential has announced an Amazon-exclusive Halo Gray colour variant of the device.

Essentail Ph-1

The Halo Gray version of the Essential PH-1 now gets support for Alexa (Amazon’s AI). The pre-orders have already begun for the limited edition variant and the phone will go on sale from the 21st of February. Essentail hopes that these new colour variants will help competing with the likes of the OnePlus 5T and Xiaomi Mi Mix 2.

Design:

The Essential PH-1 looks like no other phone on the market. In fact, this is the first smartphone to embrace the notch, which houses the selfie camera. The material of choice for the smartphone is also quite unique. This is the first smartphone to use premium and sturdy materials like Titanium and ceramic. The smartphone does support additional modules like 360-camera. docking station etc.

In case three new Essential Phone colors weren't enough, today we're unveiling Halo Gray, the first Essential Phone to come with Alexa built-in. Halo Gray is available for pre-order exclusively from Amazon starting today. https://t.co/hkwkBKGypr pic.twitter.com/lDad2xngBq

— Essential (@essential) February 16, 2018

Specifications:

The smartphone uses a one of a kind IPS LCD QHD panel with a notch on the top. Under the hood, the smartphone runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Octa-core SoC, paired with 4 GB RAM and 128 GB storage. The smartphone runs on latest and stock Android UI with promised timely software updates up to 2 years.

The dual main camera setup on the smartphone houses dual 13 MP cameras (RGB + Monochrome) with support for 4K video recording and portrait mode. There is an 8 MP selfie camera with similar video recording capabilities.

Conclusion:

At the price of US$ 449, the Essential PH-1 is a very impressive device. However, it is not available in India and the company hasn’t revealed any plans on changing that either.

February 17, 2018

Harman Kardon Launches Allure Speaker In India, With Alexa Voice Control

Harman International has announced the launch of its new smart speaker, the Harman Kardon Allure in India at a price of Rs. 22,490. The smart speaker will be available exclusively via to Amazon Prime members as of nowThe Alexa powered, Harman Kardon Allure can be controlled via voice commands, much like several other speakers in the market. i.e. Google Home, Amazon Echo etc.

The smart speaker lets you order pizza, play music, read the news, control your smart home appliances, make purchases from Amazon, and much more. Harman Kardon Allure features far-field voice technology which allows the speaker to hear commands even from a far distance. The speaker’s 360-degree ambient lighting that glows in tune with the music is a nifty little feature as well.

The Harman Kardon Allure was first launched at IFA 2017 in August at a price of US $249.95 (Rs. 16,000 approx.) and the Indian variant has all the same features as the global variant of the smart speaker.

Amazon Alexa was officially launched in India in October. The service brings a lot of India-specific skills from sectors like Travel, Food, Sports & Entertainment updates, News and Education, and Home Services and much more.

Key Features of Harman Kardon Allure

Amazon Alexa Voice Control

Dual-band WiFi

Far-field Voice Recognition

Built-in four microphones with advanced noise cancellation

360-degree sound

Ambient lighting

Bluetooth 4.2

December 11, 2017

Apple Pushes The Launch Of HomePod Smart Speaker To Early 2018

The holiday season is a time when companies try to push their marquee products into the market to take advantage of an average consumer’s spending spree. Apple Inc however, has decided to evade this season and wait till early next year to launch its much awaited foray into the smart speaker industry. HomePod, the Siri powered smart speaker which was unveiled back in June will start shipping to the US, UK and Australia in only early 2018.

The smart speaker industry has become more competitive this year and launching a first smart speaker at the end of 2017 was already a but late from Apple. Amazon’s Echo lineup and Alphabet Inc’s Google Home speakers have been dominating the market and with a price tag of US $349, the HomePod already have a stiff competition from its own price tag.

Amazon Echo Dot Retails For US $49

Bob O’Donnell, founder of Technalysis Research, said, “Apple has forecast between $84 billion and $87 billion in revenue for the holiday – mostly driven by sales of its $999 iPhone X – so it’s unlikely that missing a few weeks of sales of its $349 speaker will affect its financial results.”

AI Assistants are more used in smart speakers than phones. Even if the majority of Echo or Google Home users own an iPhone, it is highly likely that they’re talking to Alexa or Google Assistant more than Siri.

Google Home Mini retails for US $49 as well

Another big responsibilty on the shoulders of the HomePod is Apple Music. The rival smart speakers play music from Spotify, even though Google and Amazon have their own music streaming services. The HomePod however, will not have this option and will drive more people to subscribe to Apple Music and the rise of rival Spotify.

November 18, 2017
Amazon Alexa To Converse In Hinglish In India

It has been a long time but, tech companies have finally taken notice of the ever growing tech consumers in India. After finally launching the Echo smart speaker lineup in India a year after Amazon expanded it to global markets, the company is doing something India-specific with Alexa. Amazon’s AI Alexa, which powers the Echo smart speakers will learn to speak ‘Hinglish’. It is a popular way of speaking in India which is a mix of the Hindi and English languages.

Parag Gupta, Head of Product Management, Amazon India said:

We wanted our devices to talk, walk and feel Indian. Alexa is not a visiting American, she has a very Indian personality.

