Tag • #alexa

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Amazon exec responsible for money-losers like Alexa and Fire Phone is departing

news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Tuesday, 15 August, 2023 - 16:33 · 1 minute

Enlarge / Amazon's Astro, one of the hardware projects overseen by departing SVP David Limp. (credit: Amazon)

Amazon senior vice president of devices and services David Limp will be leaving the company "before the end of the year," according to an Amazon spokesperson speaking to The Wall Street Journal . Limp has been with the company since 2010 and has overseen the development of major Amazon projects like the Echo smart speakers, the Alexa voice assistant, the Fire tablets and Fire TV devices, and the Amazon Appstore.

Amazon's first Kindle e-readers pre-date Limp's tenure, but the company's products since then have all followed the same basic formula: to drive more sales on Amazon. Hardware like the Fire tablets, Fire TV sticks, and Echo smart speakers are essentially sold at cost, with the hopes that they'll generate revenue once they're in users' homes.

The problem with that strategy is that even phenomenally successful products can fail if people use them in ways that don't make money for Amazon. That's the story of the Echo smart speaker and Alexa voice assistant, which as of late 2022 had reportedly lost Amazon some $10 billion because people mainly use Alexa to play music and check the weather and not to spend money.

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Amazon’s big dreams for Alexa fall short

news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Monday, 6 March, 2023 - 16:04

Enlarge (credit: Anadolu via Getty Images )

It has been more than a decade since Jeff Bezos excitedly sketched out his vision for Alexa on a whiteboard at Amazon’s headquarters. His voice assistant would help do all manner of tasks, such as shop online, control gadgets, or even read kids a bedtime story.

But the Amazon founder’s grand vision of a new computing platform controlled by voice has fallen short. As hype in the tech world turns feverishly to generative AI as the “next big thing,” the moment has caused many to ask hard questions of the previous “next big thing”—the much-lauded voice assistants from Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft, and others.

A “grow grow grow” culture described by one former Amazon Alexa marketing executive has now shifted to a more intense focus on how the device can help the e-commerce giant make money.

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A bunch of Amazon devices are on sale for Prime Day, some at more than half off

Corey Gaskin · news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Tuesday, 13 October, 2020 - 13:34 · 1 minute

Enlarge / Amazon's waterproof Kindle Paperwhite. (credit: Valentina Palladino)

Amazon Prime Day is upon us once again, folks. As it does every year, the sales event brings discounts to thousands of products—with the company’s own devices getting some of the biggest price cuts. This year, we have markdowns across the board , ranging from services like Amazon Music and Audible to Kindle, Fire, and Echo devices.

So, if you’re seeking to set up your smart home, buy a new e-reader, tablet, streaming device, DVR alternative, or even a set of security cameras, we've gathered Prime Day's best Amazon device deals in one place for your convenience. As a reminder, the Prime Day offers below are only available to Prime subscribers , and the event itself will last until 12am PT on October 14.

Best Kindle e-reader and Fire tablet deals of Prime Day 2020

The Amazon Fire HD 10 tablet. (credit: Valentina Palladino)

For the budding or long-time bookworm, the Kindle Paperwhite is the best e-reader you can buy . The waterproof device is available in a classic black casing or a handful of playful, colorful alternatives for kids, who unfortunately aren't waterproof. The former in particular is down to $80, which is the lowest price we've tracked.

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Amazon Prime Day was just announced, and some deals have already started

Corey Gaskin · news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Monday, 28 September, 2020 - 18:40

Amazon Prime Day was just announced, and some deals have already started

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Amazon Prime Day has officially been announced for October 13 and 14 of this year, and though it's later than usual, Amazon is making sure to put some early deals in place to get buyers salivating in the lead-up.

It's not just your typical swarm of Amazon devices seeing early discounts, though there's much of that, too. Amazon is focusing on small businesses this year, offering incentives to shop at them on Amazon before Prime Day, and making it easier to shop by region or owner of the local business. The company is also offering a $10 reimbursement in the form of a Prime Day credit for any purchases of $10 or more made with eligible small businesses from now through October 12. From this landing page, you can look through businesses by their local region or whether they are woman- or Black-owned, for instance.

In fact, it's a bigger Prime Day party than ever before, now including Turkey and Brazil in the festivities for the first time.

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New Amazon hardware: Ring drones, Echo Dot 4th Gen, Wi-Fi 6 Eero and more

Jim Salter · news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Thursday, 24 September, 2020 - 21:20 · 1 minute

Enlarge / One of many devices introduced today, the 4th-generation Echo devices is a cloth-covered sphere with a halo at the base, contrasting with the squat plastic cylinders of earlier generation Echoes. (credit: Amazon)

Today at Amazon's hardware launch event, the company announced new Ring, Echo, Eero, and Fire devices. Amazon also announced a new gaming service called Luna , which we're covering in its own article .

Ring Always Home Cam

The Ring Always Home cam is a tiny, self-docking drone that flies around inside your house. (credit: Amazon)

The Ring Always Home Cam is the newest device in the Ring family, which is better known for doorbells with cameras in them. The Always Home Cam is a tiny, self-docking drone designed to fly around inside your home, streaming video off to the cloud for review in smartphone apps. Ring founder Jamie Siminoff says the Always Home Cam is intended to provide multiple interior viewpoints without the need for multiple interior cameras and that it's an "obvious product that's very hard to build."

The drone operates fully autonomously, but the setup procedure involves mapping areas of the house in which it's allowed to fly and what paths it's allowed to take. After setup, the drone can be asked to fly directly, or it can fly on its own to visit disturbances detected by Ring alarm systems. Its 1080p camera is blocked by the dock itself, so if the drone is not in flight, it's not streaming or recording. Like most small drones, it integrates automatic obstacle avoidance and uses propeller shrouds to protect both the blades themselves and any objects, persons, or pets that might otherwise encounter them.

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Des chercheurs ont infecté des sites d'Amazon pour pirater Alexa

Julien Cadot · news.movim.eu / Numerama · Thursday, 13 August, 2020 - 10:22

Et si, quand vous demandiez à Alexa de lire la météo, elle activait des caméras et envoyait un flux d'image vers l'extérieur ? [Lire la suite]

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