Last month Microsoft announced that Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant would be arriving for the Xbox One. Now it looks like both Microsoft and Amazon are further cementing their partnership as Amazon appears to now be bundling a free Echo Dot device with every purchase of the Xbox One console (including the Xbox One S and the Xbox One X).
Amazon’s Echo Spot and Echo Show come with displays which makes it a useful device for watching videos. In fact both the Echo Spot and Echo Show are ideal devices if you have home security cameras as they can be used to watch live streams, but what about when you want to watch videos that have already been recorded?
Smart speakers are great tools that allow users to control their smart homes using nothing but their voice. However for those who are more privacy-minded, smart speakers also represent an instance in which it could potentially be used as a tool to spy on you by malicious hackers. Unfortunately that’s what researchers discovered with Amazon’s Echo.
Alexa can be used to control all kinds of things around the house as long as they are connected to it and part of the network. This includes lighting, thermostats, locks, and more, but now it looks like Amazon has given Alexa a new set of skills which comes in the form of being able to control equalizer and sound settings on your speakers.
The problem with speakers that are always listening is that you sometimes can’t be sure what could trigger it, which in some instances has resulted in some pretty creepy situations. Unfortunately it seems that these are instances that people might need to get used to, according to a report from Metro.
Last year Amazon announced the Echo Look. This is a camera that can analyze your outfit, rating your daily look, and offer advice from fashion specialists, thanks to the use of algorithms and machine learning. However the Echo Look was limited to those who were invited by Amazon to test it out, at least until now.
It goes without saying that with Amazon getting a head start in the smart speaker race that it’s not surprising that they have a very sizable market share. However it seems that Google could be catching up, at least according to recent data from Canalys in which apparently Google overtook Amazon in smart speaker shipments for Q1 2018.
Smart speakers typically feature an always-on functionality which means that the speakers are always listening out for its trigger word, whether it be “Alexa”, “Hey Siri”, or “Hey Google”. Unsurprisingly there might be some users who are worried that these speakers could be recording their conversations, despite the fact that these companies claim that they don’t.
Not too long ago, Amazon unveiled the Echo Dot Kids Edition. Function wise this is more or less the same as the regular Echo Dot, except that it comes with a bunch of features aimed at kids, but at the end of the day it is still a smart speaker. Unsurprisingly this has raised many questions about the privacy of kids, which is a question that Congress wants to know.
Unlike other smart speakers like the Google Home Max or the Apple HomePod, Amazon has a wide variety of smaller and more affordable smart speakers for users who are more interested in using them for their smarts rather than music playback capabilities. This is evidenced in last year’s numbers where the Echo Dot was Amazon’s best-selling product during the holidays.
So far based on current reviews, many have found that the HomePod speakers from Apple sound pretty good and could possibly be the best in the market right now, at least as far as smart speakers are concerned. However a recent report from Consumer Reports is suggesting otherwise, but are they alone in their opinion?
Amazon ships to most parts of the world, but in terms of local operations, the company’s presence is only available in a handful of countries. However in 2017, Amazon expanded their operations to Australia and New Zealand, and also announced that they would be making their Echo speakers and Alexa available in those markets.