Alexa

A. Alexa is Amazon’s voice AI. Alexa lives in the cloud and is happy to help anywhere there's internet access and a device that can connect to Alexa. Making Alexa part of your day is as simple as asking a question. Alexa can play your favorite song, read the latest headlines, dim the lights in your living room, and more. Basically, Alexa wants to make your life easier, more meaningful, and more fun by helping you voice control your world—both at home and on the go. A. Alexa and Echo work hand in hand—so you don’t have to use your hands. While there are lots of Echo devices, there’s only one Alexa. Alexa puts the smart in Echo smart speakers, screens, and wearables. Alexa lives in the cloud, which means you can ask Alexa for help wherever you find Alexa —in Echo, Fire TV, Fire tablets, and other Alexa-compatible devices. Alexa is even in the Alexa app on your smartphone. A. “Works with Alexa” devices are those you can control using the Alexa voice service, such as a smart light bulb, thermostat, or plug. “Alexa Built-in” describes third-party devices that let you access the Alexa voice service. For example, you can control a Works with Alexa device using your voice by saying “Alexa, turn on the light” to an Alexa Built-in device (or an Amazon device with Alexa, such as an Echo smart speaker or smart display). Stream millions of songs Find, attract, and engage customers Score deals on fashion brands Books, art & collectibles Audiobook Publishing Made ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Amazon agreed Wednesday to pay a $25 million civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations it violated a child privacy law and deceived parents by keeping for years kids’ voice and location data recorded by its popular Alexa voice assistant. Separately, the company agreed to pay $5.8 million in customer refunds for alleged privacy violations involving its doorbell camera Ring. READ MORE: Amid layoffs, Amazon pauses construction on second headquarters in Virginia The Alexa-related action orders Amazon to overhaul its data deletion practices and impose stricter, more transparent privacy measures. It also obliges the tech giant to delete certain data collected by its internet-connected digital assistant, which people use for everything from checking the weather to playing games and queueing up music. “Amazon’s history of misleading parents, keeping children’s recordings indefinitely, and flouting parents’ deletion requests violated COPPA (the Child Online Privacy Protection Act) and sacrificed privacy for profits,” Samuel Levine, the FCT consumer protection chief, said in a statement. The 1998 law is designed to shield children from online harms. FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya said in a statement that “when parents asked Amazon to delete their kids’ Alexa voice data, the company did not delete all of it.” The agency ordered the company to delete inactive child accounts as well as certain voice and geolocation data. Amazon kept the kids’ data t...

Did that headline make you do a double-take? That's understandable. What kind of person has an Amazon device in every room? Well, call me strange, but don't judge before you hear me out. Why? Because there are so many neat tricks you can do with that Echo Dotyou have laying around or that Amazon Echo speakerthat's slowly getting dusty in the corner of your room. I had two Echo Dots -- both white third-gen models that I'd since replaced with the better-sounding fourth-gen "orbs." But those old hockey pucks still rock, especially when paired with my black Echo Show 8, so I dug them out and found homes for both of them. One third-gen Dot went in my half-bath, the other in my upstairs hallway -- bringing my menagerie of Alexa devices up to a whopping 11 smart speakers and smart displays. That means I now have one Alexa speaker or display every few feet throughout my home. Is that overkill? Yeah, you could say that. Should you still put an Alexa device in your bedroom and bathroom and garage (you get the gist!) anyway? Well, absolutely. Once you do, you'll wonder why you never did it before. That's because there are some unique advantages to keeping a houseful of Alexa devices. Here are all of the neat tricks you can implement with those Amazon gadgets you already have laying around, plus some tips on how to keep everything in order. And if you're itching to purchase some new Echo devices, check out the best Alexa devices, the best cheap Alexa devices and the best smart display...

