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Amazon announces new, smaller Echo
- Sargos 9y agoIt'll be interesting to see how this compares with the Google Home Mini (http://www.droid-life.com/2017/09/19/google-home-mini-exclusive/ http://www.droid-life.com/2017/09/19/google-home-mini-exclus...). For me the ideal size would be invisible or something I can tape to the inside top of my entertainment center.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- thebiglebrewski 9y agoHaha what is a bass tweeter tho
- blacksmith_tb 9y agoYes, I was guessing they meant to say it had dedicated bass AND tweeter (which is presumably only noteworthy given the smaller size, as the old Echo has both[1] - and the Dot doesn't [2]). 1: https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Amazon+Echo+Teardown/33953 https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Amazon+Echo+Teardown/33953 2: https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Amazon+Echo+Dot+Teardown/61304 https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Amazon+Echo+Dot+Teardown/613...
- DiabloD3 9y agoAlternatively, it could be a full range driver, but more unlikely giving the phrasing.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- fredophile 9y agoThe key feature that would make me get a set of these, or competing devices, is independent voice commands per device. For example, I'd like to be able to have one in each bedroom and say "turn off the lights" and have it only affect that room. The last time I looked there wasn't a product on the market that supported this.
- conception 9y agoEcho + Hue totally does this. Though, you have to say "Turn off the bedroom lights." if you just want the bedroom. "Turn off the lights" will turn off all the lights. BTW- it's magic, amazing and too expensive. But if you're dumb and like geeky tech things, it's pretty rad.
- untog 9y agoEcho + Hue totally does this. Though, you have to say "Turn off the bedroom lights." I think that's exactly what the OP wants to do not have to do.
- bussierem 9y agoTo clarify the other reply and OP's comment, I think he wants to say "turn off the lights" to the Echo he has in the bedroom, and have it know to turn off _just_ the bedroom lights. Ditto for the one in the living room, etc.
- fredophile 9y agoIf I say "turn off the bedroom lights" it will turn off the same set of lights regardless of which room I am standing in. If I say it in my guest bedroom the guest bedroom lights should turn off. If I say it in my bedroom my lights should turn off. I don't want my guests turning my lights on and off while they figure out the voice controls.
- DerfNet 9y agoI know it makes me sound like a crotchety old man, but I just can't justify giving my lightbulbs access to my home network when the wall switches I already have seem to work just fine.
- Animats 9y agoBig Brother is always listening. Listening in on what you're doing is so valuable they can offer free phone calls and free music.
- B1FF_PSUVM 9y ago> so valuable Some poor MBA SOB probably already ran a spreadsheet on that. Actually, probably a bunch of poor MBA SOBs, and the results are all over the map, so there's some mana raining down from the optimists. One of these days they'll converge on a lower valuation, and turn off the tap. Or shrug and say, what the heck, the free stuff ain't worth much either, and it keeps the rioting down ...
- Multicomp 9y agoI must be dumb but in today's world of the big 4 spying on you all day long, I'm trying to kick out voice assistants, not bring more in. After Google Now, my voice control needs are done and someone said enough is as good as a feast. Now when you get Mrs. Roddenberry's TTS voice powering a smart home, we may have to revisit.
- slg 9y agoThese devices all ride on your own personal network. Their traffic is easy to monitor for timing and size of the data transmitted outward. If you are worried about spying you might put a piece of tape over your webcam, but I can't say I have heard of anyone physically disabling their laptop's microphone. These voice assistants are basically the same security threat as those open microphones on your laptop. Both of them are still less dangerous than a smartphone that has its own network connection and can more easily hide its spying.
- infecto 9y agoMany people physically disable their laptops microphone. Some people in my office do and I think the most famous case is Zuckerberg. https://boygeniusreport.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/mark-zuckerberg-tapes-macbook-camera-mic-2.jpg?quality=98&strip=all&w=782 https://boygeniusreport.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/mark-zuc...
- wonder_bread 9y agoSerious Question; Is Google ever going to get out of catch-up mode in this department?
- tanilama 9y agoExcept Chromecast, cant really recall what innovative Google did with hardware
- tj-teej 9y agoGoogle Glass was innovative?
- wonder_bread 9y agoGlass was innovative and ahead of it's time but that being said it feels like Google (and Apple for that matter) are falling into the risky playbook of mirroring other companies' ideas and assuming their scale will take care of the rest
- tanilama 9y agoIt is a failure
- m_ke 9y agoWhy would they waste their time? They already have a speech recognition platform, it's called android. Amazon is wasting money on hardware because they missed out on mobile and with echos they're hoping to be there when the NLP catches up.
- wonder_bread 9y agoYou don't think they should be worried at all about the Echo platform?
- m_ke 9y agoI can't think of a single problem that an echo can solve for me that the phone in my pocket can't. Echo makes perfect sense for amazon but as a consumer I don't get what the benefit is. Apple will eat this market because they're smart enough to position the homepod as a premium speaker instead of a home assistant. They'll also eat into Sonos and Bose.
- yellowapple 9y agoI was hoping by "smaller Echo" they meant "smaller than the Dot". Also, Alexa is most useful in a car and I'm still disappointed that there's no apparent way to use Alexa for things like turn-by-turn navigation.
- r00fus 9y agoUh, why would Alexa be better than Siri or Google esp. since they're likely tied to CarPlay/Android Auto? The market there is very crowded, I doubt Amazon's looking to disrupt there. If I were Amazon and wanted to enter the car market, I'd make a decent dash camera based on their work with Echo Show... could possibly disrupt Apple/Google.
- yellowapple 9y agoI just happen to like Alexa for everything else. Why would I not want to put it to use in my car as well? Besides, I don't own any iOS devices (well, except an iPhone 3GS sitting in a closet), so Siri's out of the question. It'd be nice if I wasn't tied to one other choice.
- nvr219 9y agoPlaying new, smaller youtubes
- make3 9y agoam I the only one who's still convinced these things are useless
- rajeshp1986 9y agoAdd me too..they are Useless. Period.
- 51Cards 9y agoAs with everything it depends on the person. I find mine quite useful thanks. I also find my smart watch to be a critical part of my day but I don't tell everyone they are a must have. Everyone has their own use cases.
- post_break 9y agoI just want a JBL speaker with bass and Google Assistant with a battery.
- twodave 9y agoTo those who lack the empathy to understand how these devices might be useful to anyone, it's incredibly useful to be able to: - hands-free set multiple timers while cooking - set timers for kids to give them structured assignments (clean your room, you have 10 minutes, etc.) - have ambient music going in the home that any of the kids can participate in as they please (we have 4) - sound machines as sleep aids - lamps on/off in the living room on schedule and by voice command I could go on but I think I get my point across. Households with kids get a lot of use out of these things.
- King-Aaron 9y agoCan these devices tie in to existing hi-fi systems (either via bluetooth, or physical outputs)? Or are you tied to the teeny-tiny internal speaker for your music? (Edit, never mind. Commented before reading the article like a pleb - the answer to my own question appears to be yes)
- twodave 9y agoWe have both the echo and echo dots. The echo needs no help making enough sound to fill our kitchen/living room. The dot in our bedroom is hooked up to some old Klipsch 2.1 PC speakers. For the kids, the internal speaker on those is pleeeenty ;)
- dharma1 9y agoIs there any open source version of an IoT "hub"? Not necessarily voice control but a FOSS alternative to HomeKit, Google Home and this?