14 DAY TRIAL // Voice recognition may or may not become a key part of security systems, depending on how many people share Intel's opinion on the matter of totally giving up passwords. It will definitely be a prime convenience moving forward though, and if Amazon has its way, it will be paired with AIs capable of their own speech.
We've already seen a lot of this being used, like in AI assistants (Siri and the like), or for activation of various features on a computer system.
It's even a standard part of some of the more stringent security systems in the world, alongside fingerprints, retinal scanners and other such things.
However, voice recognition, not to mention the ability to talk back, still isn't nearly as widespread as it could be. Amazon is betting on the likelihood of that changing in the future.
Behold the Amazon Echo speaker
You'd think that it's not so odd for a speaker to be able to, well, speak. But the truth is that the term is kind of a misnomer, since speakers never actually spoke, with few exceptions.
Instead, they only carried the words of whoever was on the side of a microphone, though more often than not they just played the sounds encoded in an audio file.
Basically, speakers never actually speak, not for themselves. Or at least that was true until recent years. Now, it's no longer a shock to learn that a device or other can speak to you.
It was never just a speaker though, and Amazon wants to change that, to produce a speaker with its own ability to express itself, so to speak.
Intended to always be kept at home and connected to the Internet, the speaker will provide music, news, weather and other information once you ask it to.
Obviously, that means that voice recognition will be included as well. In a nutshell, Amazon's Echo speaker is one that can hold conversations with you, even though they'll most likely still be somewhat one-sided.
Seven microphones hear you from any direction in the room, maybe even from across the hall if you shout loudly enough. Bluetooth allows it to access Amazon Prime Music, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn Plus, and a dedicated app will let you control it via a smartphone. It's not fully wireless though. It doesn't have batteries.
Availability and pricing
The Amazon Echo speaker has a price of $199 / €199 but will be sold to some Prime members for $99 / €99, by invitation.
