It was tough, as usual, to keep up with the announcements coming out of Amazon’s fall Devices & Services event Wednesday morning. But in a change from the past, there… Read More
Amazon this morning showed a new feature, dubbed “Let’s Chat” driven by generative artificial intelligence, designed to make its Alexa voice assistant more conversational on its Echo devices. Demonstrated on… Read More
Microsoft developed its first Surface tablet more than a decade ago under strict secrecy to give then-CEO Steve Ballmer the option to pull the plug shortly before it launched if… Read More
Amazon and Google are putting their rival voice assistants on the same devices for the first time, allowing users to alternate between Alexa and Google Assistant depending on their preference… Read More
Dave Limp, the longtime leader of Amazon’s devices division, will step down later this year. Limp is leaving Amazon after more than 13 years, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy confirmed in… Read More
Why can’t Alexa users have sophisticated, nuanced voice interactions with Amazon’s assistant, similar to text-based conversations with OpenAI’s ChatGPT? That was one of my questions for Rohit Prasad, the senior… Read More
Amazon is muting the celebrity voices for Alexa that have been used to report the weather, tell jokes and more. The voices for actors Samuel L. Jackson and Melissa McCarthy,… Read More
Amazon unveiled a new Echo smart speaker, a $39.99 semi-sphere called Echo Pop, meant for bedrooms and other small spaces in the home, set for release May 31. The company… Read More
As new forms of generative AI spread across the tech world, it’s becoming tough for Alexa users to accept rudimentary responses from Amazon’s voice assistant, compared with sophisticated text-based conversations… Read More
Update, Dec. 12: Customers looking to thank their Amazon delivery drivers with a $5 tip have run out of time, as a promotion started by the company last week has… Read More
Amazon created the initial technical scaffolding for Alexa quickly, jumping out to an early lead in the market for smart speakers and voice assistants in the home. But nearly a… Read More
Amazon became the latest tech giant to make layoffs in its corporate workforce this week in the face of the economic downturn, but the manner in which the plan unfolded… Read More
Unlike Google and Apple, Amazon doesn’t have a smartphone platform of its own for native integration of its voice assistant, after the short-lived Amazon Fire Phone. However, the company has… Read More
As Amazon has started the process of laying off employees from its corporate and tech workforce this week, one senior executive appears to be among the first to address the… Read More
Amazon unveiled a new bedside sleep-tracking device, Halo Rise, expanding its lineup of consumer health devices beyond wristbands for the first time. Announced this morning at the company’s fall Echo… Read More
When you leave home and arm your security system, shouldn’t your robot vacuum know, without being told, that it’s time to get to work? Amazon thinks so. That’s one of… Read More
LAS VEGAS — A short video of a child asking Alexa to have his grandma read the Wizard of Oz is generating more than its share of buzz after Amazon… Read More
Amazon’s Alexa is the target of a new lawsuit alleging that the company is using information gathered from users of its smart speaker devices to serve them targeted advertising without… Read More
Don’t forget about the less common languages when building digital devices and software. That was the message to local tech giants Microsoft and Amazon from the president of Iceland on… Read More
It might seem like Amazon’s Alexa is reading your mind when she automatically orders more toilet paper or turns on the lights at a specific time. But a new Super… Read More
So much of what happens in the startup world comes from serendipitous moments, random interactions that lead to fresh insights and new collaborations. And so much of that has traditionally… Read More
Alexa, open the pod bay doors. Amazon’s voice assistant hasn’t quite reached the level of HAL, the iconic AI from 2001: A Space Odyssey. However, we learned this week that… Read More
Alexa, when are we arriving at the moon? Putting Amazon’s AI-enabled voice assistant on a moon-bound spaceship may sound like science fiction (hello, HAL!). But it’s due to become science… Read More
Kids taught to say “Bungo” to get a smart assistant to speed up know they are talking to a robot and don’t use the same tone with humans, according to… Read More
When Amazon’s first Alexa-enabled smart speaker debuted in 2014, it was something of a novelty: A voice-activated natural language processing interface that could perform a number of simple tasks. Fast… Read More
Amazon will offer independent software developers a slice of the most important real estate on Alexa devices, giving users the option to see and interact with content from third-party Alexa… Read More
Amazon plans to use radar to help people monitor their sleep and control their devices using gestures, a Federal Communications Commission filing reveals. The FCC on Friday granted the Seattle… Read More
“I wonder what unit profitability was in 2017 without advertising?” That seemingly mundane question, posed by Jeff Bezos during a meeting of Amazon’s senior leadership team, won’t get as much… Read More
Amazon Halo users will be able to ask Echo speakers and other Alexa-enabled devices for updates on their activity scores, sleep quality, body composition and other health information under a… Read More
Amazon is bringing new voice control capabilities to Microsoft’s gaming consoles with the surprise release of a new “Alexa for Xbox” app. The announcement goes far beyond the Alexa skill… Read More
