Tag: Amazon Echo Dot

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
Apple Music Finally Coming To Amazon Echo Devices

Amazon Echo devices do not support some essential music and video streaming platforms such as Apple Music and Youtube. But that is about to change soon! Even though Google and Amazon have not reached to an agreement regarding the Youtube fiasco, Apple Music owners will soon be able to stream their songs on Echo devices. Echo customers will be able to stream music from Apple Music starting December 17th.

Amazon’s Echo devices currently support other streaming apps such as Spotify, Saavn, Pandora and Amazon’s own Amazon Music. You can just log in to the Alexa App on your phone and ask Alexa to play music from Apple Music. It is not surprising for Apple to want Apple Music to be available to a broader audience since Amazon Music and other streaming websites have already drawn a lot of audience. Apple Music is also available on Google’s Play Store now. Even though the app was launched as an iOS exclusive back in the day. Apple have their own smart speaker called the HomePod. But it is in an entirely different category in terms of price when compared to the Echo devices.

Also Read : Google’s New Smartwatch Patent To Use Your Skin As A Touchpad

What This Move Means

In 2016, the Apple Music service was made available on Sonos smart speakers as well. It is also available in Microsoft’s app store for Windows 10 users. Apple is clearly looking to stay in the competition as a large portion of people have shifted to Amazon Music. This has happenned because a lot of people are heavily invested in Echo devices. Analysts believe that Amazon Music is currently in the third place behind Spotify and Apple Music. Amazon Music is currently free with Prime subscription in India and has two different types of subscription options in the United States. Amazon has also stated that since the launch of the Echo devices, people have been listening to more music in their homes than before. They also noted that people now stream tens of millions of hours of radio per month through the Alexa devices.

December 1, 2018
Amazon Echo Dot Now Priced At Rs 4099 In India, Echo Receives A Price Cut As Well

The smart speaker industry has been on the rise in India. After the entry of Amazon’s Echo line of speakers, Google recently launched the Home and Home Mini in India as well. Up until now, the Google Home Mini and Google Home were priced on par with the Echo Dot and Echo, respectively. Amazon, however, has announced a price cut for the two smart speakers, making them more affordable than Google’s offerings.

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The Google Home Mini, which was launched at a price of Rs 4499 has received a price cut of Rs 400. The ultra-affordable smart speaker from Amazon is now priced at Rs 4099. The Amazon Echo, which is the mid-table offering from Amazon in India receives a Rs 1000 price cut. The second gen Echo is now priced at Rs 8999. Its main competitor, the Google Home is still priced at Rs 9999 in India.

Apart from the Echo and Echo Dot, the company has also launched the Echo Plus and Echo Spot in India. However, these two smart speakers will continue to retail at their launch prices. The Echo Spot is the only smart speaker in India which has a display. While an interesting prospect, the Echo Spot with its tiny round display does not have a lot of implementations which would be useful in countries like in India.

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At the Amazon Hardware show, the company launched a refreshed version of the Amazon Echo of 2014. In India, it is 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 at 148.5 x 88 x 88 mm and weighs 821 grams. It features 2.5-inch woofer and 0.6-inch bass tweeter.

The Amazon Echo Dot is the smallest sibling of the Echo lineup and has all the functionalities that an Amazon Echo possesses but, with an inferior sound quality. The device measures at 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.

The Amazon Echo Dot is a great entry-level smart speaker for users just getting into the smart home game. Whether this price cut will help Amazon reduce competition from the likes of Google Home speakers is yet to be seen.

June 9, 2018
Top 5 Smart Home Accessories In India

Making a transition from phone to smartphone is a difficult task. However, once if you have a smartphone, transitioning your home to a smart home is pretty easy. These are Internet of Things (IoT) devices, which once connected to Wi-Fi to give you control over different functionalities. It is worth noting that these accessories can be controlled from any smartphone running iOS or Android smartphone.So, here are the top 5 gadgets that can convert your run of the mill home into a smart home.

