Support NeoGAF

[Amentallica]

LOL the fuuhhhh

 

[Somnid]

Why do I get the feeling they're mostly just using Google Search for this?

Also why is the wake up word "Alexa" and not "Echo"?

I doubt they're using Google. In fact, Amazon is generally regarded as a search competitor and I imagine that this will feed into that as it can be leveraged for them to build more general search. That said, the feature set to start will probably be very limited in what it can get you versus Google Now.

Alexa is likely phonetically is easy to pickup with a low chance of false-positives.

So I need bluetooth to listen to Spotify and Pandora? I assumed this would connect on its own.

Probably hooked up a bunch of early partners and will accept more as time goes. Bluetooth being a catch all for anything they don't support.

In a way, Amazon is a victim of their own success. They first major hardware was brilliant and served an obvious need (e-ink Kindles).

First gen Kindle was widely regarded as crappy (seriously go look at a picture of it). It was constant iteration that got it where it is now.

 

[DaBargainHunta]

First gen Kindle was widely regarded as crappy (seriously go look at a picture of it). It was constant iteration that got it where it is now.

The design may have been regarded as crappy, but nothing else about it was seen that way.

 

[rokkerkory]

Sweet might get this when it's like $50

 

[kiguel182]

So, it's a 200 dollar gadget that does something my phone already does?

Yup, this is going to be an hit for sure.

 

[Pete Rock]

I think I enjoyed this thread more than I would enjoy this product. Thanks GAF you guys are the best.

 

[Somnid]

The design may have been regarded as crappy, but nothing else about it was seen that way.

http://www.engadget.com/products/amazon/kindle/1st-gen/

Worse critical aggregates than the Fire Phone or the OG Kindle Fire. People liked what they were doing with eBook pricing and services, but it was not a hit until at least the second generation. This is actually pretty typical for Amazon hardware. They usually make really big strides between gens.

 

[flyover]

I kind of think they should be framing this more as a smart, voice-operated Sonos Play than Siri-in-a-tube.

Since most of my music is up at Amazon, I could see a use for this. Probably won't get it, though, just because I'm not sure how good the sound would be.

 

[mrklaw]

I see it as a good kitchen device. In the morning, I have to go dig out my phone and go to an app to find the weather so I know what to dress my kids with. Amazon Echo will just let me ask while I'm moving about with the morning routine of prepping the kids. While I'm looking, I can tell it do things and not have to pull out my phone. I can create a shopping list while I'm going through the cabinets without pulling out my phone. I can tell it to play music while I'm doing stuff in the kitchen. It seems like for $99, it's a pretty decent voice activated device that is always ready to go and you never need to stop, look down at your phone and do stuff to get to the same point. Having to juggle two kids, I find just having something there and not digging out the phone to be potentially useful. At $99 I'm curious. Not so sure at $199 though. I say this as someone who has Siri on an iPhone, iPad Mini with a stand in the kitchen for it, and an HTC One with Google Now.

It also keeps your face up, rather than down in your phone. Could work pretty well, but it depends on how/if it can integrate to your phone/calendar/email etc. eg setting an alarm for the morning when you may be in a different room isn't that useful. Good for cooking timers too.


I hope MS brings cortana to Xbox soon, it could offer things like this for the living room

 

[flyover]

I see it as a good kitchen device...

Yeah. Now that I think about it, this really is the perfect use case for it, especially for a family where the house's hub is the kitchen.

 

[Sky Chief]

I signed up for an invitation. If the speaker is decent quality $100 isn't bad.

 

[kris.]

meanwhile, at Amazon HQ:

 

[Tangeroo]

So, it's a 200 dollar gadget that does something my phone already does?

Yup, this is going to be an hit for sure.

I'm not suggesting that this is going to be a massive success but this is pretty much exactly what people were saying when the iPad was first announced.

The form-factor and usage make a pretty major difference.

 

[Slayven]

Amazon go home, you are drunk.

Amazing stuff that prime price increase is paying for.

 

[Septimus Prime]

I signed up for an invitation. If the speaker is decent quality $100 isn't bad.

Yeah, me too. Seems like it could be useful.

 

[Lubricus]

If I call my dog, Armani, do I get to hear Armani ads? Or if I say "shit", do I hear ads for manure?

 

[Trojita]

That TENGA Flip Hole tech.

If you're like me and have no idea what this is, you probably shouldn't Google it. Especially at work.

 

[gutterboy44]

Perfect for the kitchen, which is where it is gonna sit. Seems like a nice bluetooth speaker at its worst (99$ is solid for a good bluetooth speaker alone) The setting timers asking unit conversions, shopping list shit. Love it. Can't wait for it to be integrated with home automation stuff or IFTTT. "Alexa, get this party started" Ugh, I hope you can change its prompt name. I don't like the name Alexa. I want to call it something else, maybe Charlie.

