Amazon Releases Alexa SDK Preview For Developers And Opens Up Echo's Voice Service To More Hardware, Starts $100 Million Fund To Invest In Folks Who Think This Is Cool

June 25, 2015, 1:54 pm

≫ Next: [Rumor] Amazon's Voice Assistant Alexa Might Soon Be Working A Double Shift On Fire TV

Amazon probably isn't the first company that comes to mind when you think of innovative gadgets. Not anymore, anyway. Hearing a company is producing a ho-hum smartphone based on Android isn't nearly as exciting as hearing about the Kindle for the first time. But with the Echo, the online retailer does have a cool piece of tech on its hands.

The Echo, which recently became available for general purchase in the US, is essentially what you get when you stick Google Now or Siri into a plastic tube.

Amazon Releases Alexa SDK Preview For Developers And Opens Up Echo's Voice Service To More Hardware, Starts $100 Million Fund To Invest In Folks Who Think This Is Cool was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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[Rumor] Amazon's Voice Assistant Alexa Might Soon Be Working A Double Shift On Fire TV

September 16, 2015, 6:45 am

≫ Next: Amazon Echo Can Now Tell You About Movies And Showtimes

≪ Previous: Amazon Releases Alexa SDK Preview For Developers And Opens Up Echo's Voice Service To More Hardware, Starts $100 Million Fund To Invest In Folks Who Think This Is Cool

Alexa, what are you doing tonight? Oh, you'll be in my living room, listening for my every word? I think I like where this is going... You're a very dedicated assistant Alexa. I want to give you a raise and ask you to be a more permanent resident in my life. How would you like to work inside my Fire TV as well as my Echo? No, I didn't say light my fire baby, though I like the way you think.

[Rumor] Amazon's Voice Assistant Alexa Might Soon Be Working A Double Shift On Fire TV was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Amazon Echo Can Now Tell You About Movies And Showtimes

January 22, 2016, 2:06 pm

≫ Next: Music With Audio Feedback: You Can Now Listen To Spotify On Amazon Echo

≪ Previous: [Rumor] Amazon's Voice Assistant Alexa Might Soon Be Working A Double Shift On Fire TV

Amazon's little plastic cylinder packed with electronics has one purpose in life—to answer whatever inane questions you send its way throughout the day. Okay, if you happen to order products from Amazon in the process, that would be nice too, but the other stuff is more interesting.

Take, for instance, the new ability to ask Alexa (that's what you call the lady that lives inside the cylinder with all the electronics) about movies and showtimes.

Amazon Echo Can Now Tell You About Movies And Showtimes was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Music With Audio Feedback: You Can Now Listen To Spotify On Amazon Echo

February 4, 2016, 8:05 am

≫ Next: Amazon Announces Two New Alexa-Powered Devices, The Echo Dot And Amazon Tap

≪ Previous: Amazon Echo Can Now Tell You About Movies And Showtimes

Amazon Echo (her friends call here Alexa) has been steadily improving since it launched a little over a year ago. Starting today, this little electronic monolith has a new trick up its sleeve: it can now play music directly from Spotify.

Playing music on Echo isn't exactly new: owners can already stream from services like Amazon Music, Prime Music, iHeartRadio, Pandora, and TuneIn. On top of that, Echo has always been able to play audio from any Bluetooth-enabled device.

Music With Audio Feedback: You Can Now Listen To Spotify On Amazon Echo was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Amazon Announces Two New Alexa-Powered Devices, The Echo Dot And Amazon Tap

March 3, 2016, 9:28 am

≫ Next: Amazon Echo Developers Can Pause Media And Adjust Volume Using Voice Commands After Latest Update

≪ Previous: Music With Audio Feedback: You Can Now Listen To Spotify On Amazon Echo

Amazon launched the Echo a while back as the first device with its Alexa voice control system. Now there are two more, each with a different take on the Echo's functionality at a lower price. The Echo Dot is a small connected speaker/mic that can add smarts to your existing speakers, and the Amazon Tap is a portable Bluetooth Speaker with Alexa voice commands.

Amazon Tap

The Amazon Tap is currently available for pre-order at $129.99 and should be out on March 31st.

