Latest news with #AmazonEcho
Time of India
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
World Music Day 2025: Tech That Changed How We Listen to Music
From the Sony Walkman in 1979 to the rise of Spotify and smart tech like Amazon Echo, music listening has evolved drastically. On this World Music Day, we look back at iconic technologies that transformed the way we enjoy music today.
Mint
9 hours ago
- Mint
Waiting for Alexa+? Make your Echo speaker smarter with these 3 hacks
Amazon's new Alexa Plus upgrade is gradually making its way to Echo users, with the rollout expanding since its launch in late March 2025. According to Amazon spokesperson Eric Sveum, more than a million users now have access to Alexa Plus, a significant jump from the 'hundreds of thousands' reported just a month ago. Sveum confirmed to The Verge that Alexa Plus is being deployed to compatible Echo speakers and smart displays 'at an increasing pace,' and will continue to be 'more broadly available over the summer.' Despite this progress, many Echo users are still awaiting the update. While Alexa Plus promises a more conversational, generative AI-based assistant experience, the staggered rollout means not everyone will get it at the same time. In the meantime, there are still several ways to get more from your current Echo setup. Here are three features users can activate today to enhance their Alexa experience while waiting for Alexa Plus. 1. BBC Sounds integration for podcasts and radio Echo speakers work seamlessly with streaming services, but adding the BBC Sounds skill offers a wider variety of live radio and podcast content. To enable it, simply go to the 'Skills & Games' section in the Alexa app and search for 'BBC Sounds.' Once signed into a BBC account, you can access BBC Radio stations or resume podcast episodes by voice commands. You can try voice commands like: 'Alexa, play BBC Radio 1' 'Alexa, launch BBC Sounds' BBC Sounds is especially great for listeners who enjoy music-focused channels, current affairs or entertainment podcasts 2. Control your TV using Alexa, no remote needed If you own a smart TV and an Amazon Echo speaker, you can control your TV completely hands-free using Alexa voice commands. It's a simple setup that can make everyday entertainment more convenient, from turning on the TV to launching apps like Netflix or YouTube, all with just your voice. To get started, open the Alexa app on your smartphone, tap the '+' icon in the top-right corner, and select 'Add Device.' Choose 'TV' from the list and select your TV brand. You'll be guided through a few steps to link your TV with Alexa. Most brands require enabling a specific Alexa Skill to complete the process. If you have a Samsung TV, you can use the Samsung SmartThings, likewise, for an LG TV, you can use LG ThinQ. Once your TV is paired and recognised, it's helpful to rename your device to something easy to remember, like 'Living Room TV' or 'Bedroom Screen.' to make your commands sound more natural. 3. Get daily news in seconds with Custom Flash Briefings Don't have time to scroll through news apps every morning? Alexa's Flash Briefing feature is a simple and effective solution. It delivers short, personalised audio news updates directly through your Echo speaker with a single voice command. To set it up, open the Alexa app, go to Settings, scroll to News under the 'Alexa Preferences' section, and tap My News Channel. Here, you can choose from a range of news sources, including BBC News, NPR, CNBC and more, depending on your region and preference. Once set, you can simply say: 'Alexa, what's my Flash Briefing?' Or, 'Alexa, play the news.' Alexa will then play a short summary of the day's top headlines from your selected source. You can even add multiple sources for a more diverse update and Alexa will play them one after another in a single briefing.
Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Amazon tries to make its most annoying service less terrible
My Amazon Echo works well as a speaker to play music and podcasts while I'm cooking. It also gets heavy use as a timer while I'm making dinner. Alexa, the digital assistant inside the Echo, can theoretically do more than serve as a stopwatch or countdown clock for me, but that's the only consistent use I've ever had for it. Related: Why now may be the best time to buy a luxury watch That's the problem Amazon (AMZN) and CEO Andy Jassy have with Alexa; it's a product many consumers have tried and not many have found overly useful. The digital assistant isn't that great at playing the song I'm asking for, so I'm not confident it will be great at organizing my day. It can tell me the weather, maybe give me a sports score, but I rarely use it for any of those things. It does politely greet me if I mention my sister-in-law Alexis, and it sometimes makes noise for no reason. Amazon and Jassy, if they want to save Alexa, they have to fully change consumer behaviour around the device. It may not be a Clippy-level failure, but it's a failure, and Clippy was at least cute. Now, the company is back with a revised Alexa, and Jassy seems pretty excited that it can go from annoying novelty (my words) to useful AI-driven personal assistant (a paraphrase of his words). "I want to briefly mention a few other items. As I've referenced a couple of times, in Q1, we introduced Alexa+. Our next-generation of Alexa personal assistant was meaningfully smarter and more capable than our prior self, can both answer virtually any question and take actions, and is free with Prime or available to non-Prime customers for $99 a month," CEO Andy Jassy said during Amazon's first-quarter earnings call. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter You may not have access to the new Alexa yet. "We are just starting to roll this out in the U.S., and we'll be expanding to additional countries later this year. People are really liking Alexa+ thus far," he added. Jassy tried to explain why the new Alexa will succeed where the old one failed. "On the Alexa question, we're really excited about Alexa+. And as I mentioned earlier, she's much more intelligent, much more capable, and able to take real action. And to date, most of the agents that have been out there have really just been able to answer questions, which when it came out was very remarkable and, I think the future of agents is not just being intelligent, but also being able to take action," he said. Related: Amazon Prime quietly makes a harsh change to beloved service Making the service actually useful is not easy, and he acknowledged that things could easily go wrong. "And that's, actually, it requires a great model, but it also requires the ability to sync that model and to align that model with being able to take the right action and execute and implement the right APIs, or you can have, very suboptimal results. And so, we've worked hard on that in Alexa+. We've been -- we started rolling out over the last several weeks. So, it's with now over 100,000 users, with more rolling out in the coming months. And so far, the response from our