17 ms·

Amazon Echo Dot

351 points by endtwist 11y ago

rdudek 11y ago
What's stopping people from accidentally ordering things with this thing? Could I go into somebody's house that has one of these devices setup and say "Alexa, order some breast clamps" ?
- jedberg 11y ago
  Yes. Yes you can. Hilarity ensues. The "security" is the you have to trust the people you invite into your house. It's not great security. :) (ok, that's not entirely true. as far as I can tell, you can only reorder things they've already bought via the website)
  - foodstances 11y ago
    Make a webpage that automatically starts playing an audio clip of someone saying those things, trick people into visiting the page and hope their laptop isn't muted.
- portmanteaufu 11y ago
  You can add a PIN code to the voice purchasing process. http://www.howtogeek.com/237386/how-to-enable-disable-and-pin-protect-voice-purchasing-on-your-amazon-echo/ http://www.howtogeek.com/237386/how-to-enable-disable-and-pi...
gizmodo59 11y ago
"To order your Echo Dot, use your Amazon Echo or Amazon Fire TV and just ask..." An Expensive marketing campaign to sell Echo and Fire TV?
- swalsh 11y ago
  Maybe a bit more, as an echo user I've never ordered anything from my echo... however once I do, i'll probably do it again. The dot could be a gateway drug :D
davis_m 11y ago
I'm not entirely clear on the difference between the regular Echo and the Echo Dot. It appears you have to have an original Echo in order to purchase a Dot. Is this simply an extension that proxies all of the requests back to the original Echo?
- joshstrange 11y ago
  It's the Echo using your own speaker (it has a tiny one still). The "ordering through your existing FireTV/Echo" is just a stupid marketing ploy. As far as we know right not it does not talk to other Echo's on your network (no proxying/grid/mesh/etc).
  - davis_m 11y ago
    Ah, I didn't notice that it hooks up to existing speakers. I'm curious how many people will use that however. My anecdotal experience is that most of the people that actually own an Echo are fairly tech illiterate and benefit from it being an self contained package, but that may change if the Echo API is extended.
    - rdl 11y ago
      I was just thinking "I want echo with a speaker port" 3 days ago. The thing I really really want from them is echo in the car.
      - davis_m 11y ago
        I would be super interested in Echo in my car, but mostly because I don't have one of the fancy new cars that connects to my phone over bluetooth for that sort of stuff.
        rdl 11y ago
        Me too -- I love my car (06 Audi) but the electronics were designed by a car company in 2000-2004 and thus very far out of date. The right choice is probably a replacement nav and head unit. I'd rather have an old but nice car with great nav/ ent/etc, than a new car. I don't think I'm that unusual. I'd like to upgrade the electronics every couple years; happy to keep a car for 10-20y. Somehow those should mesh, but don't.
nilsjuenemann 11y ago
Only for US customers... "Requirements * A U.S. Amazon account * A U.S. shipping address (50 United States and the District of Columbia only) * An annual Amazon Prime membership or 30-day Amazon Prime free trial * A payment method issued by a U.S. bank with a U.S. billing address in your 1-Click settings * A device with access to the Alexa Voice Service (such as Amazon Echo)"
- vonklaus 11y ago
  I'm American. This makes sense, if anyone was going to order awhat seems like a range extender, for a device that just brings you stuff you were too lazy to type, it would be Americans. Googleglass problem. The interface is me yelling publicly. So not super sure that is going to be adopted well.
  - rdl 11y ago
    I use them in my home. Being able to ask it to set a cooking timer while my hands are full is pretty awesome. Echo is one of those things where it became magically awesome by being somewhat more accurate than I'd expect. Also, Amazon is updating the service back ends, and it is now extensible.
  - Touche 11y ago
    It's you yelling in your home. It's fine, your dog won't judge you.
rdl 11y ago
Just ordered a Dot -- what is the Tap? They added that to the page, too, but no info. Is it just the next gen Echo? http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/3/11148776/amazon-echo-tap-speaker-price-availability-photos-video http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/3/11148776/amazon-echo-tap-sp... Ahh -- the Tap is a portable device with wifi speaker. (Probably wouldn't call an audio monitoring box the "tap"
- raldi 11y ago
  How much was it? I can't find pricing info anywhere.
  - unwind 11y ago
    What? The price of the Echo Dot ($89.99) is clearly at the top of the article.
    - rdl 11y ago
      Dot and Tap are two different products. Dot - $90 external-speaker-port echo. Tap - $130 battery powered speaker, wifi, Bluetooth with echo, for portable use. (I'll get one if it works great in hotel rooms; otherwise won't.)
    - raldi 11y ago
      Weird; when I click it (I'm on mobile), it takes me to a special part of the Amazon app, and there's no price, and it says it can only be ordered by voice by people with existing Amazon hardware that can do that.
- paultela 11y ago
  Looks like a portable speaker with Alexa? http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-PW3840KL-Tap/dp/B00VXS8E8S http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-PW3840KL-Tap/dp/B00VXS8E8S
danesparza 11y ago
There is something delightfully ballsy about making this only available to users of Alexa Voice shopping: "Echo Dot is available in limited quantities and exclusively for Prime members through Alexa Voice Shopping. To order your Echo Dot, use your Amazon Echo or Amazon Fire TV and just ask: "Alexa, order an Echo dot" Also, this makes me sad. I'd kind of like to try this out, but I have no Alexa voice service currently (I don't think)
- matthewbauer 11y ago
  I think it needs a base Amazon echo to work if I understand correctly.
  - bovermyer 11y ago
    No, it needs external speakers, unlike the original Echo. However, you only need an Echo to preorder a Dot, you don't need an Echo for a Dot to work.
    - sp332 11y ago
      FTA: Includes a built-in speaker so it can work on its own
      - corin_ 11y ago
        Built in speaker is for alarms, not media, I think.
        wyldfire 11y ago
        it does seem to exclude media. > Built-in speaker for voice feedback when not connected to external speakers > Includes a built-in speaker so it can work on its own as a smart alarm clock in the bedroom, an assistant in the kitchen, or anywhere you might want a voice-controlled computer
        11y ago
dabeeeenster 11y ago
Why don't Amazon have an Alexa iOS/Android app?
- ghaff 11y ago
  They do.
- erikdared 11y ago
  Does this not work standalone? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.dee.app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.dee...
  - dharma1 11y ago
    "This app is incompatible with all of your devices." Looks like it only works with "Alexa" devices
  - sp332 11y ago
    No, when you launch the app you have to put in your Alexa ID. You need at least an Amazon Fire TV to get the ID.
- dwyerm 11y ago
  Well, Evi is still available on the Play store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.trueknowledge.android.evi https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.trueknowle...
swalsh 11y ago
Will this be linked together with my echo? One thing I do quite often since my echo is in my kitchen is use it to set a timer. I'd like to be able to go to my office upstairs, and ask it how much time is left. Today, i don't think that's possible even with a second echo.
- rdl 11y ago
  I have two echoes now. Timers are separate, backend content is synced. You could use the Amazon dev kit to make a universal timer. (That is a good use case) The Alexa iOS app has a good drop down to manage each device separately.
- kevinob11 11y ago
  When I first saw the dot I was very excited thinking it was exactly this, but it appears it is just an echo with a lower quality speaker and a simple cable (and bluetooth) you can connect to your own speakers. A bit of a bummer synced timers and playing the same music through a couple of Echos in different rooms would have been a better use case for me, but perhaps I'm the weird one.
roymurdock 11y ago
Classic hub/spoke model Echo = hub, too expensive and large to buy 10 for every room in the house, used for receiving, processing, routing info from spokes and cloud Echo dot = spoke, microphone and AI functionality at a lower price point, distributes connectivity network throughout the entire house so that you don't have to walk from your kitchen to your living room to order new paper towels from Amazon
- hyperliner 11y ago
  Plus Amazon Tap, so now you have a lot more choices (or confusion, depending on your PoV)
- knodi123 11y ago
  not hub/spoke at all. the dot and the echo are separate standalone products. The only reason you're required to own an Echo to get a Dot is because it's a "limited supply" product, and they want to make sure that only loyal customers get to review the new thing in order to seed some positive reviews.
xd1936 11y ago
My problem with Alexa is, I don't want to invest in a new ecosystem. I'm fine with Amazon being the hub that connects all of my services, but I don't want to use Amazon To-Do List, Amazon Prime Radio, Amazon Traffic, Amazon Sports, Amazon Calendar, Amazon Weather. That being said, they announce partnerships with more and more services every month. Things are looking up.
- hammock 11y ago
  It's not perfect, but it is linked now with Spotify, ESPN and other publishers, Google Calendar... More importantly, they have done a good job (leagues better than the competing voice services) of opening their service to developers thru Alexa Skills, which has enabled hundreds of added features including things like ordering an Uber.
  - komodo 11y ago
    I just wish the Skills weren't behind that unnatural syntax. E.g. Alexa, Ask recipes how do I make an omelet? instead of: Alexa, how do I make an omelet? I imagine it's to prevent conflicts but I'd like the option to put some services in the default namespace as it were.
- arscan 11y ago
  I'd be happy for more full-service ecosystems to choose from. The more that users get fragmented between these ecosystems, the more each ecosystem is incentivized to open up.
- moondev 11y ago
  There is an api where you can build your own integrations (skills).
- untog 11y ago
  There is an open API, so this situation will improve over time. Alexa and AWS Lambda are two of the things I'm most interested in these days (disparate, I know) but they're also things without open source equivalent. I'd love to see that change.
startupfounder 11y ago
