CES is the world’s gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies. Held in Las Vegas every year, it has served as the proving ground for innovators and breakthrough technologies for more than 40 years—the global stage where next-generation innovations are introduced to the marketplace. This year’s CES included several Alexa announcements, below is a recap.
Ford is looking to use new SYNC Connect technology to link vehicles with the Amazon cloud- based voice service Alexa, which would allow customers to access their vehicle from inside their home. Using Amazon Echo, a hands-free speaker and voice command device that interfaces with Alexa, Ford owners could request assistance with various functions of their car including:
While at home, a Ford owner would experience an interaction such as this:
Owner: “Alexa, ask my Ford for my scheduled car start time.”
Alexa: “Here is the list of your current go times. You have a start time set for Monday at 7 a.m., with a cabin temperature set to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Tuesday at 5:45 a.m., with a cabin temperature set to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.”
Owner: “Alexa, ask my Ford for my car’s driving range.”
Alexa: “You have an available range of 56 miles.”
Alexa also provides a link to a variety of Internet-enabled smart devices, such as lights, home security systems, automatic garage doors and more.
From inside the vehicle, a driver would access Alexa through the steering wheel-mounted voice recognition button, allowing the driver to make requests of connected smart devices or functions of Alexa, including weather reports, music, shopping lists and more.
On the move, a driver could ask and receive answers to the following:
“Alexa, is my garage door closed?”
“Alexa, turn my porch lights on.”
“Alexa, when is my next appointment?”
For more information, read the full announcement here.
Invoxia, a French tech company, today announced that Triby is the first third-party device to announce integration with the Amazon Alexa Voice Service, after the Amazon devices Echo and the all-new Fire TV. Triby with voice recognition powered by Amazon Alexa will be available in Spring 2016.
Triby is a portable connected speaker designed for the kitchen (it has a magnetic back and a durable design), and it’s already a must-have entertainment and social hub. It streams radio stations and Spotify playlists at the touch of a button with state-of-the art sound quality. It also connects busy families who want to stay in touch throughout the day with hands-free VoIP & mobile calls, and personal doodles on its connected message board. Amazon Alexa will turn Triby into a smart kitchen assistant. Simply say “Alexa, play jazz” and Triby will play a jazz playlist, or “Alexa, ask Triby to call Mom” and Triby will place the call. Your wish instantly becomes Triby’s command.
Triby has been awarded CES 2016 Innovation awards in the Portable Media Players and Accessories and Wireless Handsets categories.
For more information, read the full announcement here.
Vivint Smart Home, a leading provider of smart home technology, announced it is working with Amazon to connect its Vivint Sky smart home platform with Amazon Echo.
Vivint customers can talk to Alexa, the cloud-based voice service that powers Amazon Echo, using the Vivint skill and their home will respond with context-aware actions. For example, simply saying “Alexa, tell Vivint I’m going to bed” can turn off the lights, lock the doors, arm the security system and turn down the thermostat.
Customers can connect Amazon Echo to their Vivint smart home in three easy steps using the Amazon Alexa app. From inside the home, users now have the option to control their smart home using their voice with Amazon Echo, or to use the Vivint SkyControl panel or Vivint mobile app.
Using Amazon Echo, customers can control the following smart home experiences using the Vivint skill:
For more information, read the full announcement here.
Alarm.com, the leading platform solution for the smart home, announced smart home voice control for lights and smart thermostats through a new integration with Amazon Echo. Alarm.com users can now control the lights in their smart home with the hands-free convenience of voice commands. With Amazon Echo and the Amazon cloud-based voice service Alexa, a simple spoken command, such as “Alexa, turn on the living room lights”, triggers the home to respond.
With customized light groups and names, Alarm.com users can easily create personalized controls for their home. They can quickly adjust all the lights in a particular room or floor or they can name specific lights to enable unique commands such as “Alexa, turn on the Christmas tree lights".
In addition, Alarm.com announced plans to expand voice control across its broad ecosystem of connected devices through the Alexa Skills Kit. Beginning with smart thermostat control, Alarm.com will provide complete, hands-free control of the home’s comfort and ambience.
For more information, read the full announcement here.
Ooma, Inc. (NYSE: OOMA), a leading smart business and home communications platform, now integrates with Amazon Echo to provide free phone calls to Amazon Echo users and advanced voice-enabled calling capabilities to Ooma Telo users. This newest integration complements Ooma’s portfolio of connected home offerings, including integrations with Nest, Apple Watch, Android Wear, Philips Hue, WeMo LIFX and Dropbox.
Free calling for Amazon Echo users
Amazon Echo customers can now ask Alexa, the Amazon voice service, , to initiate phone calls using voice commands over Ooma’s cloud platform. The Ooma Skill can be enabled from the Amazon Alexa App and activated for free by entering any phone number, including mobile and landline numbers.
“Alexa, use Ooma to call Mom”
For current Ooma Telo owners, Amazon’s voice-enabled smart assistant, Alexa, allows users to initiate phone calls using voice commands. The call recipient can be identified by name if the contact information is entered into the Ooma online contact list. Alexa can also trigger playing voicemails by using the voice-command, “Alexa, use Ooma to play voicemail.”
For more information, read the full announcement here.
-Dave (@TheDaveDev)