Amazon Alexa
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Food Network's cooking classes begin on Echo Show and Alexa devices
At Amazon's big Alexa event last month, Discovery revealed its Food Network Kitchen service, which is now live across its iOS and Android apps and Alexa-powered devices. It includes live, interactive cooking classes featuring the network's star chefs, on-demand courses, recipes and Food Network TV shows as well as grocery ordering and delivery for all the ingredients you'll need to prepare the dishes you see on the service.
Google and Amazon approved home speaker apps that spied on users
Privacy is a hot topic in the realm of smart speakers, from employees listening in on recordings and auditors accessing user locations. Now, another issue regarding speakers has been raised, after security researchers revealed that apps accepted by the Amazon Alexa and Google Home platforms could be used to phish users and to eavesdrop on them.
Pandora now works in Spanish on Alexa and Google Assistant
Pandora can now respond to requests en español in the US via Alexa and Google Assistant. You can activate Spanish voice controls by adding the language through the Alexa or Assistant settings.
Alexa will soon switch between languages for multilingual homes
It's not uncommon for family members under one roof to speak more than one language. To accommodate this, Amazon is adding Multilingual Mode to Alexa. Next month, households in the US will be able to set their Alexa devices to English and Spanish mode. Canadians will get a Canadian English and French mode while families in India will get an Indian English and Hindi mode. Amazon will continue to add languages and locations in the coming months and thanks to its neural text-to-speech technology, programming new modes is now a quick process.
Amazon's version of AirPods will reportedly offer fitness tracking
Amazon's yet-to-be announced Alexa-powered wireless earbuds could also double as a fitness tracker. CNBC reported today that the earbuds, deemed "Puget", will come with a built-in accelerometer that can track your run, the calories you've burned and your pace. We heard rumblings that Amazon is working on a competitor to Apple's Airpods earlier this year, but this is the first indication that it will also work as a health device.
You'll be able to contribute to 2020 presidential campaigns via Alexa
With debates underway and just a few months until the first primaries, 2020 presidential election campaigns are in full swing, and you'll soon have another way to donate to your favorite candidate. Campaigns can sign up to receive contributions via Alexa and, from next month, you'll be able to donate between $5 and $200 to participating candidates through Amazon's voice assistant.
Toyota makes CarPlay and Alexa standard in the 2020 Prius
Toyota has revealed Apple CarPlay will come as standard in all of its 2020 Prius models, along with Alexa and its Safety Connect system. Back in May, Toyota said the plug-in Prius Prime would include CarPlay and Alexa in the 2020 model, but it's expanding availability across the board. Drivers who've been hoping for better connectivity in the Prius will surely welcome CarPlay and Alexa, though it seems Android Auto isn't on the cards just yet.
Alexa lets you donate backpacks full of supplies to kids in need
The new school year is almost upon us and as always, there are families who could use some help with school supplies. With its latest charity initiative, Amazon will let you donate a backpack to a student in need with a simple Alexa command.
Amazon considered letting Alexa listen to you without a wake word
A patent made public today and filed by Amazon would allow the company's voice assistant Alexa to start recording audio before users say a "wake word." According to the patent, it would allow users to more naturally communicate with their devices, saying phrases like "Play some music, Alexa" rather than starting each command with "Alexa" or another chosen wake word. Currently, the voice assistant is unable to listen to or understand commands until the user utters the wake word.
Tell Alexa to set a routine for sunrise instead of a specific time
Amazon is rolling out a number of new options for Alexa routines. Starting today, you can set up a routine to trigger actions when your alarm stops. You might prompt Alexa to read your flash briefing a few minutes after your alarm goes off, or perhaps to turn on the coffee machine once you've finally stopped hitting the snooze button.
Hey Alexa: How can we escape surveillance capitalism?
Where do you go when you want to escape surveillance? When you want to stop feeling like you might be being listened to by microphones, or watched through surveillance cameras, or tracked by invisible tech gremlins burrowed within devices. Certainly nowhere in public. Perhaps it's your car. Maybe it's your home. Or even your bedroom? For some readers, that perimeter of personal freedom likely shrunk in February when news broke that Google "forgot" to tell consumers its Nest Secure came with a built-in microphone.
Amazon Alexa auditors could reportedly access user locations
It emerged earlier this month that thousands of Amazon employees are reviewing some Alexa recordings (which are captured after you've said the wake word). The auditors transcribe, annotate and analyze a selection of commands to help improve Alexa. But it seems these workers could view users' personal information too, according to Bloomberg. At least some employees are said to have had access to location data, addresses and phone numbers.
Amazon is offering Echo voice tech to other manufacturers
Now that Amazon's voice-controlled Echo speaker is available to everyone, the company is hinting at third-party devices that will make use of the same voice tech that powers the Echo's built-in assistant, "Alexa." Additionally, Amazon is giving developers access to the Alexa Skills Kit, a free SDK that will make it easy for them to create new features for the Echo platform. Lastly, the company launched the Alexa Fund, a $100 million endowment designed to support developers, manufacturers and startups who are interested in making voice-powered products for its ecosystem. To be a part of it, Amazon says it's going to base those decisions on the technology's ability to influence the Alexa Skills Kit or the Alexa Voice Service. What this tells us, though, is that Amazon is getting serious about what appeared to be a simple side-project from the beginning.
