Items tagged with alexa
This past summer Amazon rolled out its slick and boxy little Fire TV Cube; the device was notable because it combined Fire TV streaming with the Alexa digital voice assistant. Amazon is now expanding the capabilities of that device with Alexa now being able to navigate around inside apps allowing owners to use their...
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Although they are being announced a little later than previously thought, Facebook has announced new hardware products that we first told you about last month. The company is debuting two smart displays dubbed Portal and Portal+, which are similar to devices currently on the market like the Amazon Echo Show and...
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Amazon's Alexa companion app for iOS and Android is the central hub for discovering, setting up, and controlling Alexa smart devices installed within your home. However, no one could credibly describe the app as being easy to use or that it made controlling those devices straightforward.
This week, however, Amazon...
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It might be taking content developers a long time to flood the market with 4K movies and TV shows, but one thing is for sure, the hardware is in place on the consumer side. TVs with native 4K support are the new norm, and the transition is taking place on the peripheral side as well. Case in point, Amazon today...
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When it comes to electronics, one way to stretch your dollar is to stay a generation behind. This can prove particularly savvy if you strike right when a new product is announced, as the 'old' one might not be all that old or outdated at that point. Following that philosophy, you can snag a 2nd generation Echo Dot...
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Amazon held a special event today to announce a new round of Alexa-powered products, and you've already seen a few of them leaked right here at HotHardware.
Among the devices unveiled include the Echo Sub, which as we described this morning, is a 100W subwoofer. It can pair with up to two [same model] Echo devices to...
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Amazon is doing very well with its line of Alexa-powered Echo smart speakers. Earlier this week a rumor was making the rounds that suggested Amazon was set to significantly expand its Alexa offerings on the market with eight new devices including a microwave and an amplifier. A couple of those new Alexa devices have...
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It seems like digital assistants are everywhere these days, but in reality, there are still many untapped products that they can jammed into. Just ask Amazon, the world's top e-commerce site, and the company behind Alexa. Amazon is apparently planning to unleash a barrage of new Alexa-enabled products, including a...
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Streaming is increasingly becoming the way many people consume TV shows and movies today. One of the more budget-friendly, yet fully-featured streaming devices for folks who lack a smart TV that supports integrated streaming is the Amazon Fire TV Stick. That device is normally $39.99 making it decently affordable...
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There is a new smart speaker in town. Huawei just unveiled its AI Cube, a smart speaker and 4G router with Amazon's Alexa onboard. The AI Cube is meant to provide “seamless connectivity” in smart homes.
But don’t let the name fool you -- the Huawei AI Cube is a cylinder, not an actual cube. Its diameter measures...
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Netgear has announced a new product called the Orbi Voice Smart Speaker and WiFi Mesh Satellite with Built-in Amazon Alexa. That is a very long name to describe a product that can play music for you and answer questions thanks to Amazon Alexa integration. The device is also a mesh hotspot to extend your WiFi network...
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Saint Louis University (SLU) has announced that students will have another roommate living with them when they return to classes this month. SLU will place Amazon Echo Dot smart speakers into each room and apartment that is offered for student housing. Each of the Dots will be running a custom SLU skill that is...
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It's been a year in the making, but Microsoft and Amazon have finally announced a full public preview rollout of Alexa-Cortana integration -- at least for users in the United States. The two companies first announced the collaboration in August 2017, and gave a live on-stage demo of the pairing in action at BUILD...
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Amazon is on a mission to rule the e-commerce world, and several of its products and services play into that goal. That includes Alexa, the digital assistant found in a range of Echo smart speakers. The question is, how many are using Alexa to order items online? Leaked data suggests it might be less than you...
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I had an aunt who used to have her living room lights plugged into a timer, so they turn on and serve as a deterrent to potential burglars. That is how it was done 'back in the day'. What about today? There are fancier methods, and one of them involves Amazon's Echo smart speaker with Alexa. There is a new skill...
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It has now become easier than ever to rock out in any room of your house. Amazon just announced its latest feature, “Alexa Cast”. Alexa Cast helps users to better control music streaming on Alexa-enabled devices.
Users will be able to more quickly play, pause, and rewind songs through the Amazon Music App. The new...
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New research into the effectiveness and accuracy of Amazon's Echo and Google's Home smart speakers powered by Alexa and Google Now, respectively, shows that the digital assistants have some difficulty understanding and responding to users with accents. This includes regional dialects, but especially people who speak...
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We are still a few days away from Amazon's annual Prime Day sales event, which kicks off Monday and runs for 36 hours. However, if you're itching for a deal ahead of the big the event and happen to be in the market for a laptop, good news—Amazon has partnered with Acer to bundle a free Echo Dot with the purchase of an...
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Alphabet is one of the largest and most valuable companies on the planet, and at least one Morgan Stanley analyst is suggesting that the company use its cash pile to gain the upper hand in a growing market sector. In this case, Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak says that Alphabet subsidiary Google should give away...
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Amazon is giving users of the Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 10 the opportunity to repurpose their tablets courtesy of an upcoming software update. Show Mode, which will be available in a software update downloadable on July 2nd, in effect turns Fire HD tablets into a fully functional Alexa-powered Echo Show. That means that...
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One of the many things Bethesda showed off at E3 is a new Skyrim experience, though unlike previous versions that are playable on PCs and consoles, the new Skyrim Very Special Edition takes aim at Alexa. Bethesda showed off a trailer featuring comedian Keegan-Michael Key barking out Skyrim commands at his Echo smart...
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A sign of great technology is when it does what you want in a seamless manner, without getting in your way. If a particularly technology is truly great, you'll sometimes forget you're even relying on electronic parts to do your bidding, just as you don't put much though into the head of a hammer of when mashing a nail...
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