At the moment, most of the major tech companies have their own digital voice assistants. Amazon has Alexa, Apple has Siri, Google has Google Assistant, Microsoft has Cortana, and Samsung has Bixby. Unsurprisingly, Facebook now wants in on the action and according to a report from CNBC, they have heard from their sources that the company is indeed developing its own voice assistant software.
The concept of a smart speaker is good, but in reality, there are some legitimate concerns that some have, such as whether or not companies are listening to you and recording what you tell your device. If you are one of those people with such concerns, then you might want to rethink whether or not it might be a good idea to keep a smart speaker in your home.
One of the simplest things that you can ask Alexa to do for you is to read the news. However, voice assistants like Alexa normally only provide a summary of the news that’s only good when you’re in a hurry. What about the times when you want to just kick back and catch up on all of the news in detail? Alexa will now be able to help you out […]
Despite being made fun of in terms of its design, price, and features, Apple’s AirPods have been flying off the shelves, so much so that companies such as Google decided to get in on the action with the Pixel Buds, and Samsung with the Galaxy Buds. Now in a report from Bloomberg, Amazon wants a slice of that lucrative pie.
Roku has added support for yet another voice assistant to its streaming hardware. The company announced support for the Google Assistant just last fall and it has now done the same for Amazon’s Alexa. It will now be possible for Roku users to control their devices using voice commands given to Alexa.
The Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles has started a new pilot program which puts an Alexa-powered platform called Aiva in more than 100 patient rooms. The platform enables patients to interact with the nurses hands-free and also control their entertainment. The hospital says that Aiva is the “world’s first patient-centered voice assistant platform for hospitals.”
Microsoft’s Cortana digital assistant has been around for much longer than Amazon’s Alexa has, but yet Alexa has quickly dominated the scene, so much so that it seems that Microsoft has decided that if they can’t beat them, maybe they should join them. This is what Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella had hinted at in a report from Business Insider.
Digital assistants like Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa all tend to sound rather monotonous. This is because the words are pieced together via an algorithm which usually lacks the inflection and expression that we as humans normally do when we talk. However Amazon has come up with some interesting ideas, such as the ability to make Alexa whisper.
#CES2019 – In the future when we walk into our homes, saying a single spoken word or phrase will turn on the lights, set the thermostat, turn on the TV, and our dinners will start cooking. That sounds like the home of the future, although for the most part, a lot of that is already possible if you’re willing to pay for it.
#CES2019 – A couple of years ago, the headphones scene was very different. We were mostly treated to wired headphones that did pretty much what it was intended for. However these days with digital assistants being more commonplace, and with handset makers ditching the headphone jack, it is a very different scene.
Amazon has been aggressively pushing Alexa over the past couple of years. It has opened up the assistant to device manufacturers so the assistant is now available on a variety of hardware that’s not made by Amazon. The company has revealed that more than 100 million Alexa devices has been sold so far.
#CES2019 – These days we’re starting to see more smart products being announced for the home. Smart lighting, smart door locks, smart doorbells, smart security cameras, smart speakers, smart thermostats, well, you get the idea. If those sounds like things you wouldn’t mind adding to your home, KOHLER has you covered.