Tech giants like Google and Apple have also seen the potential of growth of its AI assistants and the advantages of training their assistants to understand the fluidity of language and culture in India. People will be more comfortable to interact with Siri or Google Assistant who sound more Indian than British or American. This doesn’t mean that Indians don’t understand British or American accents, it simply means that the more localised the Assistant sounds, the more intuitive and interactive Indian consumers will be with it.

Google took its first step towards such localisation of Google Assistant by introducing a Hinglish speaking version of the AI in instant messaging app, Allo. Apple also started hiring native Hindi/Hinglish speakers to refine the ‘Hinglish speaking experience’ of Siri. In the recently launched iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X, a Siri user can in fact set its keyboard to Hinglish.

The Amazon Echo will soon be available to the public and it’ll be interesting to see how the experience of interacting with Alexa on a daily basis will be enhanced over the years.

October 31, 2017
Amazon Alexa Can Now Recognise Different Voices And Give Personalised Response

The smart speakers market has seen a constant one-on-one between Amazon’s Echo and Google’s Home. For a while, Amazon had a US$50 alternative, the Echo Dot to the relatively expensive Echo. On 4th October, Google unveiled a smaller and cheaper alternative to the Google Home, called the Home Mini for a price of US$50. In April of 2017, the Google Home got the ability to recognise different voices in the home and have personalised responses. Amazon has announced that Alexa can do the same thing.

This basically means that if there are three people in the house and you ask Alexa to call a friend, Alexa will look through your profile your contacts by recognising the voice. Same thing will happen with calendars and even the playlists. You can set up voice recognition using the Echo, Echo Dot, or Echo Show. Users are asked to read aloud 10 phrases, and Alexa will then use that data to create a voice profile. After that’s done, voice profiles work across other Echo devices and most of the Alexa-powered third party apps.

Amazon says:

Once you set up the feature, Alexa will learn your voice (versus your spouse/partner/roommate’s voice) and be able to deliver a more personalised experience. Today the feature is available for calling/messaging, flash briefing, shopping, and the Amazon Music Unlimited Family Plan, and it’ll be rolling out to additional Alexa features in the future.

Amazon recently announced the entry of the Echo, Echo Dot and Echo Plus in India. The purchase can be done via an invite only as of now. The cheapest of the three is the Echo Dot priced at Rs 4499.

October 12, 2017
Alexa Powered Amazon Echo, Echo Dot And Echo Plus Launched In India

Earlier in the month of September, it was reported that Amazon will be launching its Prime Music services and Amazon Echo Dot in India. Now, Amazon has launched three smart speakers from its global lineup in India at a starting price of Rs 4499. In order to purchase any of the devices, customers need to request an invitation on Amazon’s official listing for the three devices namely, the Echo, Echo Dot and Echo Plus. The company also announced that it will soon be launching its Prime Music service in India.

Bringing voice assistants to India is always tricky because of the diversity of accents from one part of the country to another. Amazon claims that Alexa has been customised for the Indian audience, which now supports local pronunciations and intonation. Alexa also supports local music titles, names and places. Amazon claims that it brought in Indian developers to optimise Alexa for the Indian consumers.

During the launch, the company said in a statement:

10,000 skills will be available for customers in India, including skills from Saavn, Times of India, ESPNcricinfo, Ola, Freshmenu, and more. Tens of millions of customers are already using Alexa, and today we’re excited to bring her to India with an all-new experience designed from the ground up for our customers in India,” said Dave Limp, senior vice president, Amazon Devices and Services. The combination of Alexa and Echo provides customers with hands-free access to music, weather, news, information, and more—just ask.

Echo Plus

Priced at Rs 14999, the Echo Plus is the most expensive of the three smart speakers released on Wednesday in India. It is about the same size as the original Echo from 2014 but, also acts as a smart home hub with second-generation far-field voice recognition and enhanced sound. The Echo Plus uses Zigbee as a low-power way to extend its wireless range and can control more than 100 smart home devices in the market via voice, without any apps required. The device measures 83.5 x 83.5 x 32 mm and weighs 163 grams. The Echo Plus will scan the room for smart devices and set it up automatically. There is a new Alexa feature which was demonstrated during the Amazon hardware show which was the series of tasks that can be triggered with a simple phrases. The Echo Plus, once set up and connected to all the smart devices in your home can open the blinders, start the coffee machine and tell the weather by just saying “Good Morning Alexa.”

Amazon Echo

At the Amazon Hardware show, the company also launched a new refreshed version of the Amazon Echo of 2014. In India, it is priced at Rs 9999 and will be available in a host of different finishes like wood and cloth. It is a smart speaker and does things at your (voice) command like book an Uber, place an order on Zomato or play your favourite playlist from Saavn. The device measures 148.5 x 88 x 88 mm and weighs 821 grams. It features 2.5-inch woofer and 0.6-inch bass tweeter.

