Amazon's Alexa smart assistant seems to be everywhere. Since it was first announced in 2014 with the original Amazon Echo speaker, the voice assistant has gained thousands of new "skills" and comes in a variety of form factors – from miniature speakers to ones with a video camera and a touchscreen. Alexa has been integrated into a wide range of devices including cars, fridges, smartwatches, lights, and security cameras.
Every smart home device that works with Matter
All the Matter-compatible devices you can buy, plus the latest on the Apple, Amazon, Google, and Samsung-backed smart home standard.
The much-needed reinvention of the voice assistant is almost here
Siri and Alexa could one day be totally amazing instead of vaguely annoying. But only if Big Tech can get it right.
Alexa’s Fire TV search has a new AI, but it needs some work
Fire TV’s new search experience gives Alexa the ability to understand more conversational requests.
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How smart home technology made my home more accessible
A smart device may be a convenience to one person, but it could be a life-changer to another.
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How caregivers are using smart tech to help aging parents
Smart home devices can offer independence, safety, and companionship.
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The Verge’s favorite smart home devices
We clean with low-end robovacs, use Stream Decks as light switches, and enjoy the luxury of smart beds.
How smart is the smart kitchen, really?
For part two of our Vergecast smart kitchen series, we let the kitchen do the cooking. Chaos ensues.
Basically, it’s just a better smart home device than the company’s Echo Show smart display, but there’s more to it. The Verge’s Jen Tuohy gives you the rundown. Be sure to check out her full review for more detail.
While the new Alexa voice technology (dubbed “Remarkable Alexa”) is supposedly scheduled for a June 30th launch, a report from Business Insider cites sources who say early testing with 15,000 customers has not gone well.
Apparently, Alexa is “often giving unnecessarily long or inaccurate responses.” I am all for a smarter Alexa, but a hallucinating Alexa could be downright dangerous.
Amazon showed off some of what it planned for Alexa and generative AI at its hardware event last fall, where Dave Limp hinted it might come with a price tag.
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2023 in the smart home: Matter’s broken promises
The new smart home standard finally arrived this year. But poor implementation, significant backpedaling, and glacial progress have left it broken.
It won’t cost you a thing, but that simple phrase sends $5 to your most recent Amazon delivery person and will ultimately require the company to pay its fleet of US drivers an extra $10,000,000. The return of Amazon’s tipping program began a few days ago and will continue until it gathers two million thank yous. You can also type “thank my driver” in the search bar on amazon.com or the shopping app.
She co-signed a letter to him after The Washington Post spotted Alexa reciting misinformation about the 2020 presidential election.
I will note that Bezos does not, exactly, run Amazon anymore. Though he is head of the company’s board.
[The Washington Post]
The Washington Post reported that Amazon’s Alexa answered some 2020 US presidential election questions by claiming it was “stolen by a massive amount of election fraud” while citing sources like Rumble, Substack, and Alexa Answers (Amazon’s crowd-sourced answers program).
The Post writes that it flagged some of the questions with Amazon and they were fixed, but that other questions still gave similar answers. The outlet added that Google Assistant and Siri had no such trouble with these questions.
[The Washington Post]