Amazon Echo Dot

Amazon Echo Dot can act as a hub to control other smart accessories. The Echo Dot is available on Amazon for Rs 4,499 and offers a plethora of features. The device comes with a compact form factor in black or white colour. This is a smart home assistant, powered by Amazon Alexa. The device comes with a speaker and array of microphones so that it can always respond to you when you say “Alexa”. The device can play songs using Amazon Music, Saavn and Tuneln. Similarly, a user can play music across the devices using multi-room music. However, if you are looking for a louder sound output, go with Echo Plus which retails for Rs 14999.

Xiaomi YeeLight

The Xiaomi YeeLight is one of the most affordable smart bulbs available in the market. This can be paired with a smartphone to control brightness and colour of the light. The LED bulb has an RGB colour profile with 16 million colour combinations. The company also claims that a bulb can last up to 11 years. As this is a smart bulb, it is priced at Rs 1,890. Similarly, one can connect more than one bulb to a single account to create dramatic colour effects.

Xiaomi YeeLight

D-Link Wi-Fi Motion Sensor

The D-Link Wi-Fi Motion Sensor connects to the Wi-Fi to notify users of any unsuspecting movements. The device comes in handy for monitoring a baby or a house while the members are away. Download the MyD-Link myHome app on iOS or Android device to complete the setup and turn on the motion detection feature. Similarly, the device can also be used to monitor power and temperature. The device costs Rs 849.

D-Link Wi-Fi Motion Sensor

TP-Link Wi-Fi Smart Plug

Unlike a normal power plug, this plug delivers the power to the connected device. One has to complete the setup of the device using an iOS or Android smartphone, by connecting to a Wi-Fi network. Then, this plug can be used as any other plug. However, the admin will have the control over the power supply. A user can turn off or turn on a gadget that is connected to this device remotely with. Similarly, one can programme the device to turn on or turn off at a different time interval. This is priced at Rs 2,099.

TP-Link Wi-Fi Smart Plug

Digoo Wireless Wifi Night Vision Smart Home Security IP Camera

In simpler definition, this is a smart CCTV camera. The device retails for Rs 4,200 and offers plenty of features like Motion detection, one button guard etc. One has to connect this to a Wi-Fi network for real-time monitoring. However, it is possible to connect this device using wired LAN network as well. The device is compatible with iOS, Android and Windows OS.

Digoo Wireless Wifi Night Vision Smart Home Security IP Camera

March 20, 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
Xiaomi Yeelight Voice Assistant Is Its Answer To The Amazon Echo Dot

The smart speaker segment is becoming increasingly crowded nowadays. While the products started as a pricey investment into smart home tech, the likes of Amazon Echo Dot or the Google Home Mini can be bought for US $49 or less. However, one company is stepping into the segment which is known for making cost-effective smart home products but, mainly keeps them in its native market of China. Xiaomi, the famous Chinese smartphone maker has introduced the Yeelight Voice Assistant, a smart speaker which will reportedly cost about US $30.

The new smart speaker will be powered by Microsoft’s own voice assistant Cortana, which could be mainly due to the partnership between Xiaomi and Microsoft to use some of Microsoft’s services in Xiaomi’s products. However, it is believed that the smart speaker will be powered by both Cortana and Amazon Alexa, which will definitely make the smart speaker a much more compatible smart speaker.

Apart from it being a smart speaker, the Yeelight Voice Assistant looks strikingly similar to the Echo Dot. With a similar colour combination of white with a blue light, the speaker grill on top and the size and shape of the speaker, anyone will be forgiven for mistaking it as the Echo Dot in the first glance.

The Yeelight Voice Assistant is a 2-watt speaker with six microphones to make it easier for it to pick up the user’s voice. The smart speaker also has a long-range voice activation capability wherein it can be activated from up to 5 meters of distance. Xiaomi claims that this possible thanks to an advanced voice wake-up algorithm.

Powering the smart speaker is a Cortex A53 quad-core processor with 256MB of RAM and an equal amount of internal storage space. This storage is likely for caching personal preferences or other specific user details.