The transition from primarily visual UX towards an auditorial UX is really powerful. Looking at screens to get key information distracts me from my surroundings and seems archaic. My wife is a sound designer who has opened my eyes to the importance of sounds both in film and in the world. It's not that I was unaware of sounds, but I didn't realize how important they are to centering me in this world and the made up worlds of films and games. Try watching a scary movie with the sound turned off, it turns into a comedy. I think its unexplored territory that has huge potential to impact the way we interact with the real world, even more so then Glass or Hololens. When I listen to music as I walk down the street I change, my mood, my posture and the way I look at the world. The music augments the reality around me in a way that visual UX never can because it's a lens between my eyes and the world.
- ghaff 11y ago
  The problem is that voice interfaces break down pretty quickly once you try to do anything complicated. The Echo has pretty solid voice recognition--far better than anything else I've ever used--but it's still hard to get it to do anything useful once you get beyond a pretty narrow script. (e.g. what's the weather forecast, play this artist, etc.)
  - mikejmoffitt 11y ago
    Never mind that in order to use a voice service, it requires you to speak at a rate slower than many can type, all while demanding that the people in the room hush up so it won't get confused. Repeat if there was a mistake.
  - NDizzle 11y ago
    I'm not so sure about that. Check this out. One of the toughest fights in one of the toughest games performed with only voice commands. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m2a2dLdZ0M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m2a2dLdZ0M Now, granted, this is a specific use case, but, you know... "explore the space" and all that. (more cowbell!)
    - 11y ago
Gratsby 11y ago
Man... I had my audrey doing this in the '90s. I can't believe I missed the boat and somebody else is making a bajillion dollars. It's time to search through the archives of all the cool stuff we did 20 years ago and put it in a shiny new wrapper.
- avenueb 11y ago
  x-10 FTW!
  - ghaff 11y ago
    I still have a couple of X10 lights controlled wirelessly in my house. When I moved in, many of the lights in the house weren't wired to switches but just had pull chains. Over time, most of the house has been rewired and switches added but I still have a couple of lights that haven't been connected to switches and I still use X10 for them.
    - Gratsby 11y ago
      Years ago... mid to late 90s... I had everything X-10'ed up in my house. What I didn't know is that my house alarm was also X-10 capable. One night, I couldn't enter the code in time and you could see what house was alarming for miles around. Inside and outside the house, everything that could blink was blinking - to go along with the blaring sound. I cancelled the alarm service (and kept the alarm) soon after because 1) it would freak anybody breaking into my house out, and 2) if the cops couldn't figure out that there was something going on at my house without somebody having to call them, they just weren't doing their job.
- goshx 11y ago
  Sometimes I think about this. The old cool stuff not only can have a shiny new wrapper but a whole new set of modern technology that can finally turn them into a successful "new" product.
monkmartinez 11y ago
Still too expensive, imo. I've read a lot about "Alexa" and Echo... and beside the privacy issues, in many cases the Echo quickly becomes an expensive speaker (after the kids and everyone else gets tired of asking "Alexa" questions). $89 is not in my compulsion buy price range. I may be in the minority on that though...
- sp332 11y ago
  Yeah, almost the whole page for the Amazon Tap is just listing its musical abilities. And the price comparison chart at the end is to other bluetooth speakers.
- ghaff 11y ago
  I sorta agree. I got the original Echo for $100 when they had a special deal for Prime members. The timer is handy. The shopping list is handy. It's occasionally vaguely useful to ask it questions about the weather or other things--though it's not like my phone is that far away. I do use it for Amazon Music when I can't be bothered finding something to play on my stereo. Potentially, the ability to interface with home automation devices will make it more useful but I'm honestly not sure how much of that stuff I will ever use. I'm happy enough that I bought it but I probably wouldn't buy more to put in other rooms. [Edit: I think if I lived in a small place and didn't have another music source I'd find it more generally useful.]
  - tbrock 11y ago
    It's painful to have it read back answers. The weather, for example, takes one quick glance on my phone but forever for Alexa to read.
    - philrapo 11y ago
      i was thinking this too. i'd like to also have a screen, for example on my fridge, where echo can post visual data replies.
  - PKop 11y ago
software_radio 11y ago
I have google watching me in my house with my Nest cameras, and for some reason I won't mind Amazon listening to me with microphones in every roon. I really like the "whole house music" concept.
Fluid_Mechanics 11y ago
Amazon was the only Big Four company silent on the data privacy lawsuit with Apple. Why would I place one of their always-listening products in my living room?
- portmanteaufu 11y ago
  They also stood with Apple. http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/26/technology/apple-microsoft-google-amazon-facebook/ http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/26/technology/apple-microsoft-g...
  - Fluid_Mechanics 11y ago
    Thanks for the update.
- fudged71 11y ago
  They're even stepping backwards http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/3/11157752/amazon-fire-os-encryption-removed-upgrade http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/3/11157752/amazon-fire-os-enc...
bovermyer 11y ago
I absolutely adore my Echo. But I live in a small apartment, so I really don't see a need to buy a Dot as a second Echo device, even if the size and price make it a more attractive option than the original Echo.
rogerb 11y ago
I would not be surprised if it turns out that Alexa is the biggest thing they've ever done, including AWS.
- runholm 11y ago
  While voice assistants are likely to become a big industry, I don't see such a limited solution as Alexa stealing any large spotlight. They are too heavily locked down to be able to gain any traction in the big picture.
  - kayoone 11y ago
    They are connecting more and more services, you can train your own "skills" and i am pretty sure they will open the platform up at some point. Could be huge. Remember, the first iPhone was totally locked down as well.
    - Nullabillity 11y ago
      The iPhone is still locked down, and it still sucks.
      - Karunamon 11y ago
        If by "locked down" you mean able to develop and deploy your own software onto[1], then sure. Given what's going on with the FBI, I'm starting to see the absurd security of the platform as more a positive than a negative. [1]: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2933052/apple-frees-casual-ios-developers-of-membership-requirement.html http://www.pcworld.com/article/2933052/apple-frees-casual-io...
        Nullabillity 11y ago
        > If by "locked down" you mean able to develop and deploy your own software onto[1], then sure. That doesn't allow publishing anywhere, which is still behind a paywall and still tightly controlled. It also still requires you to use a Mac, from what I can tell. > Given what's going on with the FBI, I'm starting to see the absurd security of the platform as more a positive than a negative. Oh yes, the wonderful mixup between "security" and security. "Security" is just DRM and Tivoization by another name. Actual security would mean a device that doesn't come with horrible RCE vulnerabilities out of the box, which Apple doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation for, as well as allowing the user to choose things like what data applications have access to. The two have absolutely nothing in common.
JabavuAdams 11y ago
I want this technology, but I don't want to send this info to Amazon. Guess I have to continue on my own half-assed implementation.
fosco 11y ago
when I saw Amazon 'Tap' I was hoping to see a star trek communicator[0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communicator_(Star_Trek) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communicator_(Star_Trek)
- mh- 11y ago
  this should already be possible for a 3rd party to build with Alexa Voice Service. would be really neat to see. https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-voice-service https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-vo...
ausjke 11y ago
My FireTV is also upgraded to Alexa silently recently and it's fun to play with. Is it possible for me to upload my own content, say an audio book, some music I own etc so I can use Alexa as a voice command to fetch my own data too? be it on the cloud or my local NAS/DLNA box.
- ausjke 11y ago
  The short answer is "NO": https://forums.developer.amazon.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=5090 https://forums.developer.amazon.com/forums/thread.jspa?threa... Before it supports those features Alexa is more of a toy, I played with it for a few minutes then never used it again.
- rpgmaker 11y ago
  My dream is to have some kind of android TV box that performs this.
  - ausjke 11y ago
    For voice activated solutions the hard part is the front end, i.e. voice recognition, which is what Alexa is strong at. Once this is covered, it's relatively easy to cover the rest. Really the core competency of Alexa is its excellent voice recognition performance, which is still hard to find elsewhere these days.
    - jannotti 11y ago
      I'd love to see a nicely curated "voice recognition benchmark" to assess claims like this. Do you know of one?
    - ausjke 11y ago
      https://www.quora.com/Speech-Recognition/Which-is-the-best-open-source-ASR-for-non-commercial-usage-Is-HTK-still-be-best-given-its-long-history-and-rich-documents https://www.quora.com/Speech-Recognition/Which-is-the-best-o... There are a few open source alternative, Kaldi is new to me
marleybob 11y ago
Esta noticia me hace recordar el producto de google el Nexus Q...
source99 11y ago
How are these 2 "new" products different from the normal echo?
- runholm 11y ago
  One does not feature a good speaker and is intended to connect to your existing speaker system. The other is portable.
Rezo 11y ago
"If you have more than one Echo or Echo Dot, you can set a different wake word for each". This is something I've been thinking is becoming more problematic as well as an opportunity for real ubiquity. I have 3 separate devices nearby that are Google Now voice activated (the newer devices support this even if the screen is off), and they will sometimes trigger at the same time accidentally. Since the processing is cloud based, and they know my identity, why don't the devices recognize this fact and cooperate. Instead of just 7 beam forming mics in the Echo, if you have two within hearing distance you could have the benefit of 14 and a unified response. Don't tie the request & response to a particular device, instead think of it as ubiquitous network that moves with you as you walk around the household, you should be able to continue your conversation from one room to the next seamlessly.
- masonhipp 11y ago