Amazon Announces Two New Alexa-Powered Devices, The Echo Dot And Amazon Tap was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Amazon Echo Developers Can Pause Media And Adjust Volume Using Voice Commands After Latest Update

March 22, 2016, 11:07 am

≫ Next: Amazon's Tap And Echo Dot Are Now Shipping Out To Customers

≪ Previous: Amazon Announces Two New Alexa-Powered Devices, The Echo Dot And Amazon Tap

Amazon's little black cylinder likes for you to call it Alexa, and when you do, it's willing to do whatever you say. Well, whatever it can understand, anyway. And one thing it understands is how to adjust volume and pause media after you say its name. This includes the ability to mute and unmute. Pausing, naturally, would be useless without the option to play.

Now Amazon is extending this functionality out to third-party developers via the latest Alexa Voice Service update.

Amazon Echo Developers Can Pause Media And Adjust Volume Using Voice Commands After Latest Update was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Amazon's Tap And Echo Dot Are Now Shipping Out To Customers

March 31, 2016, 11:58 am

≫ Next: [So Cool] This Guy MacGyvered His House's Window Blinds To Respond To Alexa Voice Commands

≪ Previous: Amazon Echo Developers Can Pause Media And Adjust Volume Using Voice Commands After Latest Update

Amazon's second generation of Alexa-enabled gadgets is ready to go. The Amazon Tap, a smaller, battery-powered version of the Amazon Echo, as well as the Echo Dot, which can use external speakers for its primary function, should both be heading out to those who purchased them after their recent announcement. The latter is only available to Amazon Prime members who order using Amazon's voice service, with a Kindle Fire tablet or Fire TV.

Amazon's Tap And Echo Dot Are Now Shipping Out To Customers was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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[So Cool] This Guy MacGyvered His House's Window Blinds To Respond To Alexa Voice Commands

April 18, 2016, 2:37 am

≫ Next: CoWatch Is The First Smartwatch That Uses Amazon's Alexa Voice Control System, Pre-Orders Are Now Up On Indiegogo

≪ Previous: Amazon's Tap And Echo Dot Are Now Shipping Out To Customers

Ever since Amazon announced the Echo, the platform and Alexa's voice commands have been expanding and adding more partners and features. They haven't, however, gained the magical ability to control your house's manual window blinds. It has though become possible to connect Alexa to an Arduino board, which increases the potential uses for the platform.

An enterprising guy has used that to his advantage, MacGyvering his way into smart window blinds with an Arduino (he uses a SmartThings shield for his Arduino to connect it to the rest of his smart home system), a servo, and some lasercut gears.

[So Cool] This Guy MacGyvered His House's Window Blinds To Respond To Alexa Voice Commands was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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CoWatch Is The First Smartwatch That Uses Amazon's Alexa Voice Control System, Pre-Orders Are Now Up On Indiegogo

April 18, 2016, 10:08 am

≫ Next: Amazon Alexa Voice Control System Updated With Google Calendar Compatibility

≪ Previous: [So Cool] This Guy MacGyvered His House's Window Blinds To Respond To Alexa Voice Commands

At this point asking people to support your crowd-funded concept device is kind of like asking them to support your "sure-fire multi-level marketing system." Sure, it could be legitimate, but it's better to just treat that money as if it's gone forever. That said, smartwatches might be the one exception. Pebble, arguably the legitimate dark horse in that small market and one of the first to successfully market itself, got started on Kickstarter.

CoWatch Is The First Smartwatch That Uses Amazon's Alexa Voice Control System, Pre-Orders Are Now Up On Indiegogo was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Amazon Alexa Voice Control System Updated With Google Calendar Compatibility

April 24, 2016, 2:01 pm

≫ Next: Invoxia Launches Triby: First Non-Amazon Device With Alexa

≪ Previous: CoWatch Is The First Smartwatch That Uses Amazon's Alexa Voice Control System, Pre-Orders Are Now Up On Indiegogo

Even as it expands its hardware lineup with a couple of new, lower-cost options, Amazon continues to build in new abilities to Alexa. That's the voice control system that debuted on the Echo, and has since progressed to the Echo Dot (and maybe even a wearable or two in the near future). Alexa has been upgraded to work with an impressive variety of third-party services over the last year or so, and the latest is Google Calendar.

Amazon Alexa Voice Control System Updated With Google Calendar Compatibility was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Invoxia Launches Triby: First Non-Amazon Device With Alexa

April 29, 2016, 3:04 am

≫ Next: Amazon Adds New Alexa Voice Features To Fire TV

≪ Previous: Amazon Alexa Voice Control System Updated With Google Calendar Compatibility

Late last year, Amazon started to allow hobbyists and developers to integrate the Alexa virtual personal assistant into their own products through the developer preview of Amazon Voice Service. This effort has already borne fruit with Invoxia's Triby.

Looking a bit like an FM radio from yesteryear, the Triby immediately loses points in the looks department, especially when compared to the sleek, futuristic aesthetic of the Amazon Echo. It packs a magnetized back, allowing you to attach it directly to any metal surface, such as a refrigerator or knife rack, as well an E-Ink display for showing messages and notifications.

Invoxia Launches Triby: First Non-Amazon Device With Alexa was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Amazon Adds New Alexa Voice Features To Fire TV

May 17, 2016, 11:02 am

≫ Next: NYT: Google To Announce Alexa Competitor Called 'Google Home' At I/O

≪ Previous: Invoxia Launches Triby: First Non-Amazon Device With Alexa

Voice control is all the rage these days, and Amazon is pushing its Alexa voice engine hard. The Fire TV already had Alexa built-in, but today it's getting some new features. You can control video playback, launch apps, and more.

Here's a full list of what's new on Fire TV.

Launch apps using Alexa—Say “Open HBO Now” or “Launch Hulu” into the Fire TV Voice Remote to instantly open the app
Play Amazon Video and Add-On Subscription content from Starz, Showtime, and more using Alexa—Say “Play Interstellar,” or “Watch Veep” and get even easier access to your favorite TV shows and movies
Find local movie show times via Alexa—Ask “What movies are playing nearby?” or “Where is The Jungle Book playing?” to find out what movies are playing in theatres near you or specific movie times
YouTube 4K Ultra HD—Access YouTube’s full 4K library via the YouTube.com app on Amazon Fire TV when connected to a UHD-compatible TV
Search for local businesses and restaurants using Alexa—Ask “What Mexican restaurants are nearby?” to find restaurants around you or ask “What time does the nearest bank close?” to get convenient information on businesses nearby
Access Kindle e-books via Alexa—Say “Read The Nightingale” to listen to text-to-speech enabled books from your Kindle library through Amazon Fire TV

Note, Amazon also threw in 4K YouTube support without any other mention.

Amazon Adds New Alexa Voice Features To Fire TV was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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NYT: Google To Announce Alexa Competitor Called 'Google Home' At I/O

May 17, 2016, 6:32 pm

≫ Next: Amazon's Echosim Simulates Echo Devices In The Browser, Allows Everyone To Put Alexa To The Test

≪ Previous: Amazon Adds New Alexa Voice Features To Fire TV

Google I/O is just hours away, and we're expecting all sorts of wonderful things to be announced. For example, the rumored competitor to Amazon's Alexa known internally Project Chirp. The New York Times is now reporting that Chirp will be called Google Home when it is unveiled.

There isn't much information about how Google Home will work. The product will leverage Google's impressive natural language processing capabilities to answer questions and perform simple tasks.

NYT: Google To Announce Alexa Competitor Called 'Google Home' At I/O was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Amazon's Echosim Simulates Echo Devices In The Browser, Allows Everyone To Put Alexa To The Test

May 28, 2016, 12:15 pm

≫ Next: Amazon's Alexa Has Over 1,000 Skills, But Discoverability And Quality Remain Issues

≪ Previous: NYT: Google To Announce Alexa Competitor Called 'Google Home' At I/O

Community projects are fantastic - just look at how strong Android's aftermarket community is, creating custom ROMs and launching entire operating systems and companies in the process. Now Amazon's getting in on the action, rebranding developer Sam Machin's Alexa in the Browser project as Echosim and bringing Alexa to everyone in the process.

Echosim is a way to use an Amazon Echo directly in your browser. Built with JavaScript, it gives anyone the chance to question Alexa and experience the Echo platform without actually owning a device.

Amazon's Echosim Simulates Echo Devices In The Browser, Allows Everyone To Put Alexa To The Test was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Amazon's Alexa Has Over 1,000 Skills, But Discoverability And Quality Remain Issues

June 3, 2016, 4:22 pm

≫ Next: [Alexa, buy me a cheap Echo] Refurbished Amazon Echo on Woot for $135 with $5 shipping

≪ Previous: Amazon's Echosim Simulates Echo Devices In The Browser, Allows Everyone To Put Alexa To The Test

Amazon's Echo has become the de-facto standard of home voice control, at least until Google Home is released and we find out whatever Apple is planning. To emphasise Amazon's market-leading position, the company has published a press release saying Alexa has over 1,000 skills and integrations - we counted roughly 1,150 (115 pages with 10 items on each page). For such a young platform, this is mightily good news, and says wonders about the battleground that the home will be for technology companies in the future.