The smart speaker, as of now, is only listed on the company’s crowdsourcing platform for a price of US $30 or roughly Rs. 1800.

December 29, 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
Mini Google Home To Take On Echo Dot

Google is reportedly planning to compete with the Amazon’s smart speaker, Echo Dot by releasing a miniature version of its own Home smart speaker. The unveiling of the miniaturised Google Home is expected to be at a hardware event planned for the upcoming Pixel sequel.

Planning to rival the Amazon’s Echo Dot, the Google Assistant powered smart speaker will allow you to access voice command interfaces for audio systems, connecting multiple Home units, playing music etc.

It is still unclear as to what all features Google’s smaller Home Speaker will come with but we are hoping that the voice-activated Assistant hub will host the similar features like its sibling. Some of which are expected to be hands free calling, accessing smart home devices, personalised experience by disguised voice feature, getting real-time answers related to traffic, weather reports etc.

No specific details about the mini Home speaker’s pricing, dimensions and feature set have been spilled yet. But given the massive popularity of Amazon’s Echo Dot which is priced at $50, a smaller, cheaper version of Google Home makes much more sense, as the original Google Home costs $129.

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It has also been reported that Google will also launch the new Pixel-branded Chromebook at the Pixel event. This will be the first Chromebook after the launch of the original Chromebook Pixel in 2015. At present, no information about the specifications for this laptop has surfaced. It has been widely reported that the new Pixel Chromebook is a byproduct of Google’s Project Bison, but, it appears not to be the case . Google may be planning to target the higher-end notebook market once again. It is safe to say that the new Pixel-branded Chromebook is intended to be a serious contender to Apple’s MacBook lineup and Microsoft’s Surface Pro.

August 22, 2017
Amazon Echo Dot, Prime Music Might Be Arriving In India This Diwali

Looks like Amazon’s Echo Dot will be there to share the workload this Diwali. From placing online orders for sweets and firecrackers to selecting outlets for Diwali shopping, the smart speaker will do it all.

According to latest reports, Amazon’s much famed Echo Dot may go on sale in India this Diwali, along with the Prime Music service. The Alexa powered smart speaker does a host of things on the tip of your command such as, ordering pizza, booking Uber rides, etc . The Amazon Echo Dot, which costs $50 in the USA, might be priced at Rs 3,000 in India, whereas, its bigger sibling, Amazon Echo may not arrive in India due to its heftier price tag.

Amazon’s Prime Music services will rival Apple Music and Google Play Music in India with a library of over 2 million songs available to all the Amazon Prime customers. The Amazon Prime subscription is available in India at Rs 450 per year, but, there are reports that the subscription fee will go up in the coming months. The Echo Dot, currently available in the United States and several other markets, supports a range of music integrations and other skills. Though most of the music services supported by Amazon, including Spotify and Pandoro are not yet available in India, but the soon to be arriving Echo Dot will support services like Prime Music and Gaana.

Aside from the basic features, Amazon Echo Dot will enable users to control the smart lights in their home/office via voice commands. With the help of Alexa, Amazon’s AI assistant, users can get answers to trivia questions, play music, order food, book cab rides, check your calendar and much more by just calling out “Alexa.”

Jan Dawson of Jackdaw research says, “The big challenge with Echo will be language support since it’s basically only worked in English so far, and they’ll need to localize for Indian pronunciations and idioms (not to mention other local languages eventually too).” Amazon began hiring people in India for Alexa and Echo device late last year, according to job postings on the website. Furthermore, the company has been offering several incentives to the developers such as free t-shirts and other goodies for writing Alexa-enabled skills.

Meanwhile, Google Home, the smart speaker from Google has been unofficially available on Amazon India for Rs 17,999 and so is the Amazon Echo Dot eBay for Rs 3,000. With smart home systems not prominent in India right now, time will tell how the Echo Dot is received by the consumers. A majority of the consumers in India still shy away from paying for media consumption, hence the arrival of Prime Music with Echo Dot to rival Apple Music and Google Play Music will be an interesting battle.

August 18, 2017