Firefox maker Mozilla is working on an entirely new type of internet browser: One that’s controlled with your voice.
Because why not? We’re all getting used to talking to Alexa, Siri, and the Google Assistant and asking these digital assistants…
Category: voice
Scout.fm turns podcasts into personalized talk radio
Scout.fm wants to change the way people listen to podcasts. Instead of scouring through the over 500,000 available shows available in your current podcast app, this startup’s new curated podcast service will just ask you a few questions to find out what you like, then create a podcast station customized to you. The experience is […]
View More Scout.fm turns podcasts into personalized talk radioAmazon Music’s app adds hands-free listening, courtesy of Alexa
In September, Amazon announced it was adding support for Alexa voice control to its Amazon Music app for iOS and Android. However, it was implemented as a tap-to-talk function – something that didn’t quite mesh with the hands-free voice control experience Alexa is known for. Today, Amazon is addressing that problem by rolling out hands-free […]
View More Amazon Music’s app adds hands-free listening, courtesy of AlexaYobe launches with $1.8 M seed to pinpoint a voice in noise
There are times where voice-driven systems don’t work all that well because of background noise or other voices. That’s because it’s hard for machines (and humans) to pull out a particular voice when there are many others speaking. This is sometimes called ‘the cocktail party problem.’ Yobe was created out of research at MIT on […]
View More Yobe launches with $1.8 M seed to pinpoint a voice in noiseAmazon opens up in-skill purchases to all Alexa developers
Amazon today launched in-skill purchasing to all Alexa developers. That means developers have a way to generate revenue from their voice applications on Alexa-powered devices, like Amazon’s Echo speakers. For example, developers could charge for additional packs to go along with their voice-based games, or offer other premium content to expand their free voice app […]
View More Amazon opens up in-skill purchases to all Alexa developersAlexa will soon gain a memory, converse more naturally, and automatically launch skills
Alexa will soon be able to recall information you’ve directed her to remember, as well as have more natural conversations that don’t require every command to begin with “Alexa.” She’ll also be able to launch skills in response to questions you ask, without explicit instructions to do so. The features are the first of what […]
View More Alexa will soon gain a memory, converse more naturally, and automatically launch skillsAmazon’s new ‘Alexa Blueprints’ let anyone create custom Alexa skills and responses
Amazon this morning is introducing “Alexa Blueprints,” a new way for any Alexa owner to create their own customized Alexa skills or responses, without needing to know how to code. The idea is to allow Alexa owners to create their own voice apps, like a trivia game or bedtime stories, or teach Alexa to respond […]
View More Amazon’s new ‘Alexa Blueprints’ let anyone create custom Alexa skills and responsesAmazon is bringing hands-free Alexa to Fire 7 and Fire HD 8 tablets
Amazon is bringing “hands-free” access to Alexa – a feature currently found on its flagship Fire HD 10 tablet – to the rest of its Fire tablet line, the company announced this morning. Starting this week, owners of either the Fire 7 and the Fire HD 8 (2017) will be able to launch Alexa using […]
View More Amazon is bringing hands-free Alexa to Fire 7 and Fire HD 8 tabletsVoicery makes synthesized voices sound more like humans
Advancements in A.I. technology has paved the way for breakthroughs in speech recognition, natural language processing, and machine translation. A new startup called Voicery now wants to leverage those same advancements to improve speech synthesis, too. The result is a fast, flexible speech engine that sounds more human – and less like a robot. Its […]
View More Voicery makes synthesized voices sound more like humansMeet the man whose voice became Stephen Hawking’s
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Stephen Hawking’s computer-generated voice is so iconic that it’s trademarked — The filmmakers behind The Theory of Everything had to get Hawking’s personal permission to use the voice in his biopic.
But that voice has an interesting origin story of its own.
Back in the ’80s, when Hawking was first exploring text-to-speech communication options after he lost the power of speech, a pioneer in computer-generated speech algorithms was working at MIT on that very thing. His name was Dennis Klatt.
As Wired uncovered, Klatt’s work was incorporated into one of the first devices that translated speech into text: the DECtalk. The company that made the speech synthesizer for Hawking’s very first computer used the voice Klatt had recorded for computer synthesis. The voice was called ‘Perfect Paul,’ and it was based on recordings of Klatt himself. Read more…
More about Stephen Hawking, Als, Voice, Tech, and Identities
Alexa has literally lost her voice as users report outages and unresponsiveness
Amazon’s Alexa smart assistant seems to be down this morning. We’ve been hearing reports over the last hour of either delayed responses or just total loss of connection.
While Amazon doesn’t have a status page for its consumer products, Down Detector is reporting a huge spike in Alexa-related complaints over the last hour.
For example, Alexa is giving me replies like… Read More
Otter’s new app lets you record, transcribe, search and share your voice conversations
An app called Otter, launching today, wants to make it as easy to search your voice conversations as it is to search your email and texts. The idea to create a new voice assistant focused on transcribing everyday conversations – like meetings and interviews – comes from Sam Liang, the former Google architect who put the blue dot on Google Maps, then later sold his next company… Read More