Amazon Echo...do want.

[IronWing]

"Alexa, tell me about 1984."

"1984 is double plus good."


"Alexa, listen to me you know."

"I always do."

 

[IronWing]

If the NSA wants a 24/7 open microphone in my house, then they'll get a 24/7 open microphone in my house!

No, no, no. It said right in the video that the Alexa can only hear you after you say "Alexa" so it's perfectly private.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Yeah, that speaker in a tin can must sound wonderful.

 

[Mixolydian]

Stupid.

 

[LightPattern]

Ask Alexa, she'll tell you.

I used to have a dog named Alex.
It doesn't say it has the ability to change the wake word. If it did I might choose "Bitch." :awe:

 

[SheHateMe]

I don't understand the purpose of this device.

Same.

 

[Childs]

I think this might make sense if it was just a smart speaker that connected to your phone/pc. The far field voice recognition thing sounds interesting, but if its designed like Fire TV where it really just plugs into your Amazon content its not as interesting. It doesn't look like you can answer or make calls either. Its like Amazon made a product out of the least used feature on smartphones.

 

[clamum]

Damn, lotta hate for this. I think it's kinda cool. Certainly not ground-breaking, but could be useful. Signed up for an invitation at least.

 

[cronos]

I used to have a dog named Alex.
It doesn't say it has the ability to change the wake word. If it did I might choose "Bitch." :awe:

The video did mention that "It only hears you when you use the wake word we chose". So I think you can have fun with it

 

[IronWing]

"Alexa, sing 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall, repeat when finished, and ignore all future commands."

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Does it vibrate?

 

[Jeff7]

The video did mention that "It only hears you when you use the wake word we chose". So I think you can have fun with it

The only reasonable option is to make that word "Computer" and have it use Majel Barrett's voice for audio acknowledgements.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

I don't understand the purpose of this device.

The purpose of the device is that some idiots will buy anything no matter how stupid and it would be pretty silly to not sell it to them.

 

[John Connor]

**Rubbing one out in the bathroom.** Alexa, play female screams.

 

[John Connor]

"Alexa, sing 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall, repeat when finished, and ignore all future commands."

Decorate the Amazon Echo like a bush and you have a great movie prop. LMAO!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLqIWd10ccY

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I signed up for an invite. I definitely see potential but I don't think this is the device that will meet the potential. Still, I'm interested in testing it out. I think if they can fully integrate it with existing home automation solutions and also introduce some integration with FireTV, it could be a big winner. I don't want to have to carry my cell phone around the house or have it near me; you guys need to use your imagination a little.

"Why would you want to have it work with FireTV?", you ask? Well, I can imagine walking into the living room and saying "Computer...errr, I mean, Alexa -- what is the weather going to be like this week?" As she starts talking, I can say "Computer, onscreen!" Just like Star Trek!

 

[cbrunny]

I don't get it. My phone does all of this. Why would I spend more money on a feature that is way under-utilized on a device I already own?

 

[Red Storm]

This has a slight chance of being a little bit more successful than the Fire phone.

 

[JM Aggie08]

I suspect this will be as successful as the Fire Phone.

 

[vi edit]

I think they missed the mark on a product that could have done well. Soundbars are the rage now. Dedicated speaker systems are on the decline and small, sleek soundbars you can hang on the wall or put on a mantle are what consumers are shifting to. They could have made a soundbar that you stick under your tv and that basically had a Fire TV built into it. One HDMI cable run to your TV and all of the Amazon and traditional streaming stuff built into it. You then just talk to it. It'll stream pandora. It'll play Netflix. If you do plex it will pull movies from your computer. And it does it from a box that makes your TV and music sound better.

Make a smart sound bar for $250 or $300 and it should do *very* well.

 

[vi edit]

And for this the marketing is off. I've got a Sonos Play 1 in my bathroom sitting on the dual vanity sink. They look like this:

http://s57.photobucket.com/user/liz...onos-play1-cool-mom-tech_zps68ebd5d0.jpg.html

My wife takes like 45 minutes to get ready in the morning and she'll frequently use her phone to start music streaming to that. Or if we spend any time in the jacuzzi tub we'll turn on some music and have a glass of wine. Or if she's folding laundry in the bedroom she'll turn on music on that.

I could see this sitting in place of the Sonos and providing more function. Get up in the morning, ask it the weather and it will tell you. That helps give you a better idea on what to wear. If it happens to include any blue tooth connection then you can pair it with your phone and answer calls on it if you need to. You won't even need your phone near it. Then you can tell it to play whatever music you want or to read you your calendar. It's more handsfree than a phone and could replace something that is already in the house and do it with more function.

It's certainly not for everyone, but I can see the idea behind it.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I think they missed the mark on a product that could have done well. Soundbars are the rage now. Dedicated speaker systems are on the decline and small, sleek soundbars you can hang on the wall or put on a mantle are what consumers are shifting to. They could have made a soundbar that you stick under your tv and that basically had a Fire TV built into it. One HDMI cable run to your TV and all of the Amazon and traditional streaming stuff built into it. You then just talk to it. It'll stream pandora. It'll play Netflix. If you do plex it will pull movies from your computer. And it does it from a box that makes your TV and music sound better.

Make a smart sound bar for $250 or $300 and it should do *very* well.

Yeah, I agree -- they need to integrate it with FireTV somehow. Unlike most of the posters in this thread, I think a product in this category has huge potential though I don't think this one will fit the bill. As corny as it sounds, think of Star Trek and the computer on the Enterprise. If you could tie a device like this into your home automation system, your displays, etc, you would basically have a whole-house computer which could run the house, display information on any device, etc.

 

[IronWing]

Damn, lotta hate for this.

It's a gateway for:
1) eavesdropping on your private conversations
2) using the content of your private conversations to target marketing at you


Get in an argument with your spouse and get deluged with divorce lawyer ads for the next week?

 

[manimal]

If it can talk to my control 4 system it would be tits!

 

[Markbnj]

I'm not an Amazon fanboi, but it is well-known that one of the ultimate goals of geekdom is omnipresent computers that listen to what you say and can answer questions and execute directives. Just saying.