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  • Best Smart Speakers in 2019

    Best Smart Speakers in 2019

    While smart speakers were once seen as an unusual curio that your rich friends might have in their kitchen, they’ve become much more commonplace recently. The helpful and friendly voice that issues forth from the speaker is only part of the draw of these devices: they offer a wide variety of smart home functionality that you have to see to believe.

    If you’re thinking about getting a smart speaker but don’t know which one to go with, you’re not alone. There are a few great options out there, but it can be difficult to narrow the options down. Let’s take a look at some of the best smart speakers on the market to help you make a good decision.

    Apple HomePod

    Apple’s HomePod is something a black sheep when it comes to smart speakers. Powered by the familiar, if a bit outdated, Siri assistant that also runs in Apple’s phones and watches, HomePod is great for Apple lovers. It’s part of the Apple ecosystem, allowing for great integration with your iPhone, your Apple Watch and your Apple Music account. If you’re already rocking AirPods and an iPhone, you’re probably going to love the HomePod, too.

    However, if you’re not already an Apple faithful, you’ll probably find the HomePod’s steep asking price of $300 to be a bit much. Siri’s a bit more limited in her responses and case functions than Google Assistant and Alexa, as well. This all being said, the HomePod offers incredible sound that is tailored to the size and shape of the room it’s in. If you love Apple, or want a stellar sound quality, the HomePod is for you.

    Google Home Mini

    Google’s well on their way to world domination, and the Home Mini is a good indicator of why. The useful and great-sounding little speaker retails for just $50, making it a good entry-level option for those curious about the smart speaker “thing.” Google Assistant is really good at understanding commands, and can interpret plain language better than either Siri or Alexa. Not to mention, the assistant sounds normal and has human-like inflection, which can be comforting compared to the slightly robotic Siri.

    Google’s Assistant works very well when you need it to read off recipes or walk you through tasks you’re having it look up for you. If you forget the name of a smart home feature you have, it can normally figure out what you’re talking about. It’s also got a wider variety of smart home devices that it works with than the HomePod, coming close to the variety offered by Alexa’s Echo family of devices.

    Amazon Echo

    Amazon Echo devices are some of the most popular smart speakers on the market, for a number of reasons. Firstly, Amazon’s devices are often on sale on their online web store, and the devices are advertised heavily on TV. Alexa has a natural-sounding and calming voice, and can answer a number of questions and perform a lot of tasks for you with just your voice commands. If you’re just looking to try out a smart speaker and see what it’s all about, you want an Amazon Echo Dot, which can be found for $50 online.

    While Alexa might not be the clear winner in 2019 like she was in 2016, Amazon’s device is still the most useful overall for the price. There are so many smart home devices that are compatible with Alexa that you can safely buy just about any smart bulb or smart lock and know it’ll work with your device. The sound quality on the speaker is great for the price, and you can even hook the device up to your own speaker if you want to get better quality sound out of it. All in all, this is a great option for newcomers to the field.


  • Alexa Will Keep Your Home Safe with Alexa Home Guard

    Alexa Will Keep Your Home Safe with Alexa Home Guard

    Amazon’s Alexa is getting some new functionality for users in the US. The new functionality, Alexa Home Guard, will take steps to keep your home safer from burglars and home invasions. While Amazon has clarified that this new service will be no replacement for a home security service, it can be set up to send messages to your existing home security system.

    Alexa Home Guard

    How it Works

    The Alexa Home Guard command, “Alexa, I’m leaving” will set your Alexa into Home Guard mode. When you step out, Alexa will be on the listen for whatever criteria you’ve set up to listen for. This can include the sound of breaking glass, or the sound of a smoke alarm going off.

    When the system is tripped, you can set up a variety of responses the system goes through in reaction. Firstly, the system can send you a push alert to your phone to let you know what tripped the system, along with a recording of the incident.

    Additionally, you can set the Home Guard system up to bring up your smart lights in an attempt to scare off would-be intruders. While this isn’t exactly the same as having a home security system, it’s a close approximation that is free to use.

    Drawbacks

    While this service will be free and has lots of potential uses, there are a few drawbacks. For one thing, the system has to be listening the entire time you’re away. This could be a concern, given recent issues with Alexa listening in on conversations.

    Another drawback of the Alexa Home Guard system is that it is only listening for specific criteria, like breaking glass and a smoke alarm. More mundane sounds, like the door opening or a window being pushed open, wouldn’t fire off the alert system, making it a bit of a half-measure in terms of full home security. This explains why Amazon warns that this isn’t a replacement for a full-blown home security system.

  • Amazon Alexa to Have Full Spanish-Language Integration in 2019

    Amazon Alexa to Have Full Spanish-Language Integration in 2019

    Spanish-speaking Amazon Echo users have reason to be excited: Amazon has announced that their Alexa voice assistant will support Spanish-language commands before the end of 2019. This news coincides with reports that app developers who have Alexa-enabled features on their apps can request developer kits to develop Spanish-language skills.

    Amazon to Speak Spanish Soon

    Amazon’s Statement

    This news comes courtesy of Amazon themselves. The company made the news public in a blog post relating to the future of Alexa and Alexa-enabled devices.

    “Along with the Echo family of devices, later this year Bose, Facebook, and Sony will bring Alexa Built-in devices and Philips, TP Link, and Honeywell Home will bring Works with Alexa devices that support Spanish in the US,” Stated Amazon in their post.

    Why Spanish?

    Spanish is one of the most-spoken languages on Earth, and the number of markets Amazon is opening itself up to is enormous with this move. More than just making it possible to sell Echo devices in Spanish-speaking countries, this also means that native Spanish-speakers in places like the US can feel more comfortable using the device.

    This could also prove a useful learning tool for people who want to learn Spanish. What better way to learn a language than to speak it daily?

    Smart Homes and Accessibility

    Amazon’s goal, of course, is to get Alexa into as many homes as possible. The smart-home speakers Echo and Show are two of Amazon’s best-selling products, so it makes sense the company would want them to be as accessible as possible.

    If you’re wondering what all the fuss over Alexa is about, consider trying an Amazon Echo Dot, the introductory level smart-home speaker. It starts you off with an Alexa-enabled device and shows the power and convenience of smart speakers. The Echo Dot is available from Amazon for $50 for the third-generation speaker.

  • Should You Get an Amazon Alexa?

    Should You Get an Amazon Alexa?

    Amazon’s ever-popular Alexa is something of a phenomenon. It seems like so many people have Alexa-enabled devices now, so it’s time to ask the question. Should you get an Amazon Alexa? Today we’re going to look at what Alexa does and whether it would be right for you.

    Amazon Alexa

    What is Alexa?

    Alexa is a personal assistant programmed into devices like the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot. Alexa is typically included in smart speakers, though smart devices like the Amazon Echo Show, which sports a screen, also have the personal assistant AI.

    What Does Alexa Do?

    There are a lot of features available through Alexa. For instance, the most common use for the software is to use voice commands to summon up the music you want to hear. Another common use is using Alexa as a base hub for your other smart home devices.

    Smart home integration allows you to do things like control the lights, locks and temperature in your home with just your voice. You can also use your voice to shop on Amazon, adding things to your cart and shopping hands-free.

    Should You Get an Alexa?

    For those who love music but have no desire to get into smart home integration, you should probably get a more traditional speaker. However, if you like the idea of full integration of your smart home technology, then Alexa is the right call.

    Your home guests and your family will likely enjoy the novelty of the voice commands and the convenience of asking Alexa for all your needs. If you have a question, Alexa can Google it for you and read the answer. If you have a home alarm system, you can integrate it through Alexa, making yourself feel safer.

    Bottom Line

    The bottom line is, Alexa is great for technology-minded people who want lots of convenience for a small price. You can get an Amazon Echo Dot for $35 on Amazon, making it one of the least expensive ways to get into the smart home ecosystem.

  • Alexa Recordings Being Monitored by Amazon Employees

    Alexa Recordings Being Monitored by Amazon Employees

    Everyone’s worst fears about Amazon Echo were confirmed this week when Amazon admitted that its employees review audio the devices record. When Amazon introduced the smart speakers, concerns over security dubbed it a “self-imposed listening device”. Now, it turns out, the jokes were spot-on. However, is the recording egregious, or is it in line with Amazon’s promises about the device?

    Fears over Alexa Seemingly Confirmed

    Bloomberg Report

    Bloomberg reported this week that, though most of the audio taken in by Alexa devices is run through a voice recognition software only, some snippets are sent to real people. The employees are sent short snippets of audio picked up by Alexa in order to add annotations.

    According to Amazon, these annotations are strictly to help Alexa get better at listening to commands and responding. However, the presence of real people potentially overhearing their conversations has made some customers leery. What’s to stop Alexa from flat-out spying on you?

     Amazon’s Statement

    “We take the security and privacy of our customers’ personal information seriously,” Amazon emailed to Bloomberg. “We only annotate an extremely small sample of Alexa voice recordings in order [to] improve the customer experience.”

    “Employees do not have direct access to information that can identify the person or account as part of this workflow,” and Amazon spokesperson elaborated. “All information is treated with high confidentiality and we use multi-factor authentication to restrict access, service encryption and audits of our control environment to protect it.”

    Workforce

    According to the Bloomberg report, it’s a rather substantial number of Amazon employees doing this annotation work. The work, not dissimilar from work in call center, has employees interpreting thousands of snippets a week, annotating them and marking them down for further study.

    While Amazon assures customers that there are security safeguards in place to protect privacy, they’ve hardly been forthcoming about the human review process until now. Mistrust of large data-gathering corporations is at an all-time high, so this is a strange look for the massive company. Many consumers are anxious that their conversations are being sold to advertisers, or that their information is otherwise compromised by their own smart speakers.

  • Jeff Bezos Wife to Get 4% of Amazon in Divorce

    Jeff Bezos Wife to Get 4% of Amazon in Divorce

    MacKenzie Bezos, wife of Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, has announced that her divorce from the billionaire is complete. In the agreement, she’ll be getting a 4% stake in Amazon’s stock. That staggering number makes her one of the richest people on the planet, bringing her net worth to around $35 billion.

    MacKenzie Bezos Gets Huge Cut of Amazon

    The Divorce

    Amazon’s stock has fluctuated slightly since the divorce filing became public. However, the announcement of the divorce’s finalization had little impact on Amazon’s stock yesterday.

    The Bezos’ divorce came about in part due to scandals involving Jeff Bezos’ affairs with Lauren Sanchez. After the divorce filing in January, the normally private Jeff Bezos had his private life at the center of unfolding scandals. Adding to the chaos, Bezos has also struck out at the National Enquirer over alleged blackmail of photos he sent to Sanchez during his affair.

    National Enquirer Controversy

    The controversy erupted when Bezos penned a piece for Medium that alleged he was being blackmailed. The National Enquirer threatened to release nude photos of him if he didn’t end an investigation into how they acquired his texts to Sanchez.

    Reports have indicated that Sanchez’ brother, Michael Sanchez, is the one who leaked the messages to the Enquirer. Michael Sanchez has been a longtime source for the tabloid. Sanchez himself has denied being the source of the leaks.

    MacKenzie’s Assets

    The 4% share of Amazon that MacKenzie will be taking with her will still have its voting privileges overseen by Jeff. The $35 billion in worth this gives MacKenzie makes her one of the 30 wealthiest people on the planet. Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos maintains his spot as the richest man on Earth, worth a staggering $115 billion.

    That puts Jeff Bezos a solid $10 billion higher than Bill Gates, who remains the second wealthiest man on Earth. Surprisingly, Bezos retains this title even after giving up 25% of his shares in Amazon.

  • Amazon Cancels its Planned New York Headquarters

    Amazon Cancels its Planned New York Headquarters

    Amazon has announced that it is canceling the construction of a New York headquarters. The project was slated to be an “HQ2” and involved a $3 billion incentive package from New York City.

    Protestors decried the incentive package and largely resisted the idea of Amazon further straining New York’s infrastructure. Another issue protestors brought against Amazon is their largely non-union workforce.

    Amazon HQ2 Canceled

    Amazon’s Statement

    Amazon’s statement says that they had to back down from the project due to pressure from local politicians. Notably, Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, and Bill de Blasio, the mayor, had strong support for the Amazon HQ project.

    “After much thought and deliberation, we’ve decided not to move forward with our plans to build a headquarters for Amazon in Long Island City, Queens. For Amazon, the commitment to build a new headquarters requires positive, collaborative relationships with state and local elected officials who will be supportive over the long-term.”

    Mark Hamrick, an online bank analyst, had harsh words for those who opposed the Amazon HQ project. “For those who didn’t want Amazon to bring the promised 25,000 new jobs and added economic vitality to the area: Be careful what you wish for.”

    Mounting Pressure

    The HQ2 project was abandoned following intense pushback by New Yorkers. Local union supporters and the city council both decried the project as being another example of corporate welfare. The generous incentive package of $3 billion was considered unseemly, given that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is the wealthiest man on Earth.

    City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer had words of encouragement for the opposition to the Amazon headquarters. “Defeating an unprecedented act of corporate welfare is a triumph that should change the way we do economic development deals in our city and state forever,” Van Bramer stated.

    A statement given on Thursday by Chelsea Connor, head of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, was quite an indictment of Amazon. “Rather than addressing the legitimate concerns that have been raised by many New Yorkers, Amazon says you do it our way or not at all, we will not even consider the concerns of New Yorkers – that’s not what a responsible business would do.”