Stream millions of songs Find, attract, and engage customers Score deals on fashion brands Books, art & collectibles Audiobook Publishing Made Easy Start a Selling Account Everything For Your Business Ship Orders Internationally Experienced Pros Happiness Guarantee Sell your original Digital Educational Resources Scalable Cloud Computing Services Listen to Books & Original Audio Performances Books With Free Delivery Worldwide Find Movie Box Office Data Thousands of Digital Comics Digital Photography Sewing, Quilting & Knitting Book reviews & recommendations Movies, TV & Celebrities Get Info Entertainment Professionals Need Indie Digital & Print Publishing Made Easy Video Distribution Made Easy Designer Fashion Brands Deals and Shenanigans Shoes & Clothing Smart Home Security Systems Stream 4K Video in Every Room Smart Security for Every Home Real-Time Crime & Safety Alerts Top subscription boxes – right to your door Pharmacy Simplified

Macy Meyer is a N.C. native who graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2021 with a B.A. in English and Journalism. She currently resides in Charlotte, N.C., where she has been working as an Editor I, covering a variety of topics across CNET's Home and Wellness teams, including home security, fitness and nutrition, smart home tech and more. Prior to her time at CNET, Macy was featured in The News & Observer, The Charlotte Observer, INDY Week, and other state and national publications. In each article, Macy helps readers get the most out of their home and wellness. When Macy isn't writing, she's volunteering, exploring the town or watching sports. Expertise Macy covers a variety of topics across CNET's Home and Wellness teams, including home security, smart home tech, fitness, nutrition, travel, lifestyle and more. Credentials • Macy has been working for CNET for coming on 2 years. Prior to CNET, Macy received a North Carolina College Media Association award in sports writing. You already know you can give Alexa commands on your Echo devices, but did you know that you can also talk to Alexa on your iPhone? Think of it as taking all of the great features of Alexa, but to go. Whether you've just purchased a new iPhone 14or are still hanging onto another model, it's a great time to swap Siri for Alexa. Siri is fine (and Apple added a couple updates for its virtual assistant in iOS 16), but if you would rather converse with Amazon's trusty voice assistant, you can just add the iOS Al...

Amazon reader comments 510 with Amazon is going through the biggest layoffs in the company's history right now, with a plan to eliminate some Alexa has been around for 10 years and has been a trailblazing voice assistant that was copied quite a bit by Google and Apple. Alexa never managed to create an ongoing revenue stream, though, so Alexa doesn't really make any money. The Alexa division is part of the "Worldwide Digital" group along with Amazon Prime video, and Business Insider says that division lost $3 billion in just the first quarter of 2022, with "the vast majority" of the losses blamed on Alexa. That is apparently double the losses of any other division, and the report says the hardware team is on pace to lose $10 billion this year. It sounds like Amazon is tired of burning through all that cash. A division in crisis The BI report spoke with "a dozen current and former employees on the company's hardware team," who described "a division in crisis." Just about every plan to monetize Alexa has failed, with one former employee calling Alexa "a colossal failure of imagination," and "a wasted opportunity." This month's layoffs are the end result of years of trying to turn things around. Alexa was given a huge runway at the company, back when it was reportedly the "pet project" of former CEO Jeff Bezos. An all-hands crisis meeting took place in 2019 to try to turn the monetization problem around, but that was fruitless. By late 2019, Alexa saw a hiring freeze, and Bezo...

Macy Meyer is a N.C. native who graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2021 with a B.A. in English and Journalism. She currently resides in Charlotte, N.C., where she has been working as an Editor I, covering a variety of topics across CNET's Home and Wellness teams, including home security, fitness and nutrition, smart home tech and more. Prior to her time at CNET, Macy was featured in The News & Observer, The Charlotte Observer, INDY Week, and other state and national publications. In each article, Macy helps readers get the most out of their home and wellness. When Macy isn't writing, she's volunteering, exploring the town or watching sports. Expertise Macy covers a variety of topics across CNET's Home and Wellness teams, including home security, smart home tech, fitness, nutrition, travel, lifestyle and more. Credentials • Macy has been working for CNET for coming on 2 years. Prior to CNET, Macy received a North Carolina College Media Association award in sports writing. Did that headline make you do a double-take? That's understandable. What kind of person has an Amazon device in every room? Well, call me strange, but don't judge before you hear me out. Why? Because there are so many neat tricks you can do with that Echo Dotyou have laying around or that Amazon Echo speakerthat's slowly getting dusty in the corner of your room. I had two Echo Dots -- both white third-gen models that I'd since replaced with the better-sounding fourth-gen "orbs." But those old hockey pucks s...

