Amazon
Amazon's annual hardware event has come and gone, and with that we've seen a slew of new Alexa features for your Echo speakers, displays, and other voice-activated devices. Alexa continues to expand its reach, connecting to over 140,000 smart home devices and having more than 100 million Alexa-compatible devices installed across its entire user base. But the voice assistant's power is not just his rapidly growing scale and ever greater range.
When I spoke to Daniel Rausch, Vice President for Smart Home and Alexa Mobile at Amazon, before the hardware event, he said that Alexa is also becoming more independent. Alexa will soon be able to respond to this Premonitions without asking, listening to and reacting to noises other than a wake-up word and more actively protecting your home with one Upgrade to Alexa Guard.
All this will lead to what Rausch called "the ambient home," in which Alexa is "ready to respond [to voice commands], but is more forward-looking and proactive. "
Here are the biggest upgrades for Alexa.
Alexa Guard Plus
Amazon was introduced and expanded Alexa Guard in recent years so that you can monitor your home while you are away. While it is activated, Guard waits for broken glass, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, steps and other signs of a break-in and sends you a mobile alarm.
The company now offers something like Alexa Guard Plus, a subscription service that costs $ 4.99 per month and adds some features on top of the standard offerings. First, Guard Plus will add a more robust activity sound detector that waits for doors to open or close and other sounds associated with unwanted visitors. Second, Guard Plus will provide deterrent functions that, for example, will prompt Alexa to play a recording of barking dogs if a security camera catches someone sneaking around the back of the house while you are away. Finally, the Guard Plus will add a new hands-free emergency number operated by a third-party company to connect users to emergency services such as the police, fire department or emergency contacts.
Amazon also announced the support of Alexa Guard Plus from a variety of hardware partners, including stay, Wyze, Amazon's own ring, A3 Smart Home, Explore and Resideo. For more information on Guard Plus, see our follow-up story.
Amazon
Improved premonitions
For over a year, Amazon has been increasing the use of hunches - in those cases where Alexa suggests an action, e.g. B. locking your front door while you turn off the lights for the night. Indeed from the smart home According to Rausch, actions performed via Alexa are initiated by Alexa itself and not via a user's voice command.
With the new upgrades from Amazon to Hunches, Alexa can perform certain actions without asking for them. That said, when you're out and about, Alexa may automatically turn off your basement lights. That could lead to some problems as you might expect. But Rausch seemed confident when we spoke that the Alexa app will help users stay in control of what Alexa can decide for themselves and will come full circle by asking users if the automatic ones Actions are the right ones. In addition, certain devices - such as B. Smart Door Locks - not included in the Hunches upgrade to avoid problems like locking your house out during a midnight snack run.
Sound detector routines
In addition to responding to Amazon's traditional wake words for Alexa, such as "Hey, Alexa," or "Hey, computer," or even "Hey, Samuel," for you Samuel L. Jackson fans, soon you'll be able to trigger routines with different sounds, such as a dog barking, a baby crying or someone snoring. Rausch said these sounds will work similarly to the wake word, allowing you to trigger various smart home actions, for instance turning on your bedside lamp when your newborn cries or turning off the TV when you begin to snore.
According to Rausch, some of these sounds, such as a baby crying, won't be sent to the cloud, to maintain privacy. But this new feature will certainly raise questions about privacy, especially around how broadly Alexa interprets various sounds as a specific kind of trigger.
Chris Monroe/CNET
Alexa Care Hub
As we continue to adjust to life during a pandemic, one major concern is elder care in isolation. Rausch seemed particularly excited about this feature, as he's been testing it with his aging mother in recent days. Essentially, the Care Hub allows two Amazon Alexa accounts to link, and gives one account broad access to activity on the other.
Rausch said that the person in need of care would first have to extend an invite to another Alexa user, such as a family member or caretaker. The Care Hub, without providing the specifics of each individual Alexa interaction, could send a notification indicating general activity - essentially to reassure the family member or caretaker that the individual being monitored is up and going about his or her day.
Such a system, said Rausch, can help the elderly "age in place [and] Would preserve "in these particularly difficult times.
Natural conversation
Alexa will soon add a conversation mode that allows users to talk back and forth with Alexa - even with multiple human participants in the conversation. To activate the function, all you have to do is say: "Alexa, join our conversation."
More extensive erasure
Alexa can now delete all voice recordings in your account with a single command: "Delete everything I said." For more information on Amazon's new privacy features for voice assistants, see our piece about the announcements.
Other feature updates
In addition to these important updates, Alexa will also receive some minor quality of life upgrades. Here is the running list:
- Group calls: Alexa will soon enable video or voice-controlled group calls with up to eight participants.
- Zoom and Amazon Chime on Echo Show devices: Alexa can connect you to a third-party video chat service Zoom or Amazon's own Chime service.
- Netflix on Echo Show Devices: Years of Trouble for Echo Show Users is Ending. Netflix is finally coming to Echo Show devices.
- Share music: When you tell Alexa to "share a song with mom", mom can hear her echo. (Also applies to non-mothers.)
- Reading Sidekick: Alexa will exchange lines and encouragement with those learning to read as she follows a book together.
- Alexa voice profiles for children: When children speak to Alexa, the voice assistant automatically adapts its answers to the child's age and needs.
- Interactive Lessons: This setting allows users to teach Alexa directly. The voice assistant asks questions and you can help fill knowledge gaps.
For more: Read about everything else that Amazon announced at its device and service event.