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Amazon Plans To Release At Least 8 New Alexa-Powered Devices, Including A Microwave, Amplifier, and In-Car Gadget (cnbc.com)
Amazon is planning to release at least 8 new voice-controlled hardware devices before the end of the year, according to CNBC. "The devices include, among others, a microwave oven, an amplifier, a receiver, a subwoofer, and an in-car gadget, people familiar with the matter said," reports CNBC. "All of the devices will be Alexa-enabled, meaning they can easily connect to the voice assistant. Some of the devices will also have Alexa built in." From the report: Amazon is expected to reveal some of these devices at an event later this month, according to an internal document describing the plans. The new devices reflect Amazon's ambition to make its Alexa voice technology ubiquitous by focusing on areas where people spend most of their time -- at home and in the car. Alexa was initially considered a geeky experiment at Amazon. Now it is now one of the most popular voice assistants, leading the growth of the burgeoning smart speaker market, which is expected to be worth $30 billion by 2024, according to Global Market Insights.
Alexa Piss Off!
No way would I ever own a device that contained a microphone and could connect to the internet! Everybody who disagrees with me is a sheeple.
Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
Alexa, find me someone to rape. And make it YOUR - you, the reader's - daughter.
Did you know that the U.S. government tracks cellphones in "countries of interest", and they are also interested in which cellphones have been turned off and who owns them and are thus untrackable?
I'm hoping the list includes these as well:
- a bed that allows Alexa to determine, then suggest which sex positions my partner would prefer at the moment.
- an Alexa shower head that will remind me to wash my genitals.
- a video enabled toilet so Alexa can constantly verify the health of my anus.
I hate my microwave insists it needs to know the date.
A microwave oven connected to the Internet, what could possibly go wrong? An old film from the 80s thought it might be possible to disable the safety preventing the oven from operating when the door isn't closed, but perhaps if that was a firmware issue it could spew microwaves in your kitchen.
Alexa, this is so sad. Please cook me two burritos and play despacito.
Seriously, I think touching "2" is actually easier than "Alexa, heat my soup"
"Tea, Earl Grey, Hot"
Was wondering why anyone would want Alexa controlling a Maser and wow imagine the product liability.
Alexa crank up the beam power to 5kw.
To infect everything with insecurity. That is all.
I own an Echo dot. I've complained previously that it couldn't really even manage a shopping list, so I thought I'd give it another try when I saw this story. Just now I tried saying "Alexa, add eggs, milk, and cheese to my shopping list", I was surprised when she didn't add "eggs, milk, and cheese" as a single item, like before, and added three separate items as you'd generally expect.
When I indicated I'd like to clear my shopping list, Alexa used to tell me to use the shopping list app to do that (wtf). Now, she asked if I'd like to check off all items on my shopping list, and I answered "yes". Pleased, I said, "Alexa, that was really good.", and she said "Thank you."
Well, I guess the point of these devices is that since they're basically dumb terminals into Amazon services, they should keep improving. I'm glad to see they're still working on improving the basics.
Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
...Alexa controlled amateur radio equipment. It could be the last nail in the coffin of a dead hobby.
New opportunities to play pranks to your friends...
Alexa, find anyone to accuse someone I don't like of rape.
...the 21st century is wonderful
My current microwave is 10 years old and still running fine, I would not expect the wireless standard built-in to an Alexa microwave to last nearly that long, let alone the circuitry it is made with. Will it even work while the microwave is running? I would love a car radio with Alexa built-in though, so long as it worked without an Internet connection. I might be willing to consider a 5G device for the car if it was dirt cheap but knowing how greedy cellular companies are they are most likely going to limit such devices to their highest paid plans the same way Comcast limits their highest speed Internet package to their TV packages.