You Can Now Bother Underpaid Kohl's Workers With Your Amazon Regrets

Kohl’s announced this morning that it will start accepting Amazon returns at all 1,150 of its stores starting in July. There’s no extra charge for the service.Read more...
Tags: Kohls, Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Amazon, Fire TV, Amazon Fire, Tablets, Amazon Returns

SiriusXM’s new streaming-only ‘Essential’ plan targets smart speaker owners

Last week, and rolled out free music streaming services to cater to the growing base of smart speaker owners. Now, SiriusXM is going after this market, too. The company has launched a new plan called SiriusXM Essential which targets those who listen in-home and on mobile devices, but not in cars. The streaming-only plan is also more affordable — $8 per month, versus the $15.99 per month (and up) plans for SiriusXM’s satellite radio service for cars. With a subscription to Essential, customer...
Tags: Google, Music, Media, Tech, Streaming Music, Amazon Echo, Streaming Service, XTRA, SiriusXM, Xbox Sony, Matt Epstein, Smart Speakers, Pandora Now, Amazon Alexa Amazon Fire TV Chromecast Apple

U-tec | Ultraloq: U-Bolt Pro: The Ultimate 6 in 1 Smart DeadBolt Review

Ultraloq on Indiegogo.com Overview U-Bolt Pro is the most secure, and the most versatile deadbolt ever created. With Dual 128-bit AES Dynamic Key Encryption and premium alloy construction, it is unbreakable both physically and digitally. Never get locked outside with 6 ways to unlock with or without your smartphone: – Smartphone App – Fingerprint – Passcode – Proximity Unlock – Magic Shake – Mechanical Key No more hiding or lost keys. Your smartphone is your key. Lock or unlock with U-te...
Tags: Reviews, Apps, US, Seo, Home Automation, Amazon Echo, AES, Chris Voss, Smart DeadBolt Review, Indiegogo com Overview U Bolt Pro, Ultraloq U Bolt, Ekey Grant, DIY Installation Ultraloq U Bolt

Try Alexa's nerdiest Easter eggs on your Amazon Echo

Spend the holiday weekend prodding Alexa with silly questions
Tags: Features, Amazon Echo, Alexa

Amazon has discounted a lot of its best devices, including the Echo, Kindle, and Fire TV

Insider Picks writes about products and services to help you navigate when shopping online. Insider Inc. receives a commission from our affiliate partners when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective. Amazon's hardware is smart, powerful, and affordable even when it's not on sale. For a limited time, Amazon is discounting almost all its devices, so you can get them for an even better price. Whether you're looking for an Amazon Echo ...
Tags: Amazon, Trends, Philips, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Amazon Fire, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Amazon Fire TV Cube, Insider Inc, Echo Kindle and Fire TV, Amazon Fire TV Deals The Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick Amazon Fire TV Cube, Amazon Fire Tablet Deals Amazon, Kindle Store Kindle

The best Amazon Echo tips and tricks to use around the house

Amazon's voice assistant Alexa has plenty of neat skills. So many, in fact, it seems like new ones appear every day. We've rounded up the top Echo tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your virtual assistant. The post The best Amazon Echo tips and tricks to use around the house appeared first on Digital Trends.
Tags: Amazon, Home, Trends, Tips, Smart Home, Amazon Echo, Alexa

Amazon launches a certification program for Alexa skill developers

Developers building voice-enabled applications for Amazon Echo and other Alexa-powered devices will now have a new way to validate their abilities, with Amazon’s launch of a new AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder – Specialty certification. This is the first time Amazon has offered a certification program for Alexa developers, the company says. Certification programs are standard in the technology industry — and AWS already offers a training program and certifications of its own that allow organiz...
Tags: Amazon, TC, Gadgets, Tech, Bloomberg, Aws, Amazon Echo, Amazon Web Services, Alexa, Kevin Kelly, Amazon Alexa, Smart Speakers, Alexa Skill Builder Specialty, Alexa Developer Console, Alexa Every, AWS Certification and Education Programs