  I agree with this entirely. I've been waiting patiently for a way to add microphone distance to my Echo and this is perfect for that... except it doesn't work that way. I am very much hoping they fix it in the future and add a software layer to combine/route commands with one single wake word.
- jimktrains2 11y ago
  > I have 3 separate devices nearby that are Google Now voice activated (the newer devices support this even if the screen is off), and they will sometimes trigger at the same time accidentally. > Since the processing is cloud based, and they know my identity, Interesting, so everything said in that room gets processed and potentially sent to Google for indefinite storage? What a 1984-style luxury.
  - gr3yh47 11y ago
    >What a 1984-style luxury exactly why I think none of this is worth it (echo, google now, siri, smart tvs etc) - especially given the current applications of the 3rd party doctrine - you are giving up the right to privacy for everything that is said in your home.
  - Karunamon 11y ago
caractacus 11y ago
When did I turn from the enthusiastic kid who dreamed of audio-controlled personal assistants like this to a cranky old man who doesn't want anything remotely spy-possible in his house?
- fluxquanta 11y ago
  I think when we were kids we didn't think that the personal assistant would have to communicate with the outside world via the internet in order to perform its function. If all of "Alexa" was included in a disconnected local database I bet it would still be as appealing. Rosie on the Jetsons didn't have to "phone home".
  - arien 11y ago
    Almost. More specifically, we didn't think that the personal assistant would have to communicate with a corporation that wants our info to make (more) money. The government option doesn't sound any better, either. I think they are rather creepy, because it's so obvious there is (or, could be) a hidden agenda.
    - fluxquanta 11y ago
      While indeed creepy, I ordered the original Echo as soon as it was made available, but I'm probably a special case. I live by myself and barely even speak out loud at home. If Amazon can somehow monetize my primary use of Echo as a glorified kitchen timer I will be impressed.
      - pc86 11y ago
        $180 for a kitchen timer seems a bit steep.
        fluxquanta 11y ago
        It was $99 (there was a special offer when it was first announced at the end of 2014).
pierrebeaucamp 11y ago
I would love to have something similar as open source software. How can I trust this device if I can't examine the code used for hotword recognition? Also, it would be great to be able to put the software on different hardware - something with digital audio output for example. The concept of Alexa is amazing, but distributing it as properitary software limits its potential.
- joekrill 11y ago
  They do have something called Alexa Voice Services (AVS), which provides the underlying technology. You could take advantage of that and know that you are only sending along data when you want to.
- mk4p 11y ago
  There's: - https://jasperproject.github.io/ https://jasperproject.github.io/ and - https://mycroft.ai/projects/ https://mycroft.ai/projects/
  - pierrebeaucamp 11y ago
    Thank you, I didn't know about those projects.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
josep2 11y ago
Would be awesome if I could connect and control my Sonos from it.
- radnor 11y ago
  You can! :) https://github.com/rgraciano/echo-sonos https://github.com/rgraciano/echo-sonos
  - josep2 11y ago
    You're a true hero for sharing this.
goshx 11y ago
I like this idea very much. By making it cheaper and smaller, Echo can easily become the ears of any electronic in the house.
swehner 11y ago
Everything a (smart) phone should be able to do, no?
nataliam511 11y ago
This solves a huge pain point I have with my Alexa. That being said, it will still understand any man's voice in my home better than my own. Decisions decisions.
masonhipp 11y ago
This is a better product than the original. They added one of the most requested features (audio out) and didn't remove anything important (unless you don't have a better plug-in speaker system). The biggest oversight is now the fact that it can't work together with an existing Echo: Amazon is making us order these _using_ an Echo... but the two devices don't communicate at all and require individual wake words. I wanted this as an added mic for my existing system, not as a new independent system. Big step in the right direction though.
- roymurdock 11y ago
  Connecting them will be as simple as a future software update. Amazon's challenge right now is to get the hardware in place before its competitors (Nest, Apple) - and it seems to be pressing hard to get a wide range of devices in every room of the house.
  - masonhipp 11y ago
    I agree with you on this, but generally they'd have an easier job of it if they worked as a connected mesh rather than independent controllers. I can't say for certain but it doesn't seem like the added engineering time would be that much greater.
binarymax 11y ago
Be forewarned - if I am invited into your home for any reason, and I see an Alexa device, I will vocally add a large shopping list of nonsense to your Amazon cart :)
- chrismbarr 11y ago
  "Alexa, order 12 gallons of milk"
  - ovi256 11y ago
    55 gallon drum of personal lubricant, please and thank you. Wait, make that 2 drums.
- fredley 11y ago
  Serious question: is it feasible to implement a kind of loose voice 'fingerprint' to prevent this kind of thing? Will/could Alexa know who's talking to it?
  - petewailes 11y ago
    Short answer: yes.
    - toyg 11y ago
      Long answer? i.e. is it possible out of the box or is it possible in principle, if anyone actually builds it?
  - binarymax 11y ago
    Theoretically yes you can fingerprint voices. The questions are: 1) Can you do this on the Alexa servers efficiently 2) Do you want to? Seems like setting it up could be a hassle. Right now there is zero friction and it just works.
  - jethro_tell 11y ago
    I really want an 'Alexa, stop listenting' command. There's a button on the top that mutes the mic and puts a red ring around them, but when I have people over, it's not a great environment to use voice commands anyways. 'Everyone be quite so I can shout across the room to change my music'
IgorPartola 11y ago
Hmm. The Dot might be a good addition, but it's too expensive. I want to put several mic & speaker combos around my house, but I don't want to pay $90 per room. Something in the $25-$40 range would do much better, even if it was a simple relay to the main Echo.
jbob2000 11y ago
Somewhat related, but if I don't subscribe to any of the services listed, this is a pretty useless product for me. I don't listen to internet radio, I don't stream music, I don't order delivery, I don't use uber, there's already 10 million ways to check the weather, and my life isn't busy enough to need a voice-activated calendar. Is this the future of tech? Like do I need to have some kind of urban-go-getter lifestyle to find use in any of this? When can I get something useful, rather than "thing I already do, but in a new package"?
- publicfig 11y ago
  What would you find useful? You seem upset that a product was designed for a user that is not you, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have a use. Subscribing to music streaming services, ordering delivery, using Uber; these aren't incredibly uncommon things just because you don't use them. It is rare for new and exciting technology to just pop out of nowhere. Almost all new products are reiterations of previous products in new and interesting packages, it's just up to you to decide if it's worth moving to.
  - jbob2000 11y ago
    Totally fair point! But would you buy an Echo Dot if you only used Uber and didn't use any of the other services? Or if you used 1 or 2 of the services? How many of these services do you need to use before the functionality of Echo becomes apparent? I want to be a fly-on-the-wall when someone sets one of these up in their home. I can't picture it fitting in with my lifestyle, so I'm curious to see how others would actually use it. Or would it just gather dust and become a conversation piece?
    - m3mnoch 11y ago
      we've had an echo for about a year now and we love it. by 'we', mean my busy family of four. it acts as everything from shopping lists to homework timers to streaming pandora/spotify to telling jokes -- and more. we easily talk to her (she is basically part of the family) a dozen times a day. i can totally see how someone who doesn't have all this commotion and such would think it useless. for us tho, it's not useless. it's both fun and functional.
atemerev 11y ago
As usual, all goodies are US only :( I want Alexa for my home automation, and I don't mind speaking English to her. But tough luck in Switzerland.
tnorthcutt 11y ago
Echo Dot ($89.99) is available exclusively for Prime Members through Alexa Voice Shopping. To order your Echo Dot, use your Echo or Fire TV and just ask: “Alexa, order Echo Dot.”
- Someone1234 11y ago
  I noticed that, so I assume they're targeting this as an accessory for existing Echo owners (additional rooms, etc). But here's what confuses me: The Dot SEEMS like it would work extremely well without owning an Echo, the two don't seem to integrate together, the Dot just uses an external speaker instead of an internal one. So maybe this is just a promo available to Echo owners and everyone will be able to buy it later for a higher price? But the page could be clearer about what their intentions are and how they justify the Echo-only buying option.
  - LeoPanthera 11y ago
    The Dot does have an internal speaker - just a tiny crap one.
- abawany 11y ago
  I nearly renewed my Prime membership on reading the first part but then stopped when I read the second part. Holy market segmentation, batman - why actively repel new customers and only make this available to those mini-me-philes who already have an Echo?
  - xauronx 11y ago
    Pssst: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00VKTZFB4/ http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00VKTZFB4/
    - abawany 11y ago
      Ah, thank you. You have likely won Amazon a Prime renewal :). EDIT: gosh, didn't even require Prime membership to order - thanks again.
wehadfun 11y ago
I think the number 1 use for voice control is the car. The current (Apple Car/Android Auto) are good but I would be interested in a better experience. Would like for Amazon Alexa to work in auto.
thecodemonkey 11y ago
Wow, what a coincidence. I just did a setup like this with Amazon Echo and Sonos, by "hacking" the Amazon Echo to do audio-out. I wrote up a little post on it here: https://medium.com/@MathiasHansen/hacking-an-amazon-echo-and-integrating-it-with-sonos-75dbcc02f5b5#.4pu7ca7jx https://medium.com/@MathiasHansen/hacking-an-amazon-echo-and... Obviously, actually having bluetooth speakers with the Echo Dot is a much better solution, but after using the Sonos setup for 3-4 weeks I must say that it works surprisingly well, and despite the audio hack the sound quality is excellent on my Play 1's.
- dwyerm 11y ago
