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.

Comments

Re:Microwave?

[s4080326]

There are two features I can see being useful on a smart microwave, and if Amazon is reading this I'm happy to sign over the rights to these ideas for a free microwave. 1) It should be able to open the door when I ask it to so I can put things in with my hands full. 2) It should be able to read bar codes on the top of frozen meals and be able to re-heat them better than just setting it to 2-3 minutes on high.

At least it's improving

[Dutch Gun]

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.