customers has been very, very positive. People are excited about it," Jassy added. The CEO also made it clear that he needs to get consumers to change their behavior. "I think that it does a lot more things than what Alexa did before. And we're very fortunate in that we have over a half billion devices out there in people's homes and offices and cars. So, we have a lot of distribution already, but there will be to some degree, there will be a little bit of rewiring for people on what they can do because you get used to patterns," he shared. Jassy did share some of the actual improvements made to the digital assistant. "I mean, even the simple thing of not having to speak Alexa anymore where we're all used to saying Alexa before we want every action to happen. And what you find is you really only have to do it the first time, and then really the conversation is ongoing where you don't have to say Alexa anymore. And I've been lucky enough to have the alpha and the beta, that I've been playing with for several months, he said. More Retail: Costco quietly plans to offer a convenient service for customersT-Mobile pulls the plug on generous offer, angering customersKellogg sounds alarm on unexpected shift in customer behavior Jassy did finally share an example of how the new Alexa might be put to use. "So, you can do things like you have guests coming over on a Saturday night for dinner and you can say Alexa, please, open the shades, put the lights on in the driveway and on the porch, increase the temperature five degree and pick music that would be great for dinner that's mellow. And she just does it. And like, when you have those types of experiences, it makes you want to do more of it, he shared. Jassy has put the revised Alexa to the test. "When I was in New York, when we were announcing, I asked her what were the, we did the event way downtown. I asked her, what was great Italian restaurants or pizza restaurants. She gave me a list and then she asked me if she wanted me to make a reservation. I said yes and she made the reservation, confirmed the time," he added. The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Gizmodo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Gizmodo
Amazon's Newest Model of Echo Dot Drops to Its Lowest Price of the Year, No Need to Wait for Prime Day
If you've ever wished your alarm clock could actually do something useful, like read you the news, show you the weather, or remind you of your grocery list, you need to invest in an Amazon Echo product. These devices can do all of that and more, all without forcing you to spend money you don't have or don't want to spend. And right now, you can get an even more affordable one thanks to this sale that's live now. See at Amazon Head to Amazon to get the Amazon Echo Dot for $35, down from its usual price of $50, right now. That's $15 off and a discount of 30%. Smarten up your home with a compact speaker The Echo Dot is a small smart speaker that may not look like much, but it's perfect for placing just about anywhere you want to access Amazon Alexa and all of its range of skills and audio. You can play your favorite music and content like audiobooks, podcasts, and more through apps like Amazon Music, Spotify, and Apple Music straight from the speaker while you go about your day. Alexa can give you weather info, sports updates, set timers, tell you jokes, and act as a more reliable alarm than the one in your bedroom that you always sleep through. It can also act as a smart hub to handle all the smart home devices you have, so you can control them with your voice or routines without having to use your phone or separate apps for everything. Sound quality is better than you'd expect for its size, which is definitely enough to enjoy music, podcasts, or audiobooks. And when you combine that with Alexa's ability to control smart plugs, lights, and more, you're getting a lot of convenience packed into a very small device. There are a lot of reasons to have this Echo Dot, but one is the fact that it can simplify just about everything you do regularly without taking up too much space. And it integrates so well into whatever you have going on that it makes a lot of sense to just have rather than worrying about adding it to your house as a splurge. Whether you're dipping your toes into smart home tech or looking for a gift that feels a little more thoughtful than just a basic speaker, the Echo Dot is a no-brainer. Especially now that it's just $35. You can't go wrong at this price, and you may even want to get a couple. See at Amazon
Gizmodo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Gizmodo
Amazon Offers the Newest Model of Echo Pop at Its Lowest Price of the Year as Stock Runs Low
When it comes to smart speakers, they've quickly transformed from pricier 'nice to haves' into affordable options that are available to just about anyone. Amazon has been leading the charge in this respect, releasing a wide variety of models and options that don't break the bank while offering lots of different features and options for consumers. Famously, the Echo series is part of this rollout, and there are a few form factors you can choose from for this smart speaker. And if you're curious about trying one out, now's the best time to do so thanks to this Amazon deal. See at Amazon Right now, you can head to Amazon to get an Amazon Echo Pop for $25, down from its usual price of $40. That's $15 off and a discount of 38%. A colorful, multifaceted smart speaker The newest model of the Echo Pop is one of Amazon's most refined versions of its compact smart speaker. Despite its small size, it delivers surprisingly clear and full sound. It's loud enough to fill a room without distortion or that hollow, tinny sound you get from older or cheaper models. Whether you're streaming a playlist, asking for the forecast, or setting a kitchen timer, it's quick and responsive, and the voice controls work great. But while you might primarily use it for music, you'd be surprised at how many other things it can do in addition. The built-in temperature sensor can automate other smart devices like thermostats or fans. Alexa Routines allow you to string together multiple actions like dimming the lights and turning on ambient music just by saying a few words. You can even use it as an intercom to communicate between rooms if you have multiple Echo devices. So if you want to get one for one area of the house and another, like maybe your room and the kids' rooms, there's your justification. It's also worth noting that Amazon has taken steps to address privacy concerns. If you're worried about that kind of thing, it has a microphone mute button and privacy settings to give you more control. With its discounted price, the diminutive Echo Pop makes a good case for anyone looking to bring more convenience and control into their home, especially for just $25. Whether you're just getting started with smart tech or want to expand your existing setup, this is one of the most affordable and practical ways to do it. And it comes in such a pretty color, too! See at Amazon