  Meh... the problem with Bluetooth speakers is that many of them don't handle the always-on use-case. My soundbar would work well, but Alexa would get muzzled every time I turned on the TV to watch something. On the other hand, my portable bluetooth speaker will run out of battery if left on its charger. The AUX connection is almost a better option, but then am I supposed to leave my amp turned on all the time? There's also the same problem where Alexa loses her voice when I switch the amp over to the Bluray player.
ckl1810 11y ago
How is this any more invasive than what FB/Google knows about us?
mc32 11y ago
I don't own one of these devices, yet I'm curious, can you "modify the device's name"? I mean, what if someone in the household has the name Alexa. No, not you Alexa, the other Alexa. Alexa do your homework. Alexa take out the garbage.
- jedberg 11y ago
  Yes, by default you can call it Amazon instead. I have this problem because I have a cousin named Alexis and my Echo gets confused when she comes over. But I still keep it at Alexa.
  - mc32 11y ago
    Good to know, thanks.
Roanoke 11y ago
Any reason Echoes couldn't communicate with each other? I envision my friend and I own an Echo. I could say "Alexa, call Joe". We could talk to each other through the Echo over the internet.
Roanoke 11y ago
Any reason why Echoes couldn't communicate with other Echoes? My friend and I own Echoes. I could say "Alexa, call Joe" Joe and I could talk to each other through the Echoes over the internet.
- al_chemist 11y ago
  Or even "Alexa, eavesdrop on Joe".
GaetanJUVIN 11y ago
Actually, I think this is very useful for two things: - Set timer for cooking - Listen music I’m sceptical about getting other skills. "Alexa ask MyApp to do something”… it’s very long and annoying But I strongly believe they will improve that.
chinathrow 11y ago
My problem with Alexa is, I don't want a far field cloud based voice recognition device within my reach. I'm fine with a device doing the voice recognition on premise/on device with the same functionality.
- endergen 11y ago
  Versus a close field cloud based device in your pocket? I'd be more comfortable if knowing that Alexa is truly not listening unless the blue light is on. But I hear your point. I think we're all getting lulled into just giving up on totally ruling out our most paranoid considerations. Not that it isn't quite rational to be paranoid given the constant barrage of proof of device exploitation and mass surveillance.
deleted 11y ago
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ASinclair 11y ago
I'll always be a bit bitter toward the Echo project. I had a really great manager transfer to that project when I worked at Amazon. It's part of the reason I left. Glad to see them do well though.
tlrobinson 11y ago
> Echo Dot ($89.99) is available exclusively for Prime Members through Alexa Voice Shopping. Huh? Why would they prevent new customers from ordering this?
- BooneJS 11y ago
  I presume because they've had trouble keeping the original Echo in stock. And they want Prime members more than Echo Dot owners.
  - tlrobinson 11y ago
    It's not just Prime, you need one of the other Alexa products to order it.
    - mjmj 11y ago
      >> you need one of the other Alexa products to order it. It likely that DOT uses the Echo as a parent device to do all processing of things like sending the voice requests to the servers and back and the DOT just works as a microphone slave device with some basic synchronization to determine which device heard the wakeword first. If DOT hears it first it sends the voice data to Echo and Echo does it's normal thing and sends the response back to DOT. (At least that was the intent when I worked on early versions of the project.)
      - tlrobinson 11y ago
        The product page doesn't mention Echo as a requirement, AFAICT.
mrbill 11y ago
This, a sort of "extender", is what I've been wishing for since the original Echo came out. Ordering tonight (since I can't do it from work).
andy318 11y ago
"To order your Echo Dot, use your Amazon Echo or Amazon Fire TV and just ask: Alexa, order an Echo Dot."
sh1mmer 11y ago
"If you have more than one Echo or Echo Dot, you can set a different wake word for each—you can pick "Amazon", "Alexa" or "Echo" as the wake word." So they haven't solved the I have multiple Echos in my house problem yet..
- ergothus 11y ago
  They raised your options by 50%! (It used to just be "Amazon" or "Alexa"). But in seriousness, I have no idea why thy haven't enabled at least a larger list of wake words.
BatFastard 11y ago
I love my echo! I probably use it 15-25 times a day. 1) Acts as my alarm 2) Turn on my favorite radio station while I make breakfast. 3) Timers for cooking breakfast. 4) Listen to flash news 5) Alarm again if I need a nap. 6) Timers for lunch meal 7) Add item to shopping list. 8) Add todo items. 9) Plays spotify while I work on my computer from across the room. 10) More flash news (its really quite extensive) 11) more naps 12) dinner timer 13) news 14) word definitions 15) Tell it to stop when it starts talking in the middle of a conversation (a bit annoying). 16) more todos 17) Order more dogs treats 18) Play bedtime music Worth every penny. Where did the strange sense of "everyone is spying on you" come from? A bloated sense of self importance?
- kamaal 11y ago
  >>Where did the strange sense of "everyone is spying on you" come from? A bloated sense of self importance? You under estimate how far this can go! Essentially, this could work against you in a million ways not even imaginable now. Come to think of it, what if you are denied health insurance on grounds that this gadget was eavesdropping on your health conditions. Or some marketing company spamming you with ads on topics you talk about frequently at home. Or listening to the intimate moments between you and your partner. One could list a gazillion conditions in which a evil mind could use this to their advantage.
  - h0w412d 11y ago
    Exactly. And this is why surveillance is so difficult to fight. The actions are far removed from the consequences, and the public just isn't very good at long-term planning. But we can't wait for the negative effects to show, because by then it'll be too late.
- nogbit 11y ago
  Wow, you need a reality check here with your "A bloated sense of self importance?". Here is some history for you.... My Dad has written a book about Native Americans in the pacific northwest. Part of his research turned up personnel letters from an officer in the US Cavalry long ago (many officers). These letters were very personnel, and only ever meant to be read by his wife. Unfortunately, these letters were passed down in the family many times up until recently a family member got fed up with this box of letters and donated it to the University of Washington where my Dad found the letters relevant to his research, and others of personal nature as I explained. You can't even begin to imagine what devices (production, backup, test, hacked versions, amazon, nsa etc) that your voice is sitting on now and what those devices and interfaces will look like 100 years from now and who or what will be using them, heck, even 10 years from now is a mystery. So don't become famous, run for office or try to be big corp CEO or even use any social network because one day something you said while your echo was recording will bite you or your grandkids in the ass! I would love to use a service like echo, it looks slick, but if I cant verify the source code or trust some community who has then it will never be in my house.
donpdonp 11y ago
Are there any open source projects trying to emulate the cloud-based voice recognition that Amazon/Google/etc are doing for Alexa/OK Google?
- ziszis 11y ago
  Kaldi. "Kaldi is a toolkit for speech recognition written in C++ and licensed under the Apache License v2.0." http://kaldi.sourceforge.net http://kaldi.sourceforge.net
- ericflo 11y ago
  TensorFlow, open sourced by Google, would allow you to implement the latest in voice recognition research relatively quickly. Recently they released TensorFlow Serving which lets you run your tensorflow models on the cloud.
donpdonp 11y ago
The dot sounds great but I cringed when I read about the tap. Its increasingly common for people to play cell phone audio in enclosed places without consideration of others. The tap seems to be designed to make it even easier to do so.
- mjmj 11y ago
  You mean like ALL portable bluetooth speakers?
hayksaakian 11y ago
Note: this refers to the "Alexa" voice assistant, not Alexa the domain ranking company (also owned by amazon) http://i.imgur.com/B6dsMNm.png http://i.imgur.com/B6dsMNm.png
mjmj 11y ago
I would buy the Tap if it was always on listening while on the cradle but then push button while portable. Doesn't look like it works that way from the description. I get that it takes too much battery to have 7 always listening microphones on, but while on the cradle, this should be a non-issue.
skc 11y ago
I'm wondering why it took the product being from Amazon for geeks to finally be ok with a device that silently listens to everything you say in your home and sends that data to Amazon's servers.
- xyzzy_plugh 11y ago
  This is FUD, it doesn't do this. Only data recorded after you say "Alexa" or the like is sent up. There is also a mute button.
  - skc 11y ago
    It's not FUD. We've had countless stories scare mongering about smart TVs that "may be spying on you" If this device was from Samsung I think the giddiness over it would be alot more tempered.
azinman2 11y ago
Can anyone else order this through their Fire TV? I'm just getting "Your search did not match anything in our catalog." I could also be doing this wrong as I literally unboxed my fire tv just for this. I'm using the companion iOS app to access the microphone, but selected the phrase on the Fire TV. The voice rec also sucked. I had to say the damn sentence like 9 times in an unnatural way. I hope that's not indicative of this experience I'm wanting to order...
tostitos1979 11y ago
What is the difference between Echo, Tap and Dot? It is confusing me a bit. Dot: has no speakers? Requires bluetooth based pairing. Requires an Echo to work? Tap: has wireless speakers with a built in battery. Also seems to have a Mic. Do I need an Echo to make this work? Can the tap work with the dot?
horsecaptin 11y ago
I'd love to read a few stories about how people use their Alexas in meaningful ways.
steele 11y ago
Amazon is offering a free t-hirt to people adding new Alexa skills... that's the bar for adding to their ecosystem now -- a t-shirt.
snickmy 11y ago
Device with a microphone always on from a an NSA affiliate company. Interesting.
gagzilla 11y ago
If Amazon gains by providing this service to prime members then why don't they have a voice control app for iOS/Android to connect with Alexa? (not just the setup Alexa app)
FoeNyx 11y ago
In one example: "Alexa, adjust my home thermostat to 74 degrees" It would kill some people if used here in Europe (because we would rather adjust our thermostats in radians). More seriously, is there any protections against dangerous orders? (eg Your kid ordering 42 tons of sweets on Amazon) "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that"