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

Thank you for your request. If selected, you will receive an e-mail with an invitation to purchase in the coming weeks.

Let's see if I want to lose 100 bucks in the coming weeks.

 

[bobawesome]

"play music by bruno mars"

add sequence: OYSTER

 

[neogaffer1]

Can't this turn out the same way Kinect did? Utter shit at its intended purpose, but the hardware is high end and relatively cheap so it can be used for other things? Like Kinect 1 was good at motion tracking for research projects and the like, and Kinect 2 has a super high-end DOF camera, wouldn't this thing for $100 be a good microphone setup if it can be modded to get it to do that? If you wanted to record a class or a meeting or something, this seems pretty high end for the cost.

 

[Marty Chinn]

It also keeps your face up, rather than down in your phone. Could work pretty well, but it depends on how/if it can integrate to your phone/calendar/email etc. eg setting an alarm for the morning when you may be in a different room isn't that useful. Good for cooking timers too.

Yep, in the morning it's a bit hectic getting the kids ready, fed, and getting everything else ready to go. Looking at my phone means I have to stop what I'm doing and stop moving so I can see what it wants to tell me. It just breaks the flow when really need to be moving around and doing stuff. But like you said, it really depends how well it integrates with things and how well it works relative to what they think the ideal situation is.

 

[Not Spaceghost]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkOCeAtKHIc

Man this commercial is samsung levels of cheesy. Also isn't it weird how they have a black haired son but a ginger girl?

That ain't no bottle ginger I'll tell you that much.

 

[morningbus]

This might be pretty sweet if you change the activation word to Jesus.

 

[DaBargainHunta]

http://www.engadget.com/products/amazon/kindle/1st-gen/

Worse critical aggregates than the Fire Phone or the OG Kindle Fire. People liked what they were doing with eBook pricing and services, but it was not a hit until at least the second generation. This is actually pretty typical for Amazon hardware. They usually make really big strides between gens.

"Professional reviewers" might have shit on it - but of course they did, because the device looked like something that might've been imagined as "futuristic" in the 1960s, but the early adopters (real users) loved it. Agreed that it wasn't a mainstream hit until the second generation. That's when it really took off.

 

[Somnid]

Can't this turn out the same way Kinect did? Utter shit at its intended purpose, but the hardware is high end and relatively cheap so it can be used for other things? Like Kinect 1 was good at motion tracking for research projects and the like, and Kinect 2 has a super high-end DOF camera, wouldn't this thing for $100 be a good microphone setup if it can be modded to get it to do that? If you wanted to record a class or a meeting or something, this seems pretty high end for the cost.

Probably not as it's mostly just a handoff to Amazon's cloud service which will do all the voice processing and fetch the query results. It might be a good portable speaker though.

 

[dabig2]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkOCeAtKHIc

Man this commercial is samsung levels of cheesy. Also isn't it weird how they have a black haired son but a ginger girl?

That ain't no bottle ginger I'll tell you that much.

"Alexa, why don't I have a soul?"

 

[RoadHazard]

Seems pretty pointless, considering that everyone already has a phone/tablet with very similar features. Just like the Fire Phone. Maybe Amazon should just stick to selling content instead of trying to make their own versions of popular things and failing.

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkOCeAtKHIc

Man this commercial is samsung levels of cheesy. Also isn't it weird how they have a black haired son but a ginger girl?

That ain't no bottle ginger I'll tell you that much.

Bet you an Echo that the daughter is hooked on her Fire phone.

Alexa got jokes.

 

[m_shortpants]

The only point of this is to make buying shit on Amazon easier.

I wish they would just market it that way and leave the cheesy shit out.

 

[xbhaskarx]

Seems pretty pointless, considering that everyone already has a phone/tablet with very similar features. Just like the Fire Phone. Maybe Amazon should just stick to selling content instead of trying to make their own versions of popular things and failing.

But then what would they waste their money on?

 

[kaching]

Are they actually moving it around the house or was it supposed to imply that they owned a bunch of these devices?

Could be, but would be at least half a dozen devices, going by their ad. More than likely most people aren't going to splurge for that many and the very nature of the device being small and easy to carry around like every other BT speaker out there is going to be what most people take advantage of.

Multiple devices also raises the question of whether there's any tech on board for these things to synch with each other and decide which one should answer the question if more than one hear it. Nothing on Amazon's site suggests it's as sophisticated as that.

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

I can appreciate experimental Amazon. The Fire Phone might be a terrible POS but it tried some innovative ideas that I'd like to see on other, better phones.

This idea, an always-connected bluetooth speaker with mic, is nice. $100 is a good price for what you get. I'm not sure there are many bluetooth speakers that can activate Google Now but if there are any, then that would be an as good or better choice.

If you could forego the Amazon service and go straight for Google Now, I'd be excited. Hell, if tomorrow Google announces a similar product but explicitly for Google Now, I bet there'd be a ton more excitement.

