[quote=[URL="http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/06/amazon-echo/"]TechCrunch[/URL]]Amazon has a new product that doesn’t really have any current equivalent form any other tech company – a connected speaker called Echo that’s always-on, listening for commands that its virtual assistant can then respond to with information or by triggering a task.
The cylindrical device has room-filling sound, and seven microphones on top, which use beam-forming tech to pinpoint your voice and ensure it can hear you no matter where you’re speaking to it in a room. It can filter out background noise, including playing music, in order to better understand requests, and it processes voice input via Amazon’s cloud-based web servers, meaning that it can get better at identifying requests and responding to commands over time.
It has a 360-degree-firing speaker, and it works with both Bluetooth from your device, as well as built-in support for playback of music from Amazon Music Library, Prime Music, TuneIn and iHeartRadio. You can also get news and weather information from local radio, NPR, and ESPN via TuneIn, as well as other sources. It’ll answer queries and provide basic info from Wikipedia, give you word definitions, and even convert units on the fly.[/quote]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkOCeAtKHIc[/media]
[URL]http://www.amazon.com/oc/echo/[/URL]
Useful? Dangerous? Either way it's pretty neat.
[editline]6th November 2014[/editline]
Editing is messed up for me so here's the article link:
[URL="http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/06/amazon-echo/"]TechCrunch[/URL]
this is pretty neat. the jist i get from it is amazon's version of siri.
Goddamn that video is cringey.
That video makes it out to be a glorified Google Now clone, but in physical form. Doesn't really help that even though the product is called Echo, the word to wake it is Alexa (why not just call it Amazon Alexa or have the wake word be "Echo,"?).
[img]http://puu.sh/cGfNu/971c9bca51.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE=wickedplayer494;46427872]That video makes it out to be a glorified Google Now clone, but in physical form. Doesn't really help that even though the product is called Echo, the word to wake it is Alexa (why not just call it Amazon Alexa or have the wake word be "Echo,"?).[/QUOTE]
You can name it anything, so you could say anything.
this video suggests the speaker is marketed purely towards annoying dads
$200 for that tube... Maybe $50~100 not fucking $100 for something my phone and tablet could do, everywhere.
This is neat but not $200 neat
Would be better if they incorporated it into something that can be hidden.
Like, put that tech into the bottom of a light that you can put on a desk or something. And charge 100 less bucks for it.
Oh look, all the things my phone can do.
The idea of having an omnipresent device that can instantly google all your questions is cool, but in reality unless you're 100% vigilant about taking it with you, there are going to be a lot of times where you're like 'ah shit it's in the other room'
Like the part where he's in bed and he asks for the news - who is going to take it to the bedroom every night? I know I'd only bother for the first few nights, then I'd be like fuck it
And it's not really cheap enough to buy several of them for different rooms, though if you're garry-rich that would be a fine solution
[QUOTE=smurfy;46428029]The idea of having an omnipresent device that can instantly google all your questions is cool, but in reality unless you're 100% vigilant about taking it with you, there are going to be a lot of times where you're like 'ah shit it's in the other room'
Like the part where he's in bed and he asks for the news - who is going to take it to the bedroom every night? I know I'd only bother for the first few nights, then I'd be like fuck it
And it's not really cheap enough to buy several of them for different rooms, though if you're garry-rich that would be a fine solution[/QUOTE]
If you were garry-rich, you'd wire your house with microphones and processors to complete the same function as Echo, and an entire wall of your house would be an interactive imax screen.
It says it includes 'a remote with a built-in mic' which could be a way to get around this problem but I don't think it includes a speaker? So you'd still have to be in the same room to hear the reply, unless it can be set to fucking yell back at you (which would be amazing)
That dad is an asshole
It's only $100 for prime members (Limited time apparently), which is pretty decent.
It's not marketed at us, of course we could whip out our android devices and open up google now and be on our merry way, but it really is being presented towards families like in the video. Your 9 year old daughter might not have a smart phone, and who wants to hold onto their phone in the morning to get the news while taking a piss? I think it's a pretty neat idea. I would personally wait for a revision, but it's something to keep an eye on for sure.
What is it with shit like knowledge graph etc. and the height of Mt Everest?
[QUOTE=person11;46427930]this video suggests the speaker is marketed purely towards annoying dads[/QUOTE]
annoying dads who can't spell cantaloupe
Sidenote, I realised today how fucking good Knowledge Graph is getting now that it's moved beyond simple numbers and data. I googled 'election deposit' earlier and the exact information I wanted was right there
[img]http://imgkk.com/i/8yi9.png[/img]
Looks like something Amazon put out just because their product team needed something to do.
Why not just make a Fire Phone 2 with actually decent specs a la the Kindle Fire HDX or make more useful, cheap AmazonBasics products (hubs, adapters, cables, etc) instead of a whole host of gimmicky (innovative) products that won't sell well?
This is truly the peak of butt technology.
If I can get one for $99...I might consider it.
Pretty neat but something like this will probably only work properly in the US. Like always. Or well it might function in Europe but much more limited for at least a couple of years.
Don't get me wrong, it's rad and everything, but it's nothing I can't already get by shouting at my phone.
Creepy.
So if I start having loud sex does it play romance songs or just say, "Oh my. You are very naughty."
Or, "Sorry, I didn't hear you the first time, you'll have to fuck her harder."
I'd only buy it if it came with Microsoft Sam optional voice.
I was hoping that at the end, the dad would force the mom to play music with a little flute while he picks up and dances with the amazon echo device.
Why does this feel like satire? It feels like April 1st.
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