Amazon wants Alexa to figure out how to fulfill users’ without help from Skills
There are more than 50,000 Alexa skills that allow Amazon's popular voice assistant to perform all sorts of tasks. Now, the company is planning on killing off those skills -- or at least the need to install them. Alexa will eventually be able to find skills that fit a person's request all on her own.
Amazon Alexa may bite your head off if asked to play that darn ‘Baby Shark’ song
Voice assistants are designed to respond to any request humans give them, but it doesn't mean they like it. When Amazon's Alexa is asked to play the irritatingly catchy kid's song Baby Shark, the artificial intelligence issues an epic rant about how it doesn't like playing the tune.
Chances of your Amazon Alexa being hacked are slim, says former hacker
Events surrounding the Amazon Alexa have raised security concerns, but according to a former NSA hacker, given its built-in security, the smart speaker is an unlikely target for most hackers. They are much more likely to target your bank data than your conversations at home.
Amazon Alexa is learning how to recognize silly questions and strange wording
Alexa has always been good at recognizing vocal input, but improvements to its natural language processing have yielded better accuracy and fewer misunderstandings. Alexa can now recognize when a question is asked in the wrong way or if someone poses a nonsense question.
Samsung is beefing up Bixby by opening it up to third-party apps
Bixby is often forgotten amid the voice assistant field dominated by Alexa and Siri. Samsung is hoping to fix that by adding support for third-party developers to create apps for the A.I. assistant. Samsung will soon release developer kits that will allow Bixby to be integrated into other apps and services.
Yale’s refreshed Sync security system set to launch in Europe
A refreshed security system from Yale is making its way to Europe, the company announced at IFA 2018 this week. The security systems and lock manufacturer is bringing the new Yale Sync Alarm, its next-generation home security system, to European customers starting October 1.
Google Assistant goes bilingual, lets you speak two languages interchangeably
Google has always had the lead on language support in the war between it and Amazon for digital assistants and smart speakers, but Google just widened its market considerably by announcing that Google Assistant now supports two languages interchangeably, making it fully bilingual.
Best Buy is bundling the new Lenovo Smart Display with the Google Home Mini
Best Buy is the latest enthusiast to help Google win the smart speaker war as it's now being reported that the retailer is giving away a free $49 Google Home Mini with every purchase of the $199 8-inch Lenovo Smart Display, striking yet another blow in Google's mortal combat with Amazon.
Alexa’s smart speaker market lead slips as Google Assistant and others gain
Amazon Alexa remains the global leader in smart speaker sales by a significant margin, but Google Assistant is steadily gaining market share. Smart speakers from other companies are carving their own pieces of the business. Internationally, Alexa's leadership is not as significant, particularly in China.
Alexa will avoid tough questions with new, kid-friendly responses
Amazon has added a number of new, kid-friendly responses to its voice assistant tool Alexa. The A.I. tool used in the company's smart speakers will now avoid any unsavory questions, play songs with censored lyrics, and doesn't ruin the existence of Santa Claus.
Purchasing a used smart speaker? A hacker could be listening to you
If you're purchasing smart speakers on the secondary market, security experts warn that you could run into added privacy risks, such as hackers bugging the devices to listen in on your conversations. And because the attack isn't software based, simply undergoing a factory reset won't protect against it.
Cortana and Alexa can now call each other as new relationship begins
Microsoft and Amazon announced a public preview of Cortana and Alexa integration. U.S. customers can now open Cortana with Alexa and vice versa. Basic functions such as checking calendars, email, and shopping lists are available with the preview, and in time the digital assistants will add more.
Alexa goes to college as Saint Louis University puts an Echo in every dorm room
Alexa goes to college, as one of the country's largest private universities is about to experience a whole lot of Amazon Alexa as Saint Louis University prepares to start the fall semester by distributing more than 2,300 Amazon Echo Dots into every dorm room on campus.
TP-Link smart plugs are on sale for just $16 on Amazon right now
Did you know there is a way to make just about any plug-in device a smart device? It's called a TP-Link smart plug, and for a limited time, you can pick one up for just $16 on Amazon. It also works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant for easy voice activation.
Amazon makes it simpler for infotainment developers to integrate Alexa Auto
Amazon has released a software development kit that makes it easier for developers to integrate Alexa Auto into an in-car infotainment system. The clear benefit is that the list of Alexa-compatible cars should increase drastically in the coming years. Expect to see more Alexa-compatible devices, too.
Amazon still hasn’t figured out how to sell more stuff via Alexa
It's a $2 billion market that is expected to expand to $40 million by 2022, so why does a new report reveal that only 2 percent of Alexa-enabled Amazon device owners use them to shop? Out of a reported 50 million devices on the market, it's a widely untapped opportunity that Amazon has yet to figure out.
Amazon Echo devices get steep discounts for Prime Day
If you've been waiting for the perfect time to see whether or not the hype around Amazon Alexa is warranted, Prime Day 2018 will likely be your chance. In advance of Amazon's biggest sale of the year, some of the company's most popular Alexa-powered smart home devices are getting their prices slashed.