So there are still some unanswered questions I'd like to know. Not sold on this thing yet but it's interesting.

 

[AdmiralSnackbar]

That commercial just used "it plugs in, so we never have to charge it" as a selling point.

 

[The Faceless Master]

That commercial just used "it plugs in, so we never have to charge it" as a selling point.

it would be so much better if it plugged in and also had a battery.

 

[sirap]

Scifi nerd in me wants this so badly, but only if someone figures out how to change the voice to HAL

 

[Septimus Prime]

Perfect for the kitchen, which is where it is gonna sit. Seems like a nice bluetooth speaker at its worst (99$ is solid for a good bluetooth speaker alone) The setting timers asking unit conversions, shopping list shit. Love it. Can't wait for it to be integrated with home automation stuff or IFTTT. "Alexa, get this party started" Ugh, I hope you can change its prompt name. I don't like the name Alexa. I want to call it something else, maybe Charlie.

Yeah, that's where I would put it, as well. I can imagine putting something in the oven and then telling Alexa to set an alarm for however many minutes or asking Alexa to do unit conversions for you.

 

[Sorcerer]

I wish I could figure out if I buy multiples if they have a "hive mind" or can each be setup independently

As in if set an alarm do they all set the set same alarm?

 

[Marty Chinn]

it would be so much better if it plugged in and also had a battery.

Why? I don't think it needs it.

 

[mrklaw]

Looking at the information, it seems a bit self-contained. The alarms, shopping list etc are all 'echo' specific. You can access them from an android app or web browser, but that isn't ideal. Also the music control is limited to Amazon music, tune in radio and a couple of others. The spotify mention sounds like it is just working like a Bluetooth speaker for your phone - no actual control, just a speaker.

 

[Trojita]

Looking at the information, it seems a bit self-contained. The alarms, shopping list etc are all 'echo' specific. You can access them from an android app or web browser, but that isn't ideal. Also the music control is limited to Amazon music, tune in radio and a couple of others. The spotify mention sounds like it is just working like a Bluetooth speaker for your phone - no actual control, just a speaker.

It says on the webpage that Spotify and iTunes can be listened to via bluetooth.

 

[katsubento]

If the speaker is good, it would be worth it for the Prime member price. $200 seems crazy.

 

[The Faceless Master]

Why? I don't think it needs it.

makes it easier to move around. they move it all over the place in the ad and it would be simpler if it worked for a few days without being plugged in.

 

[Marty Chinn]

makes it easier to move around. they move it all over the place in the ad and it would be simpler if it worked for a few days without being plugged in.

The point is not to move it around. That's why they have all those directional microphones in it. They move it around in the ad because that's how ads work. You gotta show the product in the ad, but they wanted to show them using it in different situations. It would look a lot more weird if they were just doing things and the device wasn't directly visible even though that's going to be the normal use case. The idea is that it's a stationary device that you don't touch and is just available to you when you're in the general vicinity. It doesn't need batteries.

 

[PAULINK]

Interesting, but not $200 interesting.

 

[mrklaw]

It says on the webpage that Spotify and iTunes can be listened to via bluetooth.

Sure, but that most likely means it just works as a speaker like any other Bluetooth speaker. So you can't go 'Alexandria, play my dance mix' with Spotify, only with Amazon music or one of the quoted services that it controls

Echo provides hands-free voice control for Amazon Music, Prime Music, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn. Plus, Echo is Bluetooth-enabled so you can stream your favorite music services like Spotify, iTunes, and Pandora from your phone or tab

 

[NimbusD]

I'd get some device that was some sort of mix between this and the Nexus Q.

EDIT: to clarify, a Nexus Q that's as capable as Chromecast (which is ridiculous that Q never was).

 

[giga]

The point is not to move it around. That's why they have all those directional microphones in it. They move it around in the ad because that's how ads work. You gotta show the product in the ad, but they wanted to show them using it in different situations. It would look a lot more weird if they were just doing things and the device wasn't directly visible even though that's going to be the normal use case. The idea is that it's a stationary device that you don't touch and is just available to you when you're in the general vicinity. It doesn't need batteries.

I like my Bluetooth speakers to be wireless so that I can move it from different rooms or go outdoors easily.

 

[Twio]

"When is Thanksgiving?"

I might actually need this thing

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

This fits in right next to the Jibo and WiiU Gamepad on the pile of unnecessary expensive things your phone does better.

"Echo is always ready, connected, and fast. Just say the wake word, "Alexa," for:"

Why is it called Echo if I am calling it Alexa. Also, when people hear the word "Siri', they think of Apple because the name is so uncommon. "Alexa" is a more human sounding name. You better believe this is going to start some shit between insecure couples.

"I always hear you saying "Alexa" when you sleep, who is this bitch??!!?!"

"Alexa, has my husband brought over other women while I'm gone?"

"Yes. Which one would you like to know about?"