Please have an open API, I can think of a ton of things I would love to use this for.
Yes, it MUST have an open API!
"Alexa, dim the lights."
Amazon Echo
571–580 of 746 posts
Re: Amazon Echo
#572Watch the promo video again and pretend it's the first few minutes of a horror movie. A package arrives on the front porch. The family brings it in and opens it. It's Alexa. It's "for everyone," says Father. The next few days are blissful. Alexa integrates herself into the family. She is indispensable. How did they ever get by without her? Father rushes in from the backyard, "Alexa, how tall is Mt. Everest?" Alexa an…
"Is it on?" "It's always on. ... It uses far-field technology, so it can hear you from anywhere in the room." Jeez, whoever wrote this is missing their calling. They should have their people get together with Wes Craven's people and do lunch, or something. (Edit: OK, the producers clearly knew they what they were doing, even if the people paying them didn't. Check out the daughter's sweater at 2:52.)
Actually, the sweater covered in eyes at 2:52 is subtly reassuring. It represents how the device is always looking out for you.
Re: Amazon Echo
#573If people buy and use this, I imagine a future version will work hard to detect if your questions are being directed at it without you having to prefix the request with a keyword like "Alexa".
E.g. If you ask a question and it doesn't hear anybody else respond within a certain amount of time. Or it could use additional sensors to detect if you're alone when you say something out loud, and whether or not you're shouting to somebody else in another room. It wont be perfect obviously and will sometimes look stuff up when it wasn't supposed to.
Re: Amazon Echo
#574Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is established by now that various government agencies all over the world routinely monitor web traffic, tap phones and install trojans on computers. There is no doubt in my mind that an internet connected listening device would be exploited.
So smartphone, tablets, laptops are also exploited? They all have a microphone and they're never off. I fail to see how this is any more a possible privacy breach than my iPhone that's laying right next to me right now.
The only difference I see is that the battery of a smartphone would drain rapidly if it was constantly recording and uploading the recordings to the cloud. But you are right, a smartphone is a device used to monitor you and people whose freedom depends on that knowledge, like radical political activists are aware of that. And yes laptops are exploited. To give an example: The German government has developed a number of trojans for Windows over the years and the BKA routinely uses them for targeted surveillance.
Re: Amazon Echo
#575Watch the promo video again and pretend it's the first few minutes of a horror movie. A package arrives on the front porch. The family brings it in and opens it. It's Alexa. It's "for everyone," says Father. The next few days are blissful. Alexa integrates herself into the family. She is indispensable. How did they ever get by without her? Father rushes in from the backyard, "Alexa, how tall is Mt. Everest?" Alexa an…
Re: Amazon Echo
#576My wake word is going to be 'bezos'
Re: Amazon Echo
#577Looks similar to this http://jasperproject.github.io/
Interesting. Thanks for the link.
Re: Amazon Echo
#578This "internet-of-things" trend coincides unfortunately with the "dragnet surveillance" trend. With every new product launch from a "cloud company," I increasingly feel as if I'm reading the tombstone of modern society. The selling point behind these devices is convenience, but at the cost of security. I don't think I need to explain to HN why an always-on, internet connected voice recording device is something to ke…
Too late. You probably already have a cell phone and probably already carry it with you most of the time.
Same with the microphones on your computer, external monitor, tablet, and soon smartwatch.
To be effectively paranoid like the grandparent commenter, one would have to opt out of a _lot_ of convenience. If you're actually a person of interest to the point of being surveilled with an Echo, you'll be surveilled with all your other digital devices as well.
Hell - the Echo would be incredibly limited relative to those other devices. It only captures specific rooms in your home. Those other devices follow you throughout the day.
Re: Amazon Echo
#579I don't need a device just to play music and ask it questions. I already own a computer!
Re: Amazon Echo
#580The problem with voice recognition software that doesn't require a physical action like pressing a button (Siri) is that they do a terrible job at distinguishing between when your actually trying to talk to it and when you or audio/video say(s) something in conversation to someone else/playback that might sound like the command keyword.