Amazon Puts 'Hands-Free' Alexa Voice Assistant on Its New Tablet

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-19/amazon-puts-hands-free-alexa-voice-assistant-on-its-new-tablet

Not hands free but here is a two minute video of Alexa, which comes built into the Huawie Mate 9 phone.
https://youtu.be/4y-vqWl4ErI

Google tries to go after the Dot's low entry price.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/09/google-hardware-leaks-50-google-home-mini-and-a-1200-chromebook-pixel-3/

Debbie: Day late, dollar short.

Looks like a dog chew toy.

>Debbie: Day late, dollar short.

I also wonder if the masses trust having an Amazon speaker over a Google one anyway. (Or is that just us?)

Our Echo has arrived. I have handed it off to management and will report back.

>management

There be trouble coming right thar 

> just us?

Yep.

>masses

A George Carlin quote keeps coming to mind.  Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.

reddit thread worth a read just to get a feel for the lure of the jabbernet

https://www.reddit.com/r/amazonecho/comments/72nn6b/why_dont_hotels_have_alexa/

>reddit thread

Oh yeah, Amazon is so going to push Alexa out everywhere: mobile, cars, appliances and the loo.

>everywhere

The other day, I caught myself just before trying to set the timer on the rice steamer by voice.

Amz called a surprise Alexa device roll-out meeting today and the tech web is having an orgasm.  Reminds me Apple announcements of a decade ago.

Buzzfeed is live-blogging it

https://www.buzzfeed.com/mathonan/hello-alexa

That's a lot of stuff.  RC, you were right, they were clearing out old inventory and this explains why.

Now they are hitting their price point with Echo.

>lot of stuff

Still rolling. 

Don't miss this one: Alexa is getting more useful in the smart home with a few updates

I almost missed this big API announcement in all the product hub-bub;

new API that lets developers build multi-step routines into simple Alexa commands.

QuoteIn a demonstration, Amazon device VIP Dave Limp said "Alexa, good morning," which triggered a sequence of events in the faux-home setting that Amazon set up in its headquarters for the event. First, the lights came on in the demonstration room. Then, a smart window shade rolled up, and Alexa began reading the news. Finally, a teakettle began to boil water.

https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/27/16375050/alexa-routines-echo-amazon-2017

2 big features added recently

Support for custom lists

https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/17/alexa-adds-support-for-custom-lists/


Recognize Different Voice Profiles ^{(with caveats)}

https://lovemyecho.com/2017/10/16/alexa-can-recognize-different-voices-now/