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Amazon Echo Dot

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Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#61

Post by Rezo »

"If you have more than one Echo or Echo Dot, you can set a different wake word for each".

This is something I've been thinking is becoming more problematic as well as an opportunity for real ubiquity. I have 3 separate devices nearby that are Google Now voice activated (the newer devices support this even if the screen is off), and they will sometimes trigger at the same time accidentally.

Since the processing is cloud based, and they know my identity, why don't the devices recognize this fact and cooperate. Instead of just 7 beam forming mics in the Echo, if you have two within hearing distance you could have the benefit of 14 and a unified response. Don't tie the request & response to a particular device, instead think of it as ubiquitous network that moves with you as you walk around the household, you should be able to continue your conversation from one room to the next seamlessly.

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#62

Post by goshx »

Gratsby wrote: post #18

Man... I had my audrey doing this in the '90s. I can't believe I missed the boat and somebody else is making a bajillion dollars. It's time to search through the archives of all the cool stuff we did 20 years ago and put it in a shiny new wrapper.

Sometimes I think about this. The old cool stuff not only can have a shiny new wrapper but a whole new set of modern technology that can finally turn them into a successful "new" product.

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#63

Post by caractacus »

When did I turn from the enthusiastic kid who dreamed of audio-controlled personal assistants like this to a cranky old man who doesn't want anything remotely spy-possible in his house?

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#64

Post by pierrebeaucamp »

I would love to have something similar as open source software. How can I trust this device if I can't examine the code used for hotword recognition?

Also, it would be great to be able to put the software on different hardware - something with digital audio output for example. The concept of Alexa is amazing, but distributing it as properitary software limits its potential.

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#65

Post by kevinob11 »

swalsh wrote: post #9

Will this be linked together with my echo? One thing I do quite often since my echo is in my kitchen is use it to set a timer. I'd like to be able to go to my office upstairs, and ask it how much time is left. Today, i don't think that's possible even with a second echo.

When I first saw the dot I was very excited thinking it was exactly this, but it appears it is just an echo with a lower quality speaker and a simple cable (and bluetooth) you can connect to your own speakers. A bit of a bummer synced timers and playing the same music through a couple of Echos in different rooms would have been a better use case for me, but perhaps I'm the weird one.

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#67

Post by goshx »

I like this idea very much. By making it cheaper and smaller, Echo can easily become the ears of any electronic in the house.

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#69

Post by rdl »

davis_m wrote: post #41
rdl wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was just thinking "I want echo with a speaker port" 3 days ago. The thing I really really want from them is echo in the car.

I would be super interested in Echo in my car, but mostly because I don't have one of the fancy new cars that connects to my phone over bluetooth for that sort of stuff.

Me too -- I love my car (06 Audi) but the electronics were designed by a car company in 2000-2004 and thus very far out of date.

The right choice is probably a replacement nav and head unit. I'd rather have an old but nice car with great nav/ ent/etc, than a new car. I don't think I'm that unusual. I'd like to upgrade the electronics every couple years; happy to keep a car for 10-20y. Somehow those should mesh, but don't.

Re: Amazon Echo Dot

#70

Post by ghaff »

NDizzle wrote: post #52
ghaff wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that voice interfaces break down pretty quickly once you try to do anything complicated. The Echo has pretty solid voice recognition--far better than anything else I've ever used--but it's still hard to get it to do anything useful once you get beyond a pretty narrow script. (e.g. what's the weather forecast, play this artist, etc.)

I'm not so sure about that. Check this out. One of the toughest fights in one of the toughest games performed with only voice commands. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m2a2dLdZ0M Now, granted, this is a specific use case, but, you know... "explore the space" and all that. (more cowbell!)

That's the thing. It is a use case with voice commands that map to specific actions. In the case of music, I can give Echo the name of a specific artist or maybe a playlist. But it breaks down pretty quickly if I tell it to play "some good 60s rock."
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