Amazon will launch a free music streaming service, reports suggest

Amazon are looking at launching an ad-supported music streaming service as their first free on-demand music offering, according to reports. Amazon have had a big influence in developing the digital music industry we have now, pioneering the smart speaker generation and launching multiple music services in digital downloads and on-demand streaming. Now reports suggest they’re launching a new service to offer free music streaming. The reports come from “sources familiar with the plan” spe...
Tags: Amazon, Echo, Spotify, Music, Free, Amazon Prime, New, Streaming, Stream, Amazon Echo, Digital Music News, Digital Music, Amazon Prime Music, Spotify Amazon, Smart Speakers, Ad-supported

Daily Deals: Up to $40 off Amazon Echo Products, Up to $115 off Ring Products, $421 off a Google Pixelbook, and More

Amazon, Ring, Google Easter’s still a week away, but retailers are already pushing out some killer holiday deals. If you’re in the market for a new Amazon or Ring smart home device, then now’s the time to pull out your wallet. The internet’s full of great deals right now. These deals range far and wide, so there’s something for everyone. You could grab a $579 Google Pixelbook, or some discounted SD cards and hard drives, or a neat little ECOVACS robot vacuum for $190. But, as always, we’ve...
Tags: Amazon, Crafts, Microsoft, Samsung, Walmart, Nba, Logitech, Amazon Echo, Sephora, Macy, Yoshi, Sony SRS, Google Express, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Right now Amazon, Google Pixelbook

Amazon's Human Helpers Are Quietly Listening in on Some Alexa Recordings

There’s been a number of incidents where Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant has done things like misinterpret something it overheard and started sending random people recordings of private conversations, or audio files kept by the company wound up in the wrong hands. But a real-life stranger could potentially be…Read more...
Tags: Amazon, Echo, Science, Technology, Privacy, Cybersecurity, Machine Learning, Amazon Echo, Voice Recognition, Alexa, Digital Assistants, Smart Speakers, Alexa Who Else Is Listening

Amazon workers get to hear some of what you tell Alexa, and they have a chat room to talk about 'amusing' recordings (AMZN)

Amazon has thousands of workers around the world listening to recordings of conversations between users and the Alexa voice assistant, in the name of improving its ability to understand human speech, according to Bloomberg. Amazon tells Bloomberg that it only tasks humans with reviewing "an extremely small sample of Alexa voice recordings." The moderators reportedly have a chatroom where they can ask for help, or just share "amusing" recordings. The moderators also occasionally hear more upset...
Tags: Amazon, Taylor Swift, Trends, Bloomberg, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Louis Vuitton, Bloomberg Amazon, Bloomberg Employees

Amazon workers reportedly get to hear some of what you tell Alexa, and they have a chat room to talk about 'amusing' recordings (AMZN)

Amazon has thousands of workers around the world listening to recordings of conversations between users and the Alexa voice assistant, in the name of improving its ability to understand human speech, according to Bloomberg. Amazon told Bloomberg that it tasks humans with reviewing only "an extremely small sample of Alexa voice recordings." The moderators reportedly have a chat room where they can ask for help or just share "amusing" recordings. The moderators also occasionally hear more upsett...
Tags: Amazon, Trends, Bloomberg, Nintendo, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Bloomberg Amazon, Bloomberg Employees, Bloomberg Additionally one Amazon

Amazon Echo Link and Echo Link Amp launched in India starting at Rs.19999

Amazon has launched two new Echo companion devices in India namely Echo Link and Echo Link Amp. This comes after the launch of Echo Show in India recently. Echo Link is priced at Rs.19,999 and Echo Link Amp is priced at Rs.29,999 respectively. The Echo Link is now available for pre-order from Amazon.in and will ship from April 16th. Echo Link and Echo Link Amp are Echo companion devices that deliver high fidelity streaming music to the user's stereo system. The user can upgrade the stereo s...
Tags: Amazon, News, India, Blogging, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Amazon India, Echo Link Amp, Amazon Echo Link, Echo Link Amp Features