351 points by endtwist 11y ago

What's stopping people from accidentally ordering things with this thing? Could I go into somebody's house that has one of these devices setup and say "Alexa, order some breast clamps" ?

jedberg 11y ago
Yes. Yes you can. Hilarity ensues. The "security" is the you have to trust the people you invite into your house. It's not great security. :) (ok, that's not entirely true. as far as I can tell, you can only reorder things they've already bought via the website)
- foodstances 11y ago
  Make a webpage that automatically starts playing an audio clip of someone saying those things, trick people into visiting the page and hope their laptop isn't muted.
portmanteaufu 11y ago
You can add a PIN code to the voice purchasing process. http://www.howtogeek.com/237386/how-to-enable-disable-and-pin-protect-voice-purchasing-on-your-amazon-echo/ http://www.howtogeek.com/237386/how-to-enable-disable-and-pi...

gizmodo59 11y ago

"To order your Echo Dot, use your Amazon Echo or Amazon Fire TV and just ask..." An Expensive marketing campaign to sell Echo and Fire TV?

swalsh 11y ago
Maybe a bit more, as an echo user I've never ordered anything from my echo... however once I do, i'll probably do it again. The dot could be a gateway drug :D

davis_m 11y ago

I'm not entirely clear on the difference between the regular Echo and the Echo Dot. It appears you have to have an original Echo in order to purchase a Dot. Is this simply an extension that proxies all of the requests back to the original Echo?

joshstrange 11y ago
It's the Echo using your own speaker (it has a tiny one still). The "ordering through your existing FireTV/Echo" is just a stupid marketing ploy. As far as we know right not it does not talk to other Echo's on your network (no proxying/grid/mesh/etc).
- davis_m 11y ago
  Ah, I didn't notice that it hooks up to existing speakers. I'm curious how many people will use that however. My anecdotal experience is that most of the people that actually own an Echo are fairly tech illiterate and benefit from it being an self contained package, but that may change if the Echo API is extended.
  - rdl 11y ago
    I was just thinking "I want echo with a speaker port" 3 days ago. The thing I really really want from them is echo in the car.
    - davis_m 11y ago
      I would be super interested in Echo in my car, but mostly because I don't have one of the fancy new cars that connects to my phone over bluetooth for that sort of stuff.
      - rdl 11y ago
        Me too -- I love my car (06 Audi) but the electronics were designed by a car company in 2000-2004 and thus very far out of date. The right choice is probably a replacement nav and head unit. I'd rather have an old but nice car with great nav/ ent/etc, than a new car. I don't think I'm that unusual. I'd like to upgrade the electronics every couple years; happy to keep a car for 10-20y. Somehow those should mesh, but don't.

nilsjuenemann 11y ago

Only for US customers... "Requirements * A U.S. Amazon account * A U.S. shipping address (50 United States and the District of Columbia only) * An annual Amazon Prime membership or 30-day Amazon Prime free trial * A payment method issued by a U.S. bank with a U.S. billing address in your 1-Click settings * A device with access to the Alexa Voice Service (such as Amazon Echo)"

vonklaus 11y ago
I'm American. This makes sense, if anyone was going to order awhat seems like a range extender, for a device that just brings you stuff you were too lazy to type, it would be Americans. Googleglass problem. The interface is me yelling publicly. So not super sure that is going to be adopted well.
- rdl 11y ago
  I use them in my home. Being able to ask it to set a cooking timer while my hands are full is pretty awesome. Echo is one of those things where it became magically awesome by being somewhat more accurate than I'd expect. Also, Amazon is updating the service back ends, and it is now extensible.
- Touche 11y ago
  It's you yelling in your home. It's fine, your dog won't judge you.

rdl 11y ago

Just ordered a Dot -- what is the Tap? They added that to the page, too, but no info. Is it just the next gen Echo? http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/3/11148776/amazon-echo-tap-speaker-price-availability-photos-video http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/3/11148776/amazon-echo-tap-sp... Ahh -- the Tap is a portable device with wifi speaker. (Probably wouldn't call an audio monitoring box the "tap"

raldi 11y ago
How much was it? I can't find pricing info anywhere.
- unwind 11y ago
  What? The price of the Echo Dot ($89.99) is clearly at the top of the article.
  - rdl 11y ago
    Dot and Tap are two different products. Dot - $90 external-speaker-port echo. Tap - $130 battery powered speaker, wifi, Bluetooth with echo, for portable use. (I'll get one if it works great in hotel rooms; otherwise won't.)
  - raldi 11y ago
    Weird; when I click it (I'm on mobile), it takes me to a special part of the Amazon app, and there's no price, and it says it can only be ordered by voice by people with existing Amazon hardware that can do that.
paultela 11y ago
Looks like a portable speaker with Alexa? http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-PW3840KL-Tap/dp/B00VXS8E8S http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-PW3840KL-Tap/dp/B00VXS8E8S

danesparza 11y ago

There is something delightfully ballsy about making this only available to users of Alexa Voice shopping: "Echo Dot is available in limited quantities and exclusively for Prime members through Alexa Voice Shopping. To order your Echo Dot, use your Amazon Echo or Amazon Fire TV and just ask: "Alexa, order an Echo dot" Also, this makes me sad. I'd kind of like to try this out, but I have no Alexa voice service currently (I don't think)

matthewbauer 11y ago
I think it needs a base Amazon echo to work if I understand correctly.
- bovermyer 11y ago
  No, it needs external speakers, unlike the original Echo. However, you only need an Echo to preorder a Dot, you don't need an Echo for a Dot to work.
  - sp332 11y ago
    FTA: Includes a built-in speaker so it can work on its own
    - corin_ 11y ago
      Built in speaker is for alarms, not media, I think.
      - wyldfire 11y ago
        it does seem to exclude media. > Built-in speaker for voice feedback when not connected to external speakers > Includes a built-in speaker so it can work on its own as a smart alarm clock in the bedroom, an assistant in the kitchen, or anywhere you might want a voice-controlled computer
        11y ago

dabeeeenster 11y ago

Why don't Amazon have an Alexa iOS/Android app?

ghaff 11y ago
They do.
erikdared 11y ago
Does this not work standalone? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.dee.app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.dee...
- dharma1 11y ago
  "This app is incompatible with all of your devices." Looks like it only works with "Alexa" devices
- sp332 11y ago
  No, when you launch the app you have to put in your Alexa ID. You need at least an Amazon Fire TV to get the ID.
dwyerm 11y ago
Well, Evi is still available on the Play store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.trueknowledge.android.evi https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.trueknowle...

swalsh 11y ago

Will this be linked together with my echo? One thing I do quite often since my echo is in my kitchen is use it to set a timer. I'd like to be able to go to my office upstairs, and ask it how much time is left. Today, i don't think that's possible even with a second echo.

rdl 11y ago
I have two echoes now. Timers are separate, backend content is synced. You could use the Amazon dev kit to make a universal timer. (That is a good use case) The Alexa iOS app has a good drop down to manage each device separately.
kevinob11 11y ago
When I first saw the dot I was very excited thinking it was exactly this, but it appears it is just an echo with a lower quality speaker and a simple cable (and bluetooth) you can connect to your own speakers. A bit of a bummer synced timers and playing the same music through a couple of Echos in different rooms would have been a better use case for me, but perhaps I'm the weird one.

roymurdock 11y ago

Classic hub/spoke model Echo = hub, too expensive and large to buy 10 for every room in the house, used for receiving, processing, routing info from spokes and cloud Echo dot = spoke, microphone and AI functionality at a lower price point, distributes connectivity network throughout the entire house so that you don't have to walk from your kitchen to your living room to order new paper towels from Amazon

hyperliner 11y ago
Plus Amazon Tap, so now you have a lot more choices (or confusion, depending on your PoV)
knodi123 11y ago
not hub/spoke at all. the dot and the echo are separate standalone products. The only reason you're required to own an Echo to get a Dot is because it's a "limited supply" product, and they want to make sure that only loyal customers get to review the new thing in order to seed some positive reviews.

xd1936 11y ago

My problem with Alexa is, I don't want to invest in a new ecosystem. I'm fine with Amazon being the hub that connects all of my services, but I don't want to use Amazon To-Do List, Amazon Prime Radio, Amazon Traffic, Amazon Sports, Amazon Calendar, Amazon Weather. That being said, they announce partnerships with more and more services every month. Things are looking up.

hammock 11y ago
It's not perfect, but it is linked now with Spotify, ESPN and other publishers, Google Calendar... More importantly, they have done a good job (leagues better than the competing voice services) of opening their service to developers thru Alexa Skills, which has enabled hundreds of added features including things like ordering an Uber.
- komodo 11y ago
  I just wish the Skills weren't behind that unnatural syntax. E.g. Alexa, Ask recipes how do I make an omelet? instead of: Alexa, how do I make an omelet? I imagine it's to prevent conflicts but I'd like the option to put some services in the default namespace as it were.
arscan 11y ago
I'd be happy for more full-service ecosystems to choose from. The more that users get fragmented between these ecosystems, the more each ecosystem is incentivized to open up.
moondev 11y ago
There is an api where you can build your own integrations (skills).
untog 11y ago
There is an open API, so this situation will improve over time. Alexa and AWS Lambda are two of the things I'm most interested in these days (disparate, I know) but they're also things without open source equivalent. I'd love to see that change.

