In this installment of our blog, we’re going to talk about Amazon Echo, a brand of smart speakers developed by Amazon.com. The devices connect to the voice-controlled intelligent personal assistant service Alexa, which has a very Scarlett Johansson ‘Her’ allure.
Also, Star Trek – Discovery premiered less than a month ago.
Why is this important? Because Jeff Bezos (founder, chairman, and CEO of Amazon) is a huge fan. You might be wondering how this is connected to our smarthome technology blog – but first a quick show of hands:
Who here has ever thought about how convenient the Starship Enterprise conversational system was?
Yeah, us too. Well, since September, if you ask your Echo wireless speaker Alexa for a Damage Report, Alexa will give you a rundown of the weather and latest news headlines. Not only this; Alexa will speak Klingon upon request (!).
If you haven’t been following up until this point, no need to worry. Alexa is Amazon’s voice-activated assistant, inspired by the conversational system aboard the Enterprise in Star Trek. She will connect with your Amazon Echo device to fulfil your biggest techie dream with regards to home automation: using nothing but the sound of your voice she will search the web, create shopping and to-do lists, set your alarms for you and even control other smart home devices and – yes – allows you to shop on Amazon using voice controls (convenient, huh?).
From anywhere within earshot, you can ask her to dim the lights for you by simply using the trigger word ‘Alexa’, ‘Echo’, ‘Amazon’, or ‘Computer’. Indeed, the Alexa platform has been said to provide a much more natural and responsive experience than other voice assistants (Siri comes automatically to mind).
Reviews currently state that Alexa is in the hold for many an update to fix its current quirks, but all in all the technology has proved to free us from too much smartphone usage at home. If you’re in the market for a speaker that allows you to play much more than music, this one might just be for you (even if you’re not a fan of Spock). You can buy it by clicking here.
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