Review: The $299 Echo Link Amp adds Alexa to any speaker

The Echo Link Amp is designed to give Echo owners options. Instead of settling for the sound from a couple of Echo speakers, this amp lets owners use a set of nice bookshelf speakers. Best yet, this replaces a large receiver generally needed to power speakers. At $299 the Echo Link Amp lives in a curious spot. It’s less expensive and smaller than a traditional home audio system. Yet it’s more expensive than smaller desktop amps with a similar power rating. Like it’s little brother the $199 Echo ...
Tags: Amazon, Startups, Gadgets, Music, AV, Michigan, Sound, Amazon Echo, Musical instruments, Streaming Services, Alexa, Consumer Electronics, Yamaha, Infinity, Kenny Chesney, Audio Engineering

Review: The $199 Echo Link turns the fidelity up to 11

The Echo Link takes streaming music and makes it sound better. Just wirelessly connect it to an Echo device and plug it into a set of nice speakers. It’s the missing link. The Link bridges the gap between streaming music and a nice audio system. Instead of settling for the analog connection of an Echo Dot, the Echo Link serves audio over a digital connection and it makes just enough of a difference to justify the $200 price. I plugged the Eco Link into the audio system in my office and was...
Tags: Google, Amazon, Startups, Gadgets, Echo, Spotify, Pandora, Computing, Npr, Sonos, Amazon Echo, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Streaming Services, Alexa, Don

‘Missing Link’ Gets Alexa Skill With Interactive Audio Adventure (EXCLUSIVE)

Just in time for this week’s premiere of Laika’s and Annapurna’s new stop-motion comedy “Missing Link,” United Artists Releasing and digital agency Isobar have launched a new Alexa skill that lets kids and their parents join the protagonists of the movie in a series of goofy adventures. The “Missing Link Adventures” skill, which is now […]
Tags: News, Annapurna, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Isobar, Missing Link, United Artists Releasing

Cross Platform Reading

I read mostly on my iDevices...but I also have a Kindle Fire tablet (many, actually). Pretty much none of the best iOS reading apps support Android (surely there has to be some amount of business to be gained from 2billion android users). There is one that I like: FBReader Plus. I am able to load books onto a google drive folder and FBReader will parse out the author, title, series. It was nice for being able to add a book to my mom's Kindle Fire tablet. Just load it up to the cloud and...
Tags: Amazon, Books, Apple Devices, Amazon Echo, Callibre, Cross Platform Reading

Apple HomePod price SLASHED as smart speaker struggles to compete with Amazon Echo

Apple's answer to Amazon Echo has received a £40 price drop [Author: Sophie Curtis]
Tags: Apple, Technology, Amazon Echo, Sophie Curtis

Apple has quietly slashed the price of its HomePod smart speaker (AAPL)

Apple's HomePod speaker is now $299, a drop from its $349 original price. The price cut comes as Apple has struggled to gain as much traction in the smart speaker space as Amazon and Google. Even with its lowered price, there are still less expensive options available from Google and Amazon.  Apple has permanently decreased the price of its HomePod smart speaker to $299, a $50 drop from its original price of $349. The price cuts appear to have gone into effect on Thursday, as indicated by mul...
Tags: Apple, Google, Amazon, Trends, Siri, United States, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Aapl, Louis Vuitton, Amazon Apple, Google Home, HomePod, Voicebot, Google Home Max

Apple Music is now available on Amazon Echo and Fire TV devices in the UK

Apple is making its music streaming available on rival platforms [Author: Jamie Harris]
Tags: UK, Technology, Amazon Echo, Jamie Harris

Seattle Venture Capital Watch: Crelate, Cyemptive, Blue Canoe & More

Businesses developing software to assist recruiters, corporate IT departments, and people learning to speak English are among the Seattle-area companies that have in recent weeks raised new funding from investors. Let’s catch up on some of the Emerald City Deals action.—Crelate Talent, which is developing recruiting software used by staffing agencies, executive search firms, and other organizations, raised more than $5.3 million in equity funding from 22 investors, according to an SEC filing. O...
Tags: Amazon, Deals, Startups, Apps, Nsa, Trends, Tech, Recruiting, It, HR, Cybersecurity, Vc, Software, Language, SEC, Seattle

