Amazon Unveils Echo, a Speaker With a Siri-Like Voice Assistant

[CFreymarc]

The big problem with this product is I do not see any tiered priority of voices.

Can this recognize a specific voice so unauthorized guests cannot access this? Imagine the classic sibling fight over what music to play. It goes like this.

Sister, "Alexa, play Katy Perry."

Brother, "No! Alexa, play Pitbull!"

Sister, "Ewwww! Alex, play Katy Perry."

... and so on.

 

[JGowan]

How does it get to my music on my MAC? It said something about browsers... I don't understand. Does this work with a Mac?

 

[lowepg]

How does it get to my music on my MAC? It said something about browsers... I don't understand. Does this work with a Mac?

from their website:
Music: Listen to your Amazon Music Library, Prime Music, TuneIn, and iHeartRadio.

I'm guessing the ios browser support is more about remote control/configuration. Id be surprised it could access your itunes library based on the description... at least so far..

 

[ssspinball]

It basically a bluetooth speaker with added features. Funny, the one feature you want to exclude (to prove your point) is this product's main raison d'etre.

If this thing was trying to be a phone, I could see your argument. It's not. It is trying to be a speaker with extra functionality. Time will tell if it does it properly or not. Comparing it to a phone does neither the phone nor the speaker any justice.

Yeah I can see the point that it's just a BT speaker + extras. I am skeptical it produces the quality of sound that something dedicated like Jambox of the same price would produce, however.

 

[gooberq]

It will be good if we can customize the Alexa part. Like record a name and use that name to activate response. requested an invite too.

 

[tjdragonflight]

This is what Apple should have come up with, instead of that ugly Apple Watch.

 

[Mr. Gates]

It will be good if we can customize the Alexia part. Like record a name and use that name to activate response. requested an invite too.

It says you can.
I personally am calling mine "computer" because ....Star Trek

 

[Tech198]

Neat...

The only down-fall would be invitations.

Probably like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N1Q8oFpX1Y#t=106

 

[noone]

I'm not sure why, but this video reminds me of the old computer infomercials from the 90's.... like the Martinettis!

Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdqe5fu8A30

Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSqQCiSesy8

 

[tkermit]

The always on and listening is scary to me.

Cos they'll hear your twisted and illegal sexual fantasy conversations?

Do you have a problem with that?

 

[unobtainium]

Not with iOS 8 it doesn't. Only requires being plugged in. Then you can say "hey siri" and it will respond.


Congrats, you got your wish!

That's not convenient at all. The length of the charging cable is what, three feet? And it can't hear you from a distance.

 

[ksuyen]

I for once like this thing from Amazon. Still, I need to test the sound systems, does it have subwoofer? How good is it?

But I won't buy this simply because I can not charge my iPhone or gain access to Siri (I don't want to use Echo) and direct access to my iTunes Radio (without using BTE) .

 

[Alenore]

I like how a bunch of people here are scared that it'll listen to what they say all day and send the datas to amazon, while they most likely have a phone/tablet/computer turned on almost 100% of the time with a microphone and camera.

 

[brianvictor7]

Integration is key. If it can companies on board to integrate it with daily activities somehow - turning tv on/off, lights, air conditioning etc, I think it could be neat.

I never got in the habit of using Siri, and I don't really see this as getting me used to using a personal assistant.

Integration most definitely is key and it must be faster and more convenient than another device. Example: my iPhone's remote app is better for performing a search on Netflix than using my apple remote to punch in letter after letter, but I still use my apple remote exclusively. Why? Because it takes more time to pull out my iPhone, boot up the app and then use it to enter the name I want to search for.

Siri, likewise, gets my search requests for the web correct about 4 out of 5 times, but it is that 1 in 5 that makes me use the keyboard predominantly.

 

[Dionte]

I'm gonna name mine Siri.

 

[WestonHarvey1]

It's refreshing for the mom to be the dumb one for a change.

 

[burne]

I've been thinking about turning off Siri / dictation on my iPhone for a long time... I haven't, but at the same time, the number of times I use Siri each year could be counted on one hand.

Just try it. Ask her to tell you a joke, of how to hide a body, or to remind you when you leave to take out the trash..

 

[pdaholic]

I'm still wondering why I don't have Siri on my Mac yet. My mac is always plugged in and always on, which would make "hey Siri" much more useful than on my phone.

 

[mrbib]

Plot twist : each Echo is powered by a Fire phone

Gotta do something with all those millions wasted

That would be epic, on a future iFixit teardown of the Echo they find a Fire phone in a built-in doc hidden inside the Echo cylinder.

 

[JeffDM]

It seems interesting. I don't understand why this site is promoting an Amazon product though. I also question having a 2.5" "woofer" and a 2" "tweeter". The lack of size disparity calls into question how much of an improvement it actually yields.

 

[iBlazed]

I actually think it's really cool. Hopefully I get an invitation to buy one (I'm sure I will, the invitation thing is just to drive up hype) I'm a Prime member so $99 hits the impulse buy sweet spot for me.

Lack of iOS app is really stupid though. And can it work as a bluetooth speakerphone? With all those microphones it should, but they don't advertise that.

 

[cr2]

Comment of the Week

"Alexa, can you tell us how to make Amazon profitable?"
- Jeff Bezos

I nominate this for the comment of the week!

 

[jingbugle]

Future of home automation Like the needle moving.

 

[iBlazed]

Future of home automation Like the needle moving.

Yep. I think having a robot like appliance in your home will become the norm very soon. Maybe they'll even be able to move around and do stuff on their own soon. I'm naming my Echo "Rosie"....

 

[dsc888]

Even if you can turn off the listening feature , how can you be sure that it isn't really listening ?

Yeah, it's best you don't put it in your bedroom.....