Slashdot Mirror
Amazon Brings Alexa To Hotels (zdnet.com)
Amazon is finally bringing Alexa to the hotel room. The e-commerce giant announced Tuesday the launch of Alexa for Hospitality, a specialized version of the voice assistant that integrates into popular hotel software systems for guest services. From a report: Housed inside of an Echo device, Alexa for Hospitality is functionally identical to the Alexa used in homes, except tailored to a hotel's service options. Guests can tell Alexa to order room service, book a spa appointment, call for housekeeping, provide directions, or play music in their room, for example. On the privacy side, Amazon said hotels will not have access to voice recordings of Alexa interactions or responses, and recordings of Alexa commands are remotely wiped when the guest checks out of the hotel. However, hotels can use Alexa for Hospitality to "measure engagement through analytics and adapt services based on guest feedback," Amazon said. Alexa for Hospitality is available to hotels, vacation rentals, and other hospitality providers starting today, with Marriott International signed up to deploy the service across its hotel portfolio this summer.
Corporation brings always on spy microphones to public hotels
So better then buying a device which is listening to you in a home, I'll allow a hotel to purchase a device that listens to me in a room I'm renting. No way. If I saw this in my room, I would unplug it.
I've always wanted a creepy, intrusive always on microphone in my hotel room. Thanks Amazon!!! Note to self, never stay at a Marriott hotel.
I better be able to unplug the darn thing or I'll be up at the front desk ASAP.
1. Unplug listening devices
2. Set the A/C to something above freezing
3. Open the windows
etc.
Who on earth wants one of these things in their hotel room?
Do you have ESP?
Pity, it didn't work anyway. Must have gotten wet somehow. Good thing it wasn't plugged in.
You're going to be disappointed when Alexa sends a 13 year-old jockey to your room. Or maybe not.
You are welcome on my lawn.
That isn't a troll. I install these systems for Marriott. You sound like you have something to hide!
Of course I have something to hide... my privacy. It's a real bass ackward way to look at it. I don't give people the ability to listen to me inside my house or bedroom because I don't have anything to hide. If you would like to, go ahead. For me, I'll "hide" all of my deep dark secrets, mainly because I can, and I want to.
Alexa is wireless.
or a 25 year old ford escort that is being sold for less that 120 pounds sterling
What is this thing you call "privacy"? Don't you want the corporations to know what you are doing so they can better sell things to you?
One more thing with a bright blue LED that I'll have to unplug or cover up.
Having something to hide is WHY people go to hotels in the first place.
This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
On the privacy side, Amazon said hotels will not have access to voice recordings of Alexa interactions or responses, and recordings of Alexa commands are remotely wiped when the guest checks out of the hotel.
I assume Amazon will keep all records, for quality control purposes...
My guess it was the Wife lobby pushing to get these installed in hotels.
Alexa is wireless.
Wireless power too?
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Or you could... turn it off?
Pretty sure it will be well-secured to prevent theft. They're not that valuable anyway.
I don't see how Marriott would consider that a problem.
Yes. Powered by AI Deep Learning Neural Networks.
Marriott Hotels was announced as the first adopter of the new platform ...
Guests can choose whether they would like to share a room with Alexa or disable the technology by tapping the “mute” button. Guests can also request the Echo speaker to be taken out of the room.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Electrical wires are SO last decade. You just lack courage.
Personalization is also on the cards. Alexa for Hospitality will eventually allow guests to temporarily connect their Amazon account to the Echo in their room so they can play their own music from services including Amazon Music and Spotify, or listen to audiobooks via Audible. When they check out, their account will be automatically disconnected from the device.
What could go wrong? And it's not like Alexa will still work when you're out of the room and housekeeping is there, etc... (sigh)
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
At this point nothing surprises me something-something television watches you... I'll be under a bridge with Ice-T
crazy dynamite monkey
I suspect that the poster wasn't thinking about stealing it but meant that it will be removed in the sense of a call to the front desk "Please take this from my room - thank you" and/or physically taking it out and dumping it in the managers office.
Yeah, I do have something to hide. I am a 44 year old man that likes to dance around in women's lingerie. I want to hide that from everyone. I hide this from you as a favor to you.
Plus, I don't like being watched by unknown, untrusted algorithms or people. Have you seen what happens when extremist people find out that someone doesn't think like they do? Of course you have. The work you are doing is just one step closer to them wanting to harm or kill me because of my views or behavior. Not all people can be trusted. The small convenience is not worth the risks to me. I can use a phone. You can go fuck yourself.
So, if a random independent hotel owner puts a recording device in their rooms, wouldn't that person go to prison for a long, long time? How about the civil suits? I don't understand how people wouldn't want, say, me, to put a recording device in their rooms, but are A-OK with Amazon doing the recording, and sharing that recording with an unlimited number of unknown people.
People are kinda' dumb.
I don't respond to AC's.
The systems will also be wired into the entertainment system so they cannot be turned off.
Actually no, they're not required. From: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/t...
Guests can choose whether they would like to share a room with Alexa or disable the technology by tapping the “mute” button.
Guests can also request the Echo speaker to be taken out of the room.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
"Amazon is finally bringing Alexa to the hotel room."
/., and definitely annoyed with the 'related links' section, which highlights the same controversial / offputting links for all stories.
/. Yuck.
I'm getting a little tired of the blatant advertising on
msmash embodies the new
What entertainment system? Does anyone with a half-decent laptop or tablet use hotel TeeVees anymore?
"I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that"
Everything is fun and giggles, until someone hacks the hotel and all Alexa records of privately said words and activities (with names and personal info) are sent to a big DB in Ukraine, and then to sites making fun of the adult movie viewing habits of foolish hotel visitors.
