Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Amazon Echo / Alexa

Amazon Echo (shortened to Echo and known colloquially as “Alexa”) is a brand of smart speakers developed by Amazon. Echo devices connect to the voice-controlled intelligent personal assistant service Alexa, which responds to the names “Alexa”, “Echo”, or “Computer”. The features of the device include: voice interaction, music playback, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, and playing audiobooks, in addition to providing weather, traffic and other real-time information. It can also control several smart devices, acting as a home automation hub.

Mesh WiFi startup Eero is now officially part of Amazon

Amazon has officially acquired Eero, the three-year old mesh WiFi startup based in San Francisco. Like other mesh WiFi systems, Eero's routers can be...

Alexa Developer Rewards Program Expands to France, Italy, and Spain

We’re excited to announce that we have expanded the Alexa Developer Rewards program to France, Italy, and Spain. Now, you can make money...

Conversation with Stoked Skills’ Gal Shenar: How to Monetize Your Alexa Skill While Helping...

I recently had a chance to speak with Gal Shenar, founder of voice games studio Stoked Skills, about best practices for building voice-first games....

Innovations from the 2018 Alexa Prize

March 4 marked the kickoff of the third Alexa Prize Socialbot Grand Challenge, in which university teams build socialbots capable of conversing on a...

How to Control Your Roku Device with Amazon Alexa

Josh Hendrickson You can already voice control Roku with the proper remote or with Google Assistant. But if you have an Echo, you were out...

Edge Cases to Consider When Choosing an Invocation Name for Your Alexa Skill

An Alexa skill’s invocation name is the word or short phrase that is used to launch a skill. Great invocation names are memorable and...

Alexa Game Skill “Would You Rather for Family” Adds In-Skill Purchasing and Sees Revenue...

When Nidhi Agarwal got her first Amazon Echo in 2016, it was an instant hit with her family. She never imagined that less than...

Latest article

What Is the Mirai Botnet, and How Can I Protect My Devices?

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Maxim Apryatin/Shutterstock.com First discovered in 2016, the Mirai botnet took over an unprecedented number of devices and dealt massive damage to the internet. Now it’s...

Hands-On With Apple’s New Second-Generation AirPods

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Apple's second-generation AirPods, announced last week, started showing up on people's doorsteps this morning and also became available for purchase in Apple retail stores....

Awair Element indoor air-quality monitor review: New look, lower price tag, same accurate readings

The Awair Element is the latest indoor air-quality monitor from Awair, a company that has consistently put out some of the best products in...