  • Eero Wi-Fi Routers Acquired by Amazon

    Eero Wi-Fi Routers Acquired by Amazon

    Amazon announced yesterday that it has acquired mesh-router manufacturer Eero. Eero is a huge name in the world of mesh-network routers, and this move positions Amazon in a strong place for its Echo hardware. Eero is based in the Bay Area, where it has been operating since 2015. While neither company stated how much money the acquisition cost, Eero has previously secured $90 million in venture capital funding.

    Eero Acquired by Amazon

    Amazon’s Statement

    Amazon is certainly positioning this new technology to bolster their smart-home business. Amazon’s Senior Vice President of Devices and Services, Dave Limp, issued a public statement regarding the acquisition.

    “We are incredibly impressed with the Eero team and how quickly they invented a WiFi solution that makes connected devices just work. We have a shared vision that the smart home experience can get even easier, and we’re committed to continue innovating on behalf of customers.”

    If there was any doubt that this move was to shore up Amazon’s smart home devices, Limp’s statement should dispel it. This mesh router tech will allow for tighter communication between Echo devices and more robust connectivity.

    Eero’s Statement

    Nick Weaver, the chief of Eero, issued a statement following the acquisition’s news breaking.

    “From the beginning, Eero’s mission has been to make the technology in homes just work. We started with WiFi because it’s the foundation of the modern home. Every customer deserves reliable and secure WiFi in every room. By joining the Amazon family, we’re excited to learn from and work closely with a team that is defining the future of the home, accelerate our mission, and bring Eero systems to more customers around the globe.”

    This acquisition’s news comes amid a tumultuous time for Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. At time of writing, Bezos is embroiled in a battle with the National Enquirer and its parent company over alleged blackmail.

  • The Gift of Music: How to Do It the Right Way

    The Gift of Music: How to Do It the Right Way

    Everyone has those people in life that are very hard to shop for. I mean what are you to get the person that has everything? Music. Music is always the best gift,  and for the people that have everything, it’s often the only gift. Music is universal and received by everyone. No one can have all of it or appreciate all of it,  which makes it such a great gift.

    The best part about giving music as a gift is there are so many different ways to do it. You can give equipment, earbuds, speakers, listening peripherals, or just new music that you think they would enjoy. The options are virtually endless. Let’s take a look at some of the best music gift ideas you can give your friends, family,  and loved ones.

    Streaming Subscriptions

    When gifting music the first place to start is the easiest place to start. That is a subscription to new music. Starting at $9.99 a month there is a plethora of streaming music subscription services. The subscriptions will allow you to stream, download, and listen to unlimited music, new, retro or classic. Whatever you wanna hear, whenever you wanna hear it.

    The first one I would mention is Apple Music. Apple Music has the largest subscription-based of users as well as the largest database of music. They’ve been compiling music in their iTunes software since the beginning of digital music. Almost all the music you could ever want to listen to is there is a very easy to use, intuitive,  user-friendly platform that syncs perfectly amongst all your iOS devices.

    The next option is Amazon’s Prime Music. Prime Music functions mostly like the Apple subscription services. Prime music will sync across all your Amazon prime devices,  you can even download the prime music app to your iOS or Android devices.

    This provides flexibility in your multiple and various OS mobile devices. There are also services like Iheartradio, Pandora, and Spotify. All the services will run you $9.99 a month and make an excellent gift for anyone who doesn’t have unlimited streaming music service.

    Harmonica?

    Maybe you want something tangible to give? Another great option to give somebody is the gift of a musical instrument. Regardless of talent level, Giving the gift of a musical instrument is always welcome. This will give you some options as well, the classic iconic instrument, a keyboard or guitar,  or you can get interesting like a banjo or harmonica. It’s fun, always remembered, and just may improve someone’s life.  If that’s not exactly what you been looking for, Here are some specific music listening devices that will make great gifts.

    Amazon Echo

    The Amazon Echo is one of Amazon’s premier speaker systems. It is an elegant and easy to use this quality speaker. It doubles as a speaker for most of your devices and comes with Amazon’s Alexa voice-enabled assistant fully built in. Full cloud sync-ability to prime music,  you can add in that subscription for a total music package. Synchronization across your devices lets the Amazon echo provide the ultimate in home music listening enjoyment. The Echo gives the gift of high-quality speaker along with the content to play through it.

    The Sonos Vinyl Set

    Are you looking for a gift for someone who likes that hands-on music experience? Do they like the sound they can feel and touch? At the same time want to have that digital proficiency and quality without suffering the nostalgic sound of crackles and pops. Look no further than Sonos’s new vinyl set. Picture this, the Play:5, the best-sounding, most powerful speaker, matched with the Pro-Ject vinyl record player, allowing you to stream your vinyl to every room. Masterful.

