AMAZON'S AWESOME GENIE ALEXA
NEWS:
- Alexa is Amazon’s Voice control system. Using nothing but the sound of your voice, you can search the web, shopping lists, shop online, get instant weather reports, control smart-home products all while your phone stays in your pocket and it’s capable of much more
- Now that there are four ways to interact with Alexa with the Tap, Echo and Dot devices, and with the Amazon Fire TV. You might find yourself talking to her more often.
- Thanks to the Echo’s far-field microphones, Alexa can respond to voice commands from almost anywhere within earshot. And there’s no activation button to press. Simply say the trigger word (either “Alexa,” “Echo,” “Amazon,” or “Computer.”) followed by what you want to happen, and it will be done—as long as you’ve set up everything properly and are using the correct command.
- Some Example Commands:
- Ask for help: "Alexa, help."
- Play music: "Alexa, play some music."
- Create a shopping list: "Alexa, add eggs to my shopping list" or, "Alexa, I need to buy laundry detergent."
- Basic math: "Alexa, what's 5 plus 7?" or, "Alexa, what's 56 times 33?"
- Ask a general question: "Alexa, how many people live in America?" And many varieties of commands you can use for controlling your smart home.
VIEWS:
- "I truly believe that for AI to be useful in our daily lives, it has to be something you can connect with,” says Rohit Prasad, Amazon's head scientist for Alexa, who is playing a key role in the retailer's efforts in artificial intelligence for Alexa.
- He also says, the big goal for Alexa is a nice, long chat- an actual 20 min conversation.
- Alexa competes with other personal digital assistants like Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana and the Google Assistant and has emerged as one of the leaders in voice computing.
- “I ask my Echo for the news headlines every morning as I'm getting dressed. It saves me times popping onto the internet for the headlines and wasting precious time,” shared by a customer.
- Software developer James Rhodes—whose wife, DeLacy Rhodes, is a microbiologist—has created a skill for Alexa called Helix that lends a helping hand around the laboratory.
THE MUSE:
- Among the more than 35,000 reviews on Amazon, the general consensus is that unlike Apple’s Siri, whose error rate can be frustrating, the Echo responds as soon as it hears the word Alexa and it rarely mishears commands.
- “I think of Alexa as a nice library lady who lives in the black cylinder,” said April Hamilton, an engineer who runs the blog Love My Echo.
- Alexa, stop it! Amazon's personal assistant is causing havoc for people with a similar name.
- “I always liked my name, until Amazon gave it to a robot,” Alexa Sussman, told the newspaper.
- On Twitter, Oli Davis, from London, said he was watching wrestling, including a match featuring an athlete named Alexa Bliss, prompting his device to get 'very confused'.
- Human Alexas are finding gadgets bleeping into action or music stopping whenever their names are called in the house, the Wall Street Journal reported.
