Amazon is adding new features to its Echo devices with Alexa, which can now do more things and do them a lot smarter too
.After selling millions and millions of Alexa-compatible devices during Black Friday week, Amazon is now announcing that those devices will be able to do more things, definitely smarter things, thanks to “Routines with sound detection functionality”.
Sound detection is a feature that’s been available for a while now on the latest generation of Amazon Echo devices, but what’s new in the last few hours are the new ambient sounds that the smart speakers are able to interpret and use as trigger words. The new sounds perceived are two: water flowing and the beep of household appliances. Both can now be used to trigger any type of routine chosen by the user and, if used well, can greatly expand the potential of Amazon’s smart ecosystem.
What are Sound Detection Routines
To make the most of the detection of the two new sounds, you first need to understand how Routines with sound detection functionality work.
Basically, the Echo smart speaker, if it has its microphones turned on, performs continuous listening to ambient sounds in the room it’s in. If it “hears” a certain type of sound, such as a cough or a person snoring, then it interprets that sound in the same way as an “Alexa”: it activates and executes a list of commands (i.e. a routine) chosen by the user.
Amazon specifies that no audio files are stored or sent to the cloud to provide such sound detection functionality, everything remains in the smart speaker’s memory so as not to compromise the user’s privacy.
The new sounds recognized by Alexa
As mentioned above, the new sounds recognized by Alexa are two: running water and the “beep” of an appliance. So, just to give a few examples, you can now set Alexa to send us a notification when she notices that we have forgotten the tap running. Or, we can ask her to notify us when an appliance has finished its work.
Alexa feels ultrasound
Another novelty that makes the Amazon Alexa ecosystem smarter, then, comes from the possibility of using on some Echo devices (the fourth generation ones) the so-called “Occupancy Routines” based on motion detection thanks to ultrasound.
Simply put: devices compatible with this feature are able to detect, thanks to ultrasound, if there is motion in a room, and therefore if the room is empty or there is someone there.
This is useful for creating much more refined and effective routines: if no one is home, for example, Alexa can turn down the heat to save on the gas bill. Or she can automatically turn on the lights if she “hears” us enter the house or a room.
Alexa: even more useful with Amazon Prime
These new functions only require the presence in the house of at least one latest-generation Echo device. Technically, then, you don’t need to have an Amazon Prime subscription to use Alexa.
However, using Alexa without being an Amazon Prime subscriber is a bit like being in front of a great cake and only being able to eat the crumbs. The Prime subscription, in fact, contains within it the one to Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Music, that is, all the content that you can enjoy thanks to smart devices compatible with Alexa.
Subscribe to Amazon Prime and enter the world of Alexa
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