You already know you can give Alexa commands on your Echo devices, but did you know that you can also talk to Alexa on your iPhone? Think of it as taking all of the great features of Alexa, but to go. Whether you've just purchased a new iPhone 14or are still hanging onto another model, it's a great time to swap Siri for Alexa. Siri is fine (and Apple added a couple updates for its virtual assistant in iOS 16), but if you would rather converse with Amazon's trusty voice assistant, you can just add the iOS Alexa app widget to your iPhone or iPad home screen. Once you set it up, one tap brings up the assistant you'd prefer to talk to. It's no big secret -- nearly every smart home device on the planet works with Alexa -- but for Siri and HomeKit, your options are more limited. Not to mention, Siri sometimes gets choked up and stops responding to basic requests (at least, it does on my iPhone). You may be ready to give up on Siri. Alexa, on the other hand, is nearly always available, accurate and downright friendly. And Amazon's voice assistant even has a different name and voice option. If you love having Alexa set timers and reminders, turn on lights and answer questions when you're at home, wait'll you start talking to Alexa on your iPhone when you're out and about. Siri is fine and all, but wouldn't you rather talk to Alexa? Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET Alexa can't totally replace Siri, but it doesn't really matter There are some functions only Siri can perform: changing...

Amazon reader comments 510 with Amazon is going through the biggest layoffs in the company's history right now, with a plan to eliminate some Alexa has been around for 10 years and has been a trailblazing voice assistant that was copied quite a bit by Google and Apple. Alexa never managed to create an ongoing revenue stream, though, so Alexa doesn't really make any money. The Alexa division is part of the "Worldwide Digital" group along with Amazon Prime video, and Business Insider says that division lost $3 billion in just the first quarter of 2022, with "the vast majority" of the losses blamed on Alexa. That is apparently double the losses of any other division, and the report says the hardware team is on pace to lose $10 billion this year. It sounds like Amazon is tired of burning through all that cash. A division in crisis The BI report spoke with "a dozen current and former employees on the company's hardware team," who described "a division in crisis." Just about every plan to monetize Alexa has failed, with one former employee calling Alexa "a colossal failure of imagination," and "a wasted opportunity." This month's layoffs are the end result of years of trying to turn things around. Alexa was given a huge runway at the company, back when it was reportedly the "pet project" of former CEO Jeff Bezos. An all-hands crisis meeting took place in 2019 to try to turn the monetization problem around, but that was fruitless. By late 2019, Alexa saw a hiring freeze, and Bezo...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Amazon agreed Wednesday to pay a $25 million civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations it violated a child privacy law and deceived parents by keeping for years kids’ voice and location data recorded by its popular Alexa voice assistant. Separately, the company agreed to pay $5.8 million in customer refunds for alleged privacy violations involving its doorbell camera Ring. READ MORE: Amid layoffs, Amazon pauses construction on second headquarters in Virginia The Alexa-related action orders Amazon to overhaul its data deletion practices and impose stricter, more transparent privacy measures. It also obliges the tech giant to delete certain data collected by its internet-connected digital assistant, which people use for everything from checking the weather to playing games and queueing up music. “Amazon’s history of misleading parents, keeping children’s recordings indefinitely, and flouting parents’ deletion requests violated COPPA (the Child Online Privacy Protection Act) and sacrificed privacy for profits,” Samuel Levine, the FCT consumer protection chief, said in a statement. The 1998 law is designed to shield children from online harms. FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya said in a statement that “when parents asked Amazon to delete their kids’ Alexa voice data, the company did not delete all of it.” The agency ordered the company to delete inactive child accounts as well as certain voice and geolocation data. Amazon kept the kids’ data t...