Pandora to test interactive voice ads later this year

Radio ads broadcast a message to listeners, but Pandora’s new voice ads will allow listeners to respond by speaking aloud – either to get more information about the product being advertised, or to skip the ad if it’s not of interest. The company confirmed it has an agreement to test interactive voice ads where listeners engage by speaking back to the ad. The test will be powered by the San Francisco-based ad tech company, Instreamatic, and will launch into beta sometime later this year. Unlike w...
Tags: Travel, Music, Media, Advertising Tech, Russia, Advertising, Global, San Francisco, Siri, Brand, Artificial Intelligence, Pandora, Streaming, Voice, Amazon Echo, Advertisers

Alexa, how is smart home technology changing the way we live?

We want to see the future, and it wants to hear from us. Voice assistant speakers like those from Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant now dominate the smart home market, and the reason isn’t complicated: voice control is the simplest, most seamless way to make all of your smart home devices play nice and work together. With these smart speakers and hubs, you can say just a few words and the coffeemaker starts in the kitchen, lights turn on, window blinds go up, the TV flips on and the dog gets foo...
Tags: Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Technology, Samsung, Siri, Sport, Cta, Ces, Things To Do, Soccer, Brookfield, Faa, Boeing, Voice

IPL 2019: Track live cricket scores on Amazon Echo with Alexa

As the IPL fever grips the entire nation, Alexa is prepping up with knowledge about the various teams, players, match schedules and trivia. From now, Amazon Echo users will be able to easily track live cricket match scores and follow their favourite teams and cricketers using simple voice commands. In case you missed a match, Alexa can get you up to date with “Alexa, what’s the match report/update?”. Users can also follow-up with questions like “Alexa, who won man of the match in the last ga...
Tags: Apps, Accessories, News, Blogging, Ipl, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Kohli, Cyrus Broacha, Alexa Users

Carla Diana on Embracing the Challenge of Creating a World for Both Humans and Robots

In many ways, the technological future is upon us, but do we really know what it will look like? Designer, author, and educator Carla Diana is working at the intersection of industrial and interaction design to explore the impact of future technologies through hands-on experiments. "Whereas designers typically use form, color, and materials to make an object express some human element...we're entering a time when sound, light, and movement are equally important parts of the creative palette," sh...
Tags: Google, Amazon, Design, Tech, Diana, The New York Times, Marie Curie, Amazon Echo, Designer Profiles, Bruce Sterling, Argo Design, Jared Ficklin, Simon, Georgia Tech, Parsons, University of Texas Austin

Get a free smart speaker when you stream Spotify as a family

If there’s one thing that brings families together, it’s a Spotify Family Premium account. Add a Google Home Mini and the kids may even join you for some tunes. As if unlimited music streaming for up to 6 people, without ads, for just £14.99 wasn’t enough – get a smart speaker on top of that at no extra cost. Spotify are giving away Google Home Mini’s to subscribers of their Family Plan, for both new and existing users. Spotify’s Family Plan is a great deal, even if there’s only two of ...
Tags: Google, Spotify, Music, UK, Amazon Echo, Digital Music News, Don, Google Home Mini, Spotify Family Premium

Ford cars in India to feature In-car Alexa personal assistant next year - Report

CarandBike reports that Ford will soon start offering an Amazon Echo-sourced...
Tags: India, Ford, Autos, Amazon Echo, Alexa, CarAndBike

Apple could charge $9.99 per month each for HBO, Showtime and Starz

The Wall Street Journal has published a report on Apple’s media push. The company is about to unveil a new video streaming service and an Apple News subscription on Monday. According to The WSJ, you’ll be able to subscribe to multiple content packages to increase the video library in a new app called Apple TV — it’s unclear if this app is going to replace the existing Apple TV app. The service would work more or less like Amazon Prime Video Channels. Users will be able to subscribe to HBO, Sh...
Tags: Apple, Amazon, Gadgets, Facebook, Entertainment, Samsung, Tech, Apple TV, Netflix, New York Times, Starz, Wall Street Journal, