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Amazon wants Alexa to be everything for you: a personal assistant, a maid, a news anchor, and now a game show host.
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Category: Amazon Alexa
Amazon is bringing Alexa to the workplace
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Alexa is coming to the workplace, maybe even yours.
Amazon announced on Thursday that its digital voice assistant will soon book appointments and take office calls as part of a new service called Alexa for Business.
The push aims to extend the online giant’s wide lead over rivals like Apple’s Siri, Google’s Assistant, and Microsoft’s Cortana as competition heats up in a market that analysts say could transform the way people interact with technology.
SEE ALSO: Canada, meet Amazon Alexa
In addition to all the same functions that Alexa performs through home Echo devices—temperature adjustments, light settings, kitchen management—Amazon is working with a variety of enterprise companies like video conferencing firm Polycom and travel and expensing system Concur to design work-specific tasks. Companies can also build their own through Amazon’s developer platform. Read more…
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View More Amazon is bringing Alexa to the workplaceAmazon’s Alexa and Echo to finally launch in Australia and New Zealand
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It’s not just Amazon itself that is yet to truly launch in Australia.
The company’s Alexa-powered Echo devices are not currently available in Australia or New Zealand, either. But they’re on their way, launching in both countries “early next year.”
On Thursday, Amazon announced the coming of its hands-free Echo device, activated by smart voice assistant Alexa, to both countries in 2018.
Developers will be able to build localised voice experiences and embed uniquely Australian and New Zealand knowledge within Alexa with the expansion of the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) — a collection of self-service APIs — and the Alexa Voice Service (AVS). Read more…
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View More Amazon’s Alexa and Echo to finally launch in Australia and New ZealandAlexa is arriving in Australia and New Zealand early next year
One more bit of news out of tonight’s Alexa State of the Union Keynote at AWS Re:Invent in Vegas. Amazon is finally bringing its voice service to Oceania. After several months of rumblings, the company announced today that Alexa will be arriving in Australia and New Zealand at some unspecified point in early 2018. In the meantime, it’s opening up its tools for developers, in order… Read More
Amazon adds in-skill purchases to Alexa
There was clearly a lot of ground to cover at tonight’s AWS re:Invent Alexa State of the Union — but lets be real, the most important bit was how the company plans to make a little money for its developers. After all, Amazon appears to be raking in the dough, with all of the Alexa devices it’s been selling ahead of the holidays, but what of the lowly developer? The most… Read More
Someone combined a Furby and Alexa to create a Frankenstein horror show
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A mad scientist decided to fuse a Furby and Amazon’s Alexa, which ended up working out impressively well.
YouTuber Howchoo uploaded a video on Sunday hosted by Zach from howchoo.com explaining how the Furby and Alexa idea came together.
“I thought I’d make Furby a little less annoying and give him an upgrade with a real brain,” wrote Zach, and he renamed the Furby Frankenstein creation, Furlexa.
Zach went into great detail about how he modified this little nightmare. He had to combine a Raspberry Pi Zero W and replace it with the original Furby CPU. By combining Amazon’s Echo’s voice software with the Furby motor every time Alexa speaks the toy moves as well. Read more…
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View More Someone combined a Furby and Alexa to create a Frankenstein horror showSave on this Alexa-enabled smart thermostat by Ecobee
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With winter weather fast approaching, it’s the perfect time to save on the Alexa-enabled smart thermostat from ecobee.
The ecobee3 can be controlle…
The best Cyber Monday deals on laptops, TVs and electronics
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Missed out on Black Friday deals? Don’t worry, Cyber Monday is here and we’ve got you covered.
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Get a WeMo mini smart plug for only $20 today
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You’ve got your Echo or your Google Home, your Smart Hue lightbulbs and smart security cameras. As hard as you try to smart-ify your entire home, s…
The absolute best Black Friday deals on laptops, TVs and electronics
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If you’ve stuffed your face with as much turkey as humanly possible and need an excuse to get away from your great-aunt Dorothy, do we have some deals for you.
SEE ALSO: Black Friday 2017 deals from all over the internet, compiled just for you in one handy spreadsheet
This extensive list of the latest and greatest Black Friday deals will keep you occupied for the next few hours — and then some. Have your credit card at the ready and prepare to get all your holiday shopping sorted in one fell swoop. This post will be updated regularly, so check back for even hotter deals. Read more…
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View More The absolute best Black Friday deals on laptops, TVs and electronicsThe Moto Z’s Alexa Smart Speaker is mostly useless
The Moto Z is a phone built around a strong gimmick, but it’s a gimmick nonetheless. A little over a year after release, the company has added some interesting Mods to its selection, but none have offered an entirely compelling justification for the phone’s modular system. That certainly applies to the new Alexa Smart Speaker. Read More
Two Pikachus have a delightful conversation thanks to smart home speakers
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What does a conversation between two Pikachus sound like?
Somebody in Japan who happens to own both an Amazon Alexa and a Google Home decided to find out by using both devices and the Pikachu Talk app, which is available for both smart home assistants. The app responds to sounds with Pikachu noises, so a full-on Pikachu dialogue ensues between the devices.
Here’s what it sounds like:
『Amazon Echo』のピカチュウと『Google Home』のピカチュウが会話した結果がこちらになります。ご査収ください。 pic.twitter.com/S8rfe1eZKU
— 宮原俊介 (@shnskm) November 19, 2017 Read more…
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View More Two Pikachus have a delightful conversation thanks to smart home speakers