Amazon Echo Device Announced; Surprises from 'Out of the blue'

[dgstorm]

​

Amazon just dropped what might be a major bombshell on the tech world. It's a new home connected device called the Amazon Echo, and it could reshape how we stay connected while at home. The Amazon Echo is basically a hands-free, voice-activated media device that is designed to offer information, music, news, weather and more.

Amazon claims the device will intelligently discern the questions and commands you give it after using the wake up command "Alexa." It's also a hi-tech speaker which will supposedly "fill any room with immersive sound." It can play on command a number of different music services including Amazon Music, Prime Music, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn. It is also Bluetooth-enabled so you can stream other music services like Spotify, iTunes, and Pandora.

Despite some of this third party compatibility, Amazon Echo is obviously designed to draw people even further into Amazon's eco-system, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing for fans of Amazon. The Amazon Echo can even let you access Amazon cloud services and it will adapt to your speech patterns, vocabulary, and personal preferences. Amazon claims the device will also act as a personal information database and will be able to answer questions posed to it verbally. It will also be connected to various news services in the cloud and can update you on the latest info.

Finally, the Amazon Echo can also serve as a pseudo-personal assistant by offering up alarms, reminders, timers, shopping lists and more. Overall, if the Amazon Echo can perform even half of what Amazon claims, it could be one of the coolest devices we have seen in a great while! In fact, this could be a game-changer. You can read more about The Amazon Echo directly from Amazon here: Amazon Echo - Official site - Request an invitation

Be sure to hit up our dedicated section for even more discussions on the Amazon Echo: Amazon Echo Forum at DroidForums.net

 

[Sajo]

Very interesting!

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[johnomaz]

Neat idea and definitely a different form factor. However, in my house with an 8 year old and a 4 year old, its never quiet enough for something like that to get clear commands. Also, it sure did move a lot in their house. My phone is always with me as is my Moto360. Google Now pretty much does all of that already in a device I already own.

 

[JohnDroid]

I requested an invite, not 100% positive I'll buy one though. This would be neat to hook up to the TV and say "play X from youtube" and it does... or has a navigation interface that is voice interactive.

 

[DrumsOfGrohl]

This might be cooler in concept (it is insanely cool), but less so in practice. There should be extensions of the echo (like bluetooth wireless speakers) that you could put in different rooms. If I had to move it to my room every night to set my alarm, and then move it to the main room in the house during the day, I'd probably just resort to using my phone.

I requested an invite, not 100% positive I'll buy one though. This would be neat to hook up to the TV and say "play X from youtube" and it does... or has a navigation interface that is voice interactive.

I think TV compatibility would be a huge plus. Especially if you could say things like "Turn on ESPN."

Additionally, it doesnt seem to be able to do anything Siri or Google Now cannot. Maybe it has some nice updates in the future, though.

 

[Dusty]

The speech engine is probably really good since Amazon owns Ivona. Seems cool, would be nice to have a choice of changing the hot-word. Cortana, Brianna, Candi, Alexa... I don't want to yell a stripper name every time I want to perform a task. I'd rather an acronym or something that doesn't refer to a "thing", so it's not like I'm calling a person's name. I'd rather it were more like saying a command to enter a system.

[/cranky-pants]

 

[DrumsOfGrohl]

I wonder how customizable it will be. Like will I be able to do any programming, such as teaching Alexa to shut off by saying "Shut the F*** Up!?"

 

[Sajo]

I just watched the video...I thought this was more like the new Nexus player. So it's basically a fancy Bluetooth speaker, with some built in "OK Google Now" type commands. Cool, but not $199.99 cool in my opinion. If I am accepted for an invite I might get one for the 99.99 special, since I need a new speaker system for my garage.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

These people are rich and that thing being in every room is creepy.

Also, Google Now ftw!