    Did I mention, the Pro-Ject includes built-in phono preamp. Outstanding. They will be able to just plug in any audio device, from a record player to a friend’s phone, and listen to their favorite music on the fantastic Play:5. Like all Sonos speakers, it is expandable.  The Sonos vinyl easily let you go from streaming your favorite music and high-quality sounds to spinning from your own record collection.

    Give the gift of streaming vinyl across the connected Sonos speakers to every room in a pure, balanced sound,  unmatched by anybody else in the industry. Give the gift of their own musical completion, The Sonos Vinyl set.

    Beats Studio3

    You could just try keeping it simple and just go with the old trusty Beats headsets. When you want to give the gift of quality music look no further than beats headphones. The best of the beats headphones are the Beats. Featuring intuitive balanced, pure noise canceling functionality in the most robust and authentic sounding headphones on the market.

    These headsets function flawlessly regardless of the situation or noisy environment that you’re in,  always providing the perfect pure balance sound and they look pretty great.

  • Best Amazon Alexa Features: Is it Time for You to Get an Echo Device?

    Best Amazon Alexa Features: Is it Time for You to Get an Echo Device?

    Amazon’s Alexa personal assistant can be found in a number of the company’s hardware releases. The Echo line of smart home hubs as well as the Fire TV line have been using Alexa for a few years now. Today we’re looking at some of the best Amazon Alexa features to help you decide whether one of these devices is right for you.

    Alternatively, if you’re already an Alexa user, maybe you’ll learn about some new features you didn’t know about. There are so many Alexa features that it’s unlikely you’ve seen them all! It’s hard to overestimate just how many skills Alexa has. You might even learn about some new ways to use the technology in this article.

    Best Amazon Alexa Features

    Simple and Easy

    Alexa’s best features are often her simplest. If you’re getting ready for work and want to know how to dress for the day, simply ask Alexa about the weather. Rather than having to pull out your phone and check the weather app, Alexa can just read it off to you as you get ready. What’s more, she’ll tell you the expected high and low and if any precipitation is expected, in addition to the current temperature.

    Another excellent feature Alexa has built-in is simply telling time. It sounds like such a small thing but asking for the time and having it quickly announced back to you is about as convenient as it gets. If your phone is far away, or dead, it can be useful to quickly find out what time it is just by asking.

    The most useful “simple” task we’ve found that Alexa handles is setting timers while we’re cooking. Since the device is hands-free, you can call out to start a timer while you’re in the middle of cooking a meal or some other task. She’ll alert you when the timer is up, and you need only tell her to stop to make the alert go away. Easy and simple, simple and easy!

    Books

    You can have Alexa read your Kindle books to you. It’s a really cool way to keep up with the books you’re trying to read even while you’re doing things like cleaning or cooking. You can have her pause, skip ahead or back, and even skip to different chapters. It’s essentially a text-to-speech audiobook. There’s not a lot of personality to her voice, but she’ll keep you up-to-speed on your favorites.

    Additionally, you can have Alexa playback your Audible audiobooks. Audible sports a ton of books read aloud by professional voice actors, and they have much more in-depth emotional heft than a machine simply converting text-to-speech. That said, Audible audiobooks tend to cost a bit more than simply buying the book on Kindle.

    Organizing

    If you want, you can use Alexa to organize your activities. Telling her to add items to a shopping list lets you see them the next time you open Amazon. Alternatively, you can just flat-out shop through Alexa. You can use your voice to reorder common items or even browse Amazon’s online inventory.

    If you sync your Alexa with your Google Calendar, you can also ask Alexa to tell you what upcoming events you have. Asking her makes it easier on you, since you can be getting ready in the morning or cleaning and be reminded of what you have coming up later that day or week.

    Similarly, Alexa can set alarms for you so that you don’t miss important deadlines. If you need to leave at a certain time so that you don’t miss the window to be on time, have Alexa tell you when it’s time!

    Hosting

    The most advertised aspect of Amazon’s Alexa is her ability to act as an impromptu DJ. You can call out for Alexa to start playing music by naming an artist, genre or song you want to hear. The digital assistant grabs the song off of Prime Music and begins playback quickly. It’s very intuitive to tell the device to pause, skip or start over.

    Alexa can also play music through Spotify if you have an account and link it with your device.

    If you have house guests over and want to set the mood for a gathering, Alexa is your friend. If you’ve invested in smart lights like Philips Hue, you can have Alexa adjust the lights for you. Colors, intensity and more can be switched with your voice and on the fly. Be ready to wow your guests when you switch the mood of a room with music and lights just by telling Alexa which pre-sets to use.