startupfounder 11y ago

The transition from primarily visual UX towards an auditorial UX is really powerful. Looking at screens to get key information distracts me from my surroundings and seems archaic. My wife is a sound designer who has opened my eyes to the importance of sounds both in film and in the world. It's not that I was unaware of sounds, but I didn't realize how important they are to centering me in this world and the made up worlds of films and games. Try watching a scary movie with the sound turned off, it turns into a comedy. I think its unexplored territory that has huge potential to impact the way we interact with the real world, even more so then Glass or Hololens. When I listen to music as I walk down the street I change, my mood, my posture and the way I look at the world. The music augments the reality around me in a way that visual UX never can because it's a lens between my eyes and the world.

ghaff 11y ago
The problem is that voice interfaces break down pretty quickly once you try to do anything complicated. The Echo has pretty solid voice recognition--far better than anything else I've ever used--but it's still hard to get it to do anything useful once you get beyond a pretty narrow script. (e.g. what's the weather forecast, play this artist, etc.)
- mikejmoffitt 11y ago
  Never mind that in order to use a voice service, it requires you to speak at a rate slower than many can type, all while demanding that the people in the room hush up so it won't get confused. Repeat if there was a mistake.
- NDizzle 11y ago
  I'm not so sure about that. Check this out. One of the toughest fights in one of the toughest games performed with only voice commands. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m2a2dLdZ0M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m2a2dLdZ0M Now, granted, this is a specific use case, but, you know... "explore the space" and all that. (more cowbell!)
  - 11y ago

Gratsby 11y ago

Man... I had my audrey doing this in the '90s. I can't believe I missed the boat and somebody else is making a bajillion dollars. It's time to search through the archives of all the cool stuff we did 20 years ago and put it in a shiny new wrapper.

avenueb 11y ago
x-10 FTW!
- ghaff 11y ago
  I still have a couple of X10 lights controlled wirelessly in my house. When I moved in, many of the lights in the house weren't wired to switches but just had pull chains. Over time, most of the house has been rewired and switches added but I still have a couple of lights that haven't been connected to switches and I still use X10 for them.
  - Gratsby 11y ago
    Years ago... mid to late 90s... I had everything X-10'ed up in my house. What I didn't know is that my house alarm was also X-10 capable. One night, I couldn't enter the code in time and you could see what house was alarming for miles around. Inside and outside the house, everything that could blink was blinking - to go along with the blaring sound. I cancelled the alarm service (and kept the alarm) soon after because 1) it would freak anybody breaking into my house out, and 2) if the cops couldn't figure out that there was something going on at my house without somebody having to call them, they just weren't doing their job.
goshx 11y ago
Sometimes I think about this. The old cool stuff not only can have a shiny new wrapper but a whole new set of modern technology that can finally turn them into a successful "new" product.

monkmartinez 11y ago

Still too expensive, imo. I've read a lot about "Alexa" and Echo... and beside the privacy issues, in many cases the Echo quickly becomes an expensive speaker (after the kids and everyone else gets tired of asking "Alexa" questions). $89 is not in my compulsion buy price range. I may be in the minority on that though...

sp332 11y ago
Yeah, almost the whole page for the Amazon Tap is just listing its musical abilities. And the price comparison chart at the end is to other bluetooth speakers.
ghaff 11y ago
I sorta agree. I got the original Echo for $100 when they had a special deal for Prime members. The timer is handy. The shopping list is handy. It's occasionally vaguely useful to ask it questions about the weather or other things--though it's not like my phone is that far away. I do use it for Amazon Music when I can't be bothered finding something to play on my stereo. Potentially, the ability to interface with home automation devices will make it more useful but I'm honestly not sure how much of that stuff I will ever use. I'm happy enough that I bought it but I probably wouldn't buy more to put in other rooms. [Edit: I think if I lived in a small place and didn't have another music source I'd find it more generally useful.]
- tbrock 11y ago
  It's painful to have it read back answers. The weather, for example, takes one quick glance on my phone but forever for Alexa to read.
  - philrapo 11y ago
    i was thinking this too. i'd like to also have a screen, for example on my fridge, where echo can post visual data replies.
- PKop 11y ago

software_radio 11y ago

I have google watching me in my house with my Nest cameras, and for some reason I won't mind Amazon listening to me with microphones in every roon. I really like the "whole house music" concept.

Fluid_Mechanics 11y ago

Amazon was the only Big Four company silent on the data privacy lawsuit with Apple. Why would I place one of their always-listening products in my living room?

portmanteaufu 11y ago
They also stood with Apple. http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/26/technology/apple-microsoft-google-amazon-facebook/ http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/26/technology/apple-microsoft-g...
- Fluid_Mechanics 11y ago
  Thanks for the update.
fudged71 11y ago
They're even stepping backwards http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/3/11157752/amazon-fire-os-encryption-removed-upgrade http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/3/11157752/amazon-fire-os-enc...

bovermyer 11y ago

I absolutely adore my Echo. But I live in a small apartment, so I really don't see a need to buy a Dot as a second Echo device, even if the size and price make it a more attractive option than the original Echo.

rogerb 11y ago

I would not be surprised if it turns out that Alexa is the biggest thing they've ever done, including AWS.

runholm 11y ago
While voice assistants are likely to become a big industry, I don't see such a limited solution as Alexa stealing any large spotlight. They are too heavily locked down to be able to gain any traction in the big picture.
- kayoone 11y ago
  They are connecting more and more services, you can train your own "skills" and i am pretty sure they will open the platform up at some point. Could be huge. Remember, the first iPhone was totally locked down as well.
  - Nullabillity 11y ago
    The iPhone is still locked down, and it still sucks.
    - Karunamon 11y ago
      If by "locked down" you mean able to develop and deploy your own software onto[1], then sure. Given what's going on with the FBI, I'm starting to see the absurd security of the platform as more a positive than a negative. [1]: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2933052/apple-frees-casual-ios-developers-of-membership-requirement.html http://www.pcworld.com/article/2933052/apple-frees-casual-io...
      - Nullabillity 11y ago
        > If by "locked down" you mean able to develop and deploy your own software onto[1], then sure. That doesn't allow publishing anywhere, which is still behind a paywall and still tightly controlled. It also still requires you to use a Mac, from what I can tell. > Given what's going on with the FBI, I'm starting to see the absurd security of the platform as more a positive than a negative. Oh yes, the wonderful mixup between "security" and security. "Security" is just DRM and Tivoization by another name. Actual security would mean a device that doesn't come with horrible RCE vulnerabilities out of the box, which Apple doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation for, as well as allowing the user to choose things like what data applications have access to. The two have absolutely nothing in common.

JabavuAdams 11y ago

I want this technology, but I don't want to send this info to Amazon. Guess I have to continue on my own half-assed implementation.

fosco 11y ago

when I saw Amazon 'Tap' I was hoping to see a star trek communicator[0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communicator_(Star_Trek) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communicator_(Star_Trek)

mh- 11y ago
this should already be possible for a 3rd party to build with Alexa Voice Service. would be really neat to see. https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-voice-service https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-vo...

ausjke 11y ago

My FireTV is also upgraded to Alexa silently recently and it's fun to play with. Is it possible for me to upload my own content, say an audio book, some music I own etc so I can use Alexa as a voice command to fetch my own data too? be it on the cloud or my local NAS/DLNA box.

ausjke 11y ago
The short answer is "NO": https://forums.developer.amazon.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=5090 https://forums.developer.amazon.com/forums/thread.jspa?threa... Before it supports those features Alexa is more of a toy, I played with it for a few minutes then never used it again.
rpgmaker 11y ago
My dream is to have some kind of android TV box that performs this.
- ausjke 11y ago
  For voice activated solutions the hard part is the front end, i.e. voice recognition, which is what Alexa is strong at. Once this is covered, it's relatively easy to cover the rest. Really the core competency of Alexa is its excellent voice recognition performance, which is still hard to find elsewhere these days.
  - jannotti 11y ago
    I'd love to see a nicely curated "voice recognition benchmark" to assess claims like this. Do you know of one?
  - ausjke 11y ago
    https://www.quora.com/Speech-Recognition/Which-is-the-best-open-source-ASR-for-non-commercial-usage-Is-HTK-still-be-best-given-its-long-history-and-rich-documents https://www.quora.com/Speech-Recognition/Which-is-the-best-o... There are a few open source alternative, Kaldi is new to me

marleybob 11y ago

Esta noticia me hace recordar el producto de google el Nexus Q...

source99 11y ago

How are these 2 "new" products different from the normal echo?

runholm 11y ago
One does not feature a good speaker and is intended to connect to your existing speaker system. The other is portable.