Don’t miss your chance to win big with Amazon’s Alexa Prime Day giveaway
Prime Day is almost here, and to celebrate, Amazon is offering some huge prizes to a few lucky winners. If you own an Alexa device, then read on to find out how you can win $50,000, a new Lexus, a smart home makeover, or a trip for two with the Alexa Prime Day giveaway.
Alexa makes for a good shopping buddy but Google Assistant may ‘get you’ better
The struggle over the smart speaker rages on, as CNBC surveyed five digital advertising agencies who say that Amazon's Alexa is the better shopping assistant, but Google's deep roots in machine learning and voice recognition makes Google Assistant more understanding.
You can win an Alexa-enabled 2019 Lexus ES on Amazon Prime Day
An Alexa-enabled 2019 Lexus ES luxury sedan could be yours, thanks to a sweepstakes running in concert with Amazon Prime Day. The winner also gets $50,000 and a trip to Seattle. Prime account holders can enter through July 15. Lexus is eager to show off Alexa integration in its new models.
How millennials can learn to #adult with Amazon Alexa
Baby boomers and Gen X might remember how they had to learn to #adult -- by asking someone or simply figuring it out as you went along. However, millennials have a new option for #adulting - using an Amazon Alexa device.
Amazon is finally bringing Alexa voice control to the iPhone
Amazon Alexa may be your favorite digital assistant, but so far you haven't been able to control Alexa with your voice on the iPhone or iPad. Now, however, that's finally changing -- Amazon is bringing Alexa voice control to iOS, a feature that's been available on Android for some time now.
Is Apple showing up late to the smart home party, or just not coming?
Apple’s WWDC 2018 featured more than two hours of OS announcements. But what was largely missing was news on smart home platforms and devices. While competitors are making the smart home a central focus of their platforms, Apple is mum. Is it because they’re late to the party, or they’re not planning on attending the party?
You can ask Alexa what’s inside this giant Amazon box
The highly anticipated movie Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom hits theaters in some countries on June 7, with the global rollout just a couple weeks later on June 22. And it appears Amazon is getting in on a triple-branded stunt to help promote the upcoming film. What's inside the box?
Amazon explains fluke that saw Alexa send a private conversation to a contact
Amazon says an 'unlikely string of events' led an Oregon couple's Alexa device to record a private conversation and send it to a contact. Alerted by the contact, the couple turned off their Alexa devices and want a refund. Amazon says it is 'evaluating options to make this case even less likely.'
Is Alexa listening – and recording? Incident prompts worry about smarthome hubs
Amazon says Alexa incident was a series of unfortunate coincidences, beloved minor Star Wars character to get a Stories movie, we chat with Brit zombie comedy icon Simon Pegg.
HP’s Envy curved AIOs sport a six-core CPU, Nvidia graphics, and maybe Alexa
HP's huge assortment of devices introduced on Monday, May 14 include new Envy all-in-one curved PCs with six-core eighth-generation Intel Core processors and discrete GeForce GTX 1050 graphics. They're also supposedly the first all-in-one PCs to support the new Amazon Alexa app for Windows 10 out of the box.
U.S. lawmakers are asking Amazon if Alexa collects data on children
While some were thrilled at the opportunity to introduce their children to this kid-friendly Alexa, other parents raised their eyebrows, questioning whether children's privacy would be at risk. And it seems lawmakers have similar questions.
You can now set Amazon Alexa as the default home assistant on your Android
If you're an Android user who prefers using Amazon Alexa, you're in luck. Rather than Google Assistant, you'll now be able to set Alexa as the default voice assistant on your Android phone. You're able to use Alexa to send text messages, create shopping lists, control smart home systems, and more.
Amazon has fixed a bug that allowed hackers to listen in on Alexa devices
Amazon has fixed a bug that made it possible for hackers to listen in on you via Amazon Alexa by creating an Alexa skill. By manipulating a specific Alexa feature, researchers were able to prove the hack was possible, and that it could be used to obtain a word-for-word transcript of users' conversations.
In a bake-off between Alexa and Google Assistant, the real winner is flavor
If you're going to bake chocolate chip cookies from scratch, you need to find a recipe. Both Amazon's Alexa and Google Home can help, but which is better?
How to enable Amazon Alexa Brief Mode: less talky, more beepy
Here is our how- to enable Amazon Alexa's brief mode if you wish your Echo devices talked a little less and just got down to business.
Use these 10 Amazon Alexa hacks to get help in the kitchen
The next time you're trying to make carbonara pasta or stumbling your way through baking an apple pie, use these Amazon Alexa kitchen skills to help you out.
TuneIn creates a premium radio service for sports-minded Alexa users
Amazon Echo owners will be able to ask Alexa to stream play-by-play broadcasts of MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL games in addition to breaking news content and radio talk shows.