Amazon is finally bringing Alexa to the hotel room.
What is this, an advertisement? Pre-supposing the audience has wanted this for a long time?
- First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.
The systems will also be wired into the entertainment system so they cannot be turned off. I don't know why you would want to turn them off anyway, unless you have something to hide.
That's okay. The first thing I do in every Marriott hotel these days is unplug the entertainment system from the TV entirely so that the TV's video input button works and I can watch Netflix on a laptop plugged into the set. Unplugging it further to disable the Alexa functionality is no big deal.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
But on a serious note, will be you able to disable and turn the fucking thing OFF??
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Yep...sometimes it is just too much shit to carry to bring that stuff, so yet...I watch the TV.
And even if I do bring it....I like to watch content on the much larger TV screen than a tiny laptop or tablet..
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
... to book one of these rooms and, without activating Alexa, say, "Come on, Joe. Work faster. We gotta wire the goddam bomb then get the fuck out of here before it blows!"
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
Of course. Alexa will promise to be disabled and fuck off and that's just as good, right. A promise is a promise.
Well that's a good idea !! (sarcasm)
I can easily see the downsides for the guests but it's a huge risk for the hotel too:
Using the publicised attack mechanisms of passing commands to Alexa which are inaudible to humans (I'd look up the reference but it's late at night where I am and I'm tired) one could have great fun with a cheap phone and a command loop.
Something like this should cause some disruption and hurt the hotel's maintenance budget:
"Alexa TV Volume up ... Alexa TV Volume up ... Alexa air-con set to 10 degrees C ... Alexa lights on ... Alexa lights off ... Alexa TV Volume up to maximum ... Alexa curtains closed ... Alexa lights on ... Alexa lights off ... ... Alexa TV mute ... Alexa aircon set to 35 degrees C ... Alexa curtains open "
Even if management went up to an empty room in response to guests next door complaining about the noise or the hotels building systems alarms about the air-con they probably wouldn't associate it with an apparently silent phone innocently plugged into a charger.
Actually the inaudible command could be used to order food and drink which could be denied (see my earlier comment) -- having multiple orders sent to empty rooms would be expensive and wasteful.
With poorly paid and generally demotivated cleaning staff around, placing low cost speakers in rooms is feasible if you wanted to do a wide-scale distributed disruption of service.
Since I don't have an Echo, maybe in my next hotel room I can finally try, "Alexa, this is a class A compulsory directive. Compute, to the last digit, the value of pi." Since pi is a transcendental figure without resolution, will Alexa's computer banks work on this problem to the exclusion of all else?
Exactly, it's the difference between secrecy and privacy. You know what parts I have, yet I still cover them up anyway.
If it is wired, unplug it; if it aint, keep in outside the door or give it to FD
What is wrong with dancing around in women's lingerie? Seems perfectly normal to me.
That's harsh.
'Alexa, order 600 pounds of Play Sand. Confirmed."
I never knew my fried could move so fast! I think I got the idea from xkcd, but it WORKED!
until ( $win ) { &cheat }
I recall that after that horrible mass shooting in Las Vegas (where the guy was holed up in a hotel room for several days prior to the shooting) there was this big push for the hotels to be able to enter your room without your consent. The thinking was that the hotel staff should be able to enter the room for some vague set of reasons. And they were going to do away with the "Do not Disturb" signs that you can hang on your door. After all, it's "their" hotel so they should be able to enter whenever they like. It raised a whole host of privacy issues.
Back in the day, when I was traveling a lot and staying in hotels, I always hung the DND sign on my door. Why? Because I wanted privacy. The last thing I would want is this Alexa thing, with the always on microphone, spying on me. If I go to a hotel and see one of these things the first action will be to pull the plug on it. Then I'll speak to it, just to make sure there isn't some battery backup.
Paranoid? Maybe, but my privacy is important to me. Maybe the hotels should have an opt-out option for their guests that don't want an Alexa in their room and have that taken care of prior to check in. Marriott has a profile you can build where you put things like extra pillows or high floor or even a microwave. Why not add an Alexa/No Alexa option for frequent guests?
Amazon says:
Properties can’t listen to what you said to Alexa or what she said back.
but also:
The property may allow you to use Alexa to purchase services, like room service or spa services directly
from the property.
So how is the dispute going to be resolved when room service brings a bottle of expensive champagne that you say you didn't order? Imagine what could happen if you have kids in your room! Or malicious/pranking friends. Or people shouting through the door.
Funny....
But on a serious note, will be you able to disable and turn the fucking thing OFF??
That's what the extra blankets in the closet are for. If you forgot your thick Alexa cozy to put over the thing.
Peace is easy to achieve, just surrender. Liberty is much harder get/keep.
What if unplugging is not allowed or impossible? :-)
Hotel floors can be very slippery when carrying glasses of water.
Can I physically turn Alexa off in my room for the duration of my stay (as in, completely powered down)? As far as I'm concerned, it's a privacy invasion in my room, having a device always listening.
Fortunately, I always have tin-foil in my suitcase when I stay at hotels. After I have eaten the sandwiches, I can accidentally drop it over the Alexa. (thinks: will carry double sided tape to make sure it sticks).
Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
"Sorry, I don't know the answer to that."
Take off, every Hoser
Drop it in the bath?
I'm sure they be able to do that for an extra fee.
But on a serious note, will be you able to disable and turn the fucking thing OFF??
That was my first thought as well. If the electric plug is visible, then yes; otherwise... um, maybe, maybe not.
"Someone needs to talk to the tree of liberty about its ghoulish drinking problem." by ohnocitizen