Rezo 11y ago

"If you have more than one Echo or Echo Dot, you can set a different wake word for each". This is something I've been thinking is becoming more problematic as well as an opportunity for real ubiquity. I have 3 separate devices nearby that are Google Now voice activated (the newer devices support this even if the screen is off), and they will sometimes trigger at the same time accidentally. Since the processing is cloud based, and they know my identity, why don't the devices recognize this fact and cooperate. Instead of just 7 beam forming mics in the Echo, if you have two within hearing distance you could have the benefit of 14 and a unified response. Don't tie the request & response to a particular device, instead think of it as ubiquitous network that moves with you as you walk around the household, you should be able to continue your conversation from one room to the next seamlessly.

masonhipp 11y ago
I agree with this entirely. I've been waiting patiently for a way to add microphone distance to my Echo and this is perfect for that... except it doesn't work that way. I am very much hoping they fix it in the future and add a software layer to combine/route commands with one single wake word.
jimktrains2 11y ago
> I have 3 separate devices nearby that are Google Now voice activated (the newer devices support this even if the screen is off), and they will sometimes trigger at the same time accidentally. > Since the processing is cloud based, and they know my identity, Interesting, so everything said in that room gets processed and potentially sent to Google for indefinite storage? What a 1984-style luxury.
- gr3yh47 11y ago
  >What a 1984-style luxury exactly why I think none of this is worth it (echo, google now, siri, smart tvs etc) - especially given the current applications of the 3rd party doctrine - you are giving up the right to privacy for everything that is said in your home.
- Karunamon 11y ago

caractacus 11y ago

When did I turn from the enthusiastic kid who dreamed of audio-controlled personal assistants like this to a cranky old man who doesn't want anything remotely spy-possible in his house?

fluxquanta 11y ago
I think when we were kids we didn't think that the personal assistant would have to communicate with the outside world via the internet in order to perform its function. If all of "Alexa" was included in a disconnected local database I bet it would still be as appealing. Rosie on the Jetsons didn't have to "phone home".
- arien 11y ago
  Almost. More specifically, we didn't think that the personal assistant would have to communicate with a corporation that wants our info to make (more) money. The government option doesn't sound any better, either. I think they are rather creepy, because it's so obvious there is (or, could be) a hidden agenda.
  - fluxquanta 11y ago
    While indeed creepy, I ordered the original Echo as soon as it was made available, but I'm probably a special case. I live by myself and barely even speak out loud at home. If Amazon can somehow monetize my primary use of Echo as a glorified kitchen timer I will be impressed.
    - pc86 11y ago
      $180 for a kitchen timer seems a bit steep.
      - fluxquanta 11y ago
        It was $99 (there was a special offer when it was first announced at the end of 2014).

pierrebeaucamp 11y ago

I would love to have something similar as open source software. How can I trust this device if I can't examine the code used for hotword recognition? Also, it would be great to be able to put the software on different hardware - something with digital audio output for example. The concept of Alexa is amazing, but distributing it as properitary software limits its potential.

joekrill 11y ago
They do have something called Alexa Voice Services (AVS), which provides the underlying technology. You could take advantage of that and know that you are only sending along data when you want to.
mk4p 11y ago
There's: - https://jasperproject.github.io/ https://jasperproject.github.io/ and - https://mycroft.ai/projects/ https://mycroft.ai/projects/
- pierrebeaucamp 11y ago
  Thank you, I didn't know about those projects.
deleted 11y ago
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josep2 11y ago

Would be awesome if I could connect and control my Sonos from it.

radnor 11y ago
You can! :) https://github.com/rgraciano/echo-sonos https://github.com/rgraciano/echo-sonos
- josep2 11y ago
  You're a true hero for sharing this.

goshx 11y ago

I like this idea very much. By making it cheaper and smaller, Echo can easily become the ears of any electronic in the house.

swehner 11y ago

Everything a (smart) phone should be able to do, no?

nataliam511 11y ago

This solves a huge pain point I have with my Alexa. That being said, it will still understand any man's voice in my home better than my own. Decisions decisions.

masonhipp 11y ago

This is a better product than the original. They added one of the most requested features (audio out) and didn't remove anything important (unless you don't have a better plug-in speaker system). The biggest oversight is now the fact that it can't work together with an existing Echo: Amazon is making us order these _using_ an Echo... but the two devices don't communicate at all and require individual wake words. I wanted this as an added mic for my existing system, not as a new independent system. Big step in the right direction though.

roymurdock 11y ago
Connecting them will be as simple as a future software update. Amazon's challenge right now is to get the hardware in place before its competitors (Nest, Apple) - and it seems to be pressing hard to get a wide range of devices in every room of the house.
- masonhipp 11y ago
  I agree with you on this, but generally they'd have an easier job of it if they worked as a connected mesh rather than independent controllers. I can't say for certain but it doesn't seem like the added engineering time would be that much greater.

binarymax 11y ago

Be forewarned - if I am invited into your home for any reason, and I see an Alexa device, I will vocally add a large shopping list of nonsense to your Amazon cart :)

chrismbarr 11y ago
"Alexa, order 12 gallons of milk"
- ovi256 11y ago
  55 gallon drum of personal lubricant, please and thank you. Wait, make that 2 drums.
fredley 11y ago
Serious question: is it feasible to implement a kind of loose voice 'fingerprint' to prevent this kind of thing? Will/could Alexa know who's talking to it?
- petewailes 11y ago
  Short answer: yes.
  - toyg 11y ago
    Long answer? i.e. is it possible out of the box or is it possible in principle, if anyone actually builds it?
- binarymax 11y ago
  Theoretically yes you can fingerprint voices. The questions are: 1) Can you do this on the Alexa servers efficiently 2) Do you want to? Seems like setting it up could be a hassle. Right now there is zero friction and it just works.
- jethro_tell 11y ago
  I really want an 'Alexa, stop listenting' command. There's a button on the top that mutes the mic and puts a red ring around them, but when I have people over, it's not a great environment to use voice commands anyways. 'Everyone be quite so I can shout across the room to change my music'

IgorPartola 11y ago

Hmm. The Dot might be a good addition, but it's too expensive. I want to put several mic & speaker combos around my house, but I don't want to pay $90 per room. Something in the $25-$40 range would do much better, even if it was a simple relay to the main Echo.

jbob2000 11y ago

Somewhat related, but if I don't subscribe to any of the services listed, this is a pretty useless product for me. I don't listen to internet radio, I don't stream music, I don't order delivery, I don't use uber, there's already 10 million ways to check the weather, and my life isn't busy enough to need a voice-activated calendar. Is this the future of tech? Like do I need to have some kind of urban-go-getter lifestyle to find use in any of this? When can I get something useful, rather than "thing I already do, but in a new package"?

publicfig 11y ago
What would you find useful? You seem upset that a product was designed for a user that is not you, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have a use. Subscribing to music streaming services, ordering delivery, using Uber; these aren't incredibly uncommon things just because you don't use them. It is rare for new and exciting technology to just pop out of nowhere. Almost all new products are reiterations of previous products in new and interesting packages, it's just up to you to decide if it's worth moving to.
- jbob2000 11y ago
  Totally fair point! But would you buy an Echo Dot if you only used Uber and didn't use any of the other services? Or if you used 1 or 2 of the services? How many of these services do you need to use before the functionality of Echo becomes apparent? I want to be a fly-on-the-wall when someone sets one of these up in their home. I can't picture it fitting in with my lifestyle, so I'm curious to see how others would actually use it. Or would it just gather dust and become a conversation piece?
  - m3mnoch 11y ago
    we've had an echo for about a year now and we love it. by 'we', mean my busy family of four. it acts as everything from shopping lists to homework timers to streaming pandora/spotify to telling jokes -- and more. we easily talk to her (she is basically part of the family) a dozen times a day. i can totally see how someone who doesn't have all this commotion and such would think it useless. for us tho, it's not useless. it's both fun and functional.

atemerev 11y ago

As usual, all goodies are US only :( I want Alexa for my home automation, and I don't mind speaking English to her. But tough luck in Switzerland.

tnorthcutt 11y ago

Echo Dot ($89.99) is available exclusively for Prime Members through Alexa Voice Shopping. To order your Echo Dot, use your Echo or Fire TV and just ask: “Alexa, order Echo Dot.”

Someone1234 11y ago
I noticed that, so I assume they're targeting this as an accessory for existing Echo owners (additional rooms, etc). But here's what confuses me: The Dot SEEMS like it would work extremely well without owning an Echo, the two don't seem to integrate together, the Dot just uses an external speaker instead of an internal one. So maybe this is just a promo available to Echo owners and everyone will be able to buy it later for a higher price? But the page could be clearer about what their intentions are and how they justify the Echo-only buying option.
- LeoPanthera 11y ago
  The Dot does have an internal speaker - just a tiny crap one.
abawany 11y ago
I nearly renewed my Prime membership on reading the first part but then stopped when I read the second part. Holy market segmentation, batman - why actively repel new customers and only make this available to those mini-me-philes who already have an Echo?
- xauronx 11y ago
  Pssst: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00VKTZFB4/ http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00VKTZFB4/
  - abawany 11y ago
    Ah, thank you. You have likely won Amazon a Prime renewal :). EDIT: gosh, didn't even require Prime membership to order - thanks again.

wehadfun 11y ago

I think the number 1 use for voice control is the car. The current (Apple Car/Android Auto) are good but I would be interested in a better experience. Would like for Amazon Alexa to work in auto.

thecodemonkey 11y ago

Wow, what a coincidence. I just did a setup like this with Amazon Echo and Sonos, by "hacking" the Amazon Echo to do audio-out. I wrote up a little post on it here: https://medium.com/@MathiasHansen/hacking-an-amazon-echo-and-integrating-it-with-sonos-75dbcc02f5b5#.4pu7ca7jx https://medium.com/@MathiasHansen/hacking-an-amazon-echo-and... Obviously, actually having bluetooth speakers with the Echo Dot is a much better solution, but after using the Sonos setup for 3-4 weeks I must say that it works surprisingly well, and despite the audio hack the sound quality is excellent on my Play 1's.

dwyerm 11y ago
Meh... the problem with Bluetooth speakers is that many of them don't handle the always-on use-case. My soundbar would work well, but Alexa would get muzzled every time I turned on the TV to watch something. On the other hand, my portable bluetooth speaker will run out of battery if left on its charger. The AUX connection is almost a better option, but then am I supposed to leave my amp turned on all the time? There's also the same problem where Alexa loses her voice when I switch the amp over to the Bluray player.

ckl1810 11y ago

How is this any more invasive than what FB/Google knows about us?

mc32 11y ago

I don't own one of these devices, yet I'm curious, can you "modify the device's name"? I mean, what if someone in the household has the name Alexa. No, not you Alexa, the other Alexa. Alexa do your homework. Alexa take out the garbage.

jedberg 11y ago
Yes, by default you can call it Amazon instead. I have this problem because I have a cousin named Alexis and my Echo gets confused when she comes over. But I still keep it at Alexa.
- mc32 11y ago
  Good to know, thanks.