Amazon's Alexa Has Over 1,000 Skills, But Discoverability And Quality Remain Issues was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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[Alexa, buy me a cheap Echo] Refurbished Amazon Echo on Woot for $135 with $5 shipping

June 30, 2016, 3:39 am

≫ Next: Deal: Order with Alexa, get $50 off Amazon Tap (today) or $10 off any order $20 or more (through 7/12)

≪ Previous: Amazon's Alexa Has Over 1,000 Skills, But Discoverability And Quality Remain Issues

Hey Alexa, what's the cheapest way to get an Amazon Echo? Oh, it's $179.99 on Amazon and you don't know of any other good deals... You're wrong Alexa, but I'll forgive you because it's not on sale on Amazon but Woot — woot!

This is a refurbished Amazon Echo Bluetooth and WiFi speaker that can play music from different streaming services or your own device. But its real knock-out feature is the voice assistant known as Alexa who lives inside it (I've been told she's a tiny bobble-head who just hides inside the speaker's tower) and can answer your weird questions, execute your queries and commands, and let you control more than just a speaker.

[Alexa, buy me a cheap Echo] Refurbished Amazon Echo on Woot for $135 with $5 shipping was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Deal: Order with Alexa, get $50 off Amazon Tap (today) or $10 off any order $20 or more (through 7/12)

July 8, 2016, 4:41 pm

≫ Next: Piper security cam lets you upload recorded videos to Dropbox and Drive for free (plus more IFTTT improvements)

≪ Previous: [Alexa, buy me a cheap Echo] Refurbished Amazon Echo on Woot for $135 with $5 shipping

We have covered the Amazon Tap, Echo, and Echo Dot before, and even though there are some discoverability issues with finding the Alexa commands you want, we still think the platform has great potential – as long as it can keep up when the competition gets hot.

Among those many voice commands are – naturally – options for buying stuff online through Amazon. If you’ve been holding off on voice ordering, now might be a good time to give it a go.

Deal: Order with Alexa, get $50 off Amazon Tap (today) or $10 off any order $20 or more (through 7/12) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Piper security cam lets you upload recorded videos to Dropbox and Drive for free (plus more IFTTT improvements)

August 30, 2016, 12:25 pm

≫ Next: Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick update will expand Universal Search, add Alexa voice control for Amazon Video, more

≪ Previous: Deal: Order with Alexa, get $50 off Amazon Tap (today) or $10 off any order $20 or more (through 7/12)

Piper's home security and automation unit has been improving year over year. Since my initial review, it has overhauled its app and enhanced many of its features, but it also recently released an IFTTT channel that enabled Amazon Alexa integration and let you schedule and automate a couple of actions.

Now Piper is improving its IFTTT channel with more triggers and actions. You can now control your Piper-connected lights with Alexa, get a tweet when Piper detects smoke via a connected sensor, and set dimmer levels or lights when events are detected while you're away.

Piper security cam lets you upload recorded videos to Dropbox and Drive for free (plus more IFTTT improvements) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick update will expand Universal Search, add Alexa voice control for Amazon Video, more

September 6, 2016, 11:40 am

≫ Next: Amazon announces new Fire HD 8 tablet with Alexa integration

≪ Previous: Piper security cam lets you upload recorded videos to Dropbox and Drive for free (plus more IFTTT improvements)

Amazon's hardware ventures weren't all quite popular (remember the Fire Phone?!), but beside the Kindles and Fire tablets, and obviously the Echo, the Fire TV is easily counted one of the company's success stories. It has become one of the best streaming and gaming solutions, battling Roku, Apple TV, and Android TV for a spot on every TV's HDMI port.

That's also thanks to continuous updates and improvements from Amazon, who keeps adding features to its products.

Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick update will expand Universal Search, add Alexa voice control for Amazon Video, more was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Amazon announces new Fire HD 8 tablet with Alexa integration

September 8, 2016, 7:39 am

≫ Next: Amazon bringing Echo to the UK and Germany this fall, white model coming to the US

≪ Previous: Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick update will expand Universal Search, add Alexa voice control for Amazon Video, more

Amazon is filling in the gaps in its Fire tablet lineup, small though they are. Starting today, you can order the Fire HD 8. As the name implies, this is an 8-inch Fire tablet with an HD screen; one inch larger than the regular Fire. However, it does offer something new for Amazon's tablets—the Alexa voice assistant.

As usual, this is a budget tablet with special offers as the default. The specs aren't amazing, but they look solid.

Amazon announces new Fire HD 8 tablet with Alexa integration was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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