Amazon Echo Dot

The Amazon Echo Dot is priced at Rs 4499 in India and is also the smallest sibling and has all the functionalities that an Echo possessed but, with a lower sound quality. The device measures 83.5 x 83.5 x 32 mm and weighs 163 grams. A good thing about the Echo Dot is that it can be connected to other speakers for a better soundstage and still retain its core ‘smart’ features.

October 4, 2017
BMW Will Integrate Alexa Into Its Cars In 2018

The Amazon Hardware Show 2017 showcased a lot of tech that revolved around Alexa. There were new variants of the Echo, Amazon’s smart speakers, and a lot of smart home products that integrated Alexa. Amazon is pushing really hard to make sure that everyone talks to its AI assistant in the coming years. Another huge announcement at the hardware show included BMW. BMW announced that Alexa will be integrated into BMWs and selected Mini vehicles starting in mid-2018. “It’s a complete, comprehensive set of internet capabilities that is available inside your vehicle,” a BMW executive said during the Amazon show.

The integration uses microphones embedded inside the car. With Alexa inside the vehicle, drivers can use voice commands to use basic Alexa commands like asking for news and weather, in addition to third-party apps like Starbucks. Previously, Amazon and BMW had worked together on an Alexa Skill that allows car owners to talk to their apps or Echo to check things like remaining fuel in the car. This integration of Alexa and BMW will also take the level of involvement of AI in an average consumer’s life a notch higher. Whether you are a supporter or a cynic of voice controlled tech, the future seems to be tilting towards a voice controlled environment.

However, this is not the first time that Alexa has been integrated into a car, at CES this year, Ford introduced a line of cars that allows users to sync their Alexa devices so they can remotely unlock or start their car with voice commands.

Tech companies have been working towards adding software in cars and the likes of Apple and Samsung are even testing self-driving cars in the United States. Amazon’s recent push puts them at par with other tech giants looking to hold their own in the space of car technology.

Alexa will be available in all BMW vehicles for the 2018 model year, and mid-2017 Mini models in the US, Germany, and UK.

September 28, 2017
Amazon Announces New Alexa-Powered Smart Home Devices

Amazon has announced a host of new devices powered by Amazon’s AI assistant Alexa during the Amazon Hardware Event 2017. Amazon’s efforts to push Alexa into every aspect of your home or office was evident during the hardware event. Here are the top products announced at the event:

Echo Plus

Priced at US$149, the Echo Plus is about the same size as the original Echo from 2014 but, also acts as a smart home hub with second-generation far-field voice recognition and enhanced sound. The Echo Plus uses Zigbee as a low-power way to extend its wireless range and can control more than 100 smart home devices in the market via voice, without any apps required. The Echo Plus will scan the room for smart devices and set it up automatically. In a demo shown during the event, the Echo Plus scanned a Philips Hue smart bulb and was able to control it within 15 seconds. The Echo Plus will come bundled with a Philips Hue smart bulb and will be available black, white and silver colour variants. The Philips Hue bulb bundle shows that Amazon really want consumers to get into the smart home tech game.

A new Alexa feature demonstrated during the event was the series of tasks that can be triggered with a simple phrases. The Echo Plus, once set up and connected to all the smart devices in your home can open the blinders, start the coffee machine and tell the weather by just saying “Good Morning Alexa.”

Echo Spot

The Echo Spot is a smart alarm clock powered by Alexa which also has a screen for video calling and can be connected to external Bluetooth speakers. The Echo Spot has a 2.5 inch screen and display lyrics of the songs playing or used for video calling as well. The Echo Spot looks like a crossover of Echo Dot and Echo Show with compact size and a display. The new Echo Spot will run you US$130 and will go on sale on December 19th.

Echo Buttons

Ever felt like playing a trivia game with your friends but never had a buzzer to get the whole TV feel? The Echo Buttons fill that hole. The Echo Buttons will retail in a pack of two and act as buzzers for game nights with family and friends. Priced at US$20, Echo Buttons are hockey puck-shaped devices and will work alongside an Alexa-enabled device.

New Cheaper Echo

Amazon also announced a refreshed verson of the original Echo from 2014. The new Echo is about half the size of the original one and costs US$99. In order to push the new Echo as multi-room audio device and compete with Sonos, Amazon is offering a bundle of three Amazon Echo’s for US$249. The new Echo also has a dedicated bass tweeter. The new Echo will also make 911 calls now and in order to push Amazon Alexa as a phone replacement, the company announced a separate US$35 device called Connect. Connect connects to your landline and makes free calls for you. Your number will still be attached to Connect so that the receiver can identify your number. The Echo will be available in a host of different finishes like wood and cloth.

Fire TV

The Amazon Fire TV will now support 4K HDR video playback at 60fps. It has Dolby Atmos integration and an Alexa voice remote, and will cost US$69.99. The price places it far below its direct rival, the Apple TV 4K which costs US$179. The size of the Fire TV is also much smaller and can be attached to the back of a television unlike its predecessor which looked like a set top box. Amazon has opened it for pre order and will start shipping the Fire TV on October 25th.

All these devices will be available in the United States right now and it’s global availability has not been announced yet. There were reports of Amazon Echo Dot launching in India during the festive season, and with a host of festivals round the corner, it might happen anytime now.

September 28, 2017