Roanoke 11y ago

Any reason Echoes couldn't communicate with each other? I envision my friend and I own an Echo. I could say "Alexa, call Joe". We could talk to each other through the Echo over the internet.

Roanoke 11y ago

Any reason why Echoes couldn't communicate with other Echoes? My friend and I own Echoes. I could say "Alexa, call Joe" Joe and I could talk to each other through the Echoes over the internet.

al_chemist 11y ago
Or even "Alexa, eavesdrop on Joe".

GaetanJUVIN 11y ago

Actually, I think this is very useful for two things: - Set timer for cooking - Listen music I’m sceptical about getting other skills. "Alexa ask MyApp to do something”… it’s very long and annoying But I strongly believe they will improve that.

chinathrow 11y ago

My problem with Alexa is, I don't want a far field cloud based voice recognition device within my reach. I'm fine with a device doing the voice recognition on premise/on device with the same functionality.

endergen 11y ago
Versus a close field cloud based device in your pocket? I'd be more comfortable if knowing that Alexa is truly not listening unless the blue light is on. But I hear your point. I think we're all getting lulled into just giving up on totally ruling out our most paranoid considerations. Not that it isn't quite rational to be paranoid given the constant barrage of proof of device exploitation and mass surveillance.

deleted 11y ago

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ASinclair 11y ago

I'll always be a bit bitter toward the Echo project. I had a really great manager transfer to that project when I worked at Amazon. It's part of the reason I left. Glad to see them do well though.

tlrobinson 11y ago

> Echo Dot ($89.99) is available exclusively for Prime Members through Alexa Voice Shopping. Huh? Why would they prevent new customers from ordering this?

BooneJS 11y ago
I presume because they've had trouble keeping the original Echo in stock. And they want Prime members more than Echo Dot owners.
- tlrobinson 11y ago
  It's not just Prime, you need one of the other Alexa products to order it.
  - mjmj 11y ago
    >> you need one of the other Alexa products to order it. It likely that DOT uses the Echo as a parent device to do all processing of things like sending the voice requests to the servers and back and the DOT just works as a microphone slave device with some basic synchronization to determine which device heard the wakeword first. If DOT hears it first it sends the voice data to Echo and Echo does it's normal thing and sends the response back to DOT. (At least that was the intent when I worked on early versions of the project.)
    - tlrobinson 11y ago
      The product page doesn't mention Echo as a requirement, AFAICT.

mrbill 11y ago

This, a sort of "extender", is what I've been wishing for since the original Echo came out. Ordering tonight (since I can't do it from work).

andy318 11y ago

"To order your Echo Dot, use your Amazon Echo or Amazon Fire TV and just ask: Alexa, order an Echo Dot."

sh1mmer 11y ago

"If you have more than one Echo or Echo Dot, you can set a different wake word for each—you can pick "Amazon", "Alexa" or "Echo" as the wake word." So they haven't solved the I have multiple Echos in my house problem yet..

ergothus 11y ago
They raised your options by 50%! (It used to just be "Amazon" or "Alexa"). But in seriousness, I have no idea why thy haven't enabled at least a larger list of wake words.

BatFastard 11y ago

I love my echo! I probably use it 15-25 times a day. 1) Acts as my alarm 2) Turn on my favorite radio station while I make breakfast. 3) Timers for cooking breakfast. 4) Listen to flash news 5) Alarm again if I need a nap. 6) Timers for lunch meal 7) Add item to shopping list. 8) Add todo items. 9) Plays spotify while I work on my computer from across the room. 10) More flash news (its really quite extensive) 11) more naps 12) dinner timer 13) news 14) word definitions 15) Tell it to stop when it starts talking in the middle of a conversation (a bit annoying). 16) more todos 17) Order more dogs treats 18) Play bedtime music Worth every penny. Where did the strange sense of "everyone is spying on you" come from? A bloated sense of self importance?

kamaal 11y ago
>>Where did the strange sense of "everyone is spying on you" come from? A bloated sense of self importance? You under estimate how far this can go! Essentially, this could work against you in a million ways not even imaginable now. Come to think of it, what if you are denied health insurance on grounds that this gadget was eavesdropping on your health conditions. Or some marketing company spamming you with ads on topics you talk about frequently at home. Or listening to the intimate moments between you and your partner. One could list a gazillion conditions in which a evil mind could use this to their advantage.
- h0w412d 11y ago
  Exactly. And this is why surveillance is so difficult to fight. The actions are far removed from the consequences, and the public just isn't very good at long-term planning. But we can't wait for the negative effects to show, because by then it'll be too late.
nogbit 11y ago
Wow, you need a reality check here with your "A bloated sense of self importance?". Here is some history for you.... My Dad has written a book about Native Americans in the pacific northwest. Part of his research turned up personnel letters from an officer in the US Cavalry long ago (many officers). These letters were very personnel, and only ever meant to be read by his wife. Unfortunately, these letters were passed down in the family many times up until recently a family member got fed up with this box of letters and donated it to the University of Washington where my Dad found the letters relevant to his research, and others of personal nature as I explained. You can't even begin to imagine what devices (production, backup, test, hacked versions, amazon, nsa etc) that your voice is sitting on now and what those devices and interfaces will look like 100 years from now and who or what will be using them, heck, even 10 years from now is a mystery. So don't become famous, run for office or try to be big corp CEO or even use any social network because one day something you said while your echo was recording will bite you or your grandkids in the ass! I would love to use a service like echo, it looks slick, but if I cant verify the source code or trust some community who has then it will never be in my house.

donpdonp 11y ago

Are there any open source projects trying to emulate the cloud-based voice recognition that Amazon/Google/etc are doing for Alexa/OK Google?

ziszis 11y ago
Kaldi. "Kaldi is a toolkit for speech recognition written in C++ and licensed under the Apache License v2.0." http://kaldi.sourceforge.net http://kaldi.sourceforge.net
ericflo 11y ago
TensorFlow, open sourced by Google, would allow you to implement the latest in voice recognition research relatively quickly. Recently they released TensorFlow Serving which lets you run your tensorflow models on the cloud.

donpdonp 11y ago

The dot sounds great but I cringed when I read about the tap. Its increasingly common for people to play cell phone audio in enclosed places without consideration of others. The tap seems to be designed to make it even easier to do so.

mjmj 11y ago
You mean like ALL portable bluetooth speakers?

hayksaakian 11y ago

Note: this refers to the "Alexa" voice assistant, not Alexa the domain ranking company (also owned by amazon) http://i.imgur.com/B6dsMNm.png http://i.imgur.com/B6dsMNm.png

mjmj 11y ago

I would buy the Tap if it was always on listening while on the cradle but then push button while portable. Doesn't look like it works that way from the description. I get that it takes too much battery to have 7 always listening microphones on, but while on the cradle, this should be a non-issue.

skc 11y ago

I'm wondering why it took the product being from Amazon for geeks to finally be ok with a device that silently listens to everything you say in your home and sends that data to Amazon's servers.

xyzzy_plugh 11y ago
This is FUD, it doesn't do this. Only data recorded after you say "Alexa" or the like is sent up. There is also a mute button.
- skc 11y ago
  It's not FUD. We've had countless stories scare mongering about smart TVs that "may be spying on you" If this device was from Samsung I think the giddiness over it would be alot more tempered.

azinman2 11y ago

Can anyone else order this through their Fire TV? I'm just getting "Your search did not match anything in our catalog." I could also be doing this wrong as I literally unboxed my fire tv just for this. I'm using the companion iOS app to access the microphone, but selected the phrase on the Fire TV. The voice rec also sucked. I had to say the damn sentence like 9 times in an unnatural way. I hope that's not indicative of this experience I'm wanting to order...

tostitos1979 11y ago

What is the difference between Echo, Tap and Dot? It is confusing me a bit. Dot: has no speakers? Requires bluetooth based pairing. Requires an Echo to work? Tap: has wireless speakers with a built in battery. Also seems to have a Mic. Do I need an Echo to make this work? Can the tap work with the dot?

horsecaptin 11y ago

I'd love to read a few stories about how people use their Alexas in meaningful ways.

steele 11y ago

Amazon is offering a free t-hirt to people adding new Alexa skills... that's the bar for adding to their ecosystem now -- a t-shirt.

snickmy 11y ago

Device with a microphone always on from a an NSA affiliate company. Interesting.

gagzilla 11y ago

If Amazon gains by providing this service to prime members then why don't they have a voice control app for iOS/Android to connect with Alexa? (not just the setup Alexa app)

FoeNyx 11y ago

In one example: "Alexa, adjust my home thermostat to 74 degrees" It would kill some people if used here in Europe (because we would rather adjust our thermostats in radians). More seriously, is there any protections against dangerous orders? (eg Your kid ordering 42 tons of sweets on Amazon) "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that"