Amazon has introduced a revolutionary new voice assistant in a little cylindrical package. The Amazon Echo device is host to Amazon’s “Alexa”, and as you chat with her you’ll realize she’s quite a bit like Siri, but with the potential to work with an ecosystem of integrations. Right now, she’ll happily add items to your Amazon shopping list (of course), cue your music on request and let you know all about the current news and weather.
Right now, the functionality may seem limited, but Amazon is investing heavily in this platform. In the future, developers will be able to hook into Alexa’s API to enable voice control for home automation, ordering Ubers and food, and who knows what else – use your imagination. It’s this home-automation, Internet-of-Things angle that seems like it’ll get the most traction to us. But maybe that’s just because we’re often too lazy to get up from the computer to adjust our lighting our our Nest thermostat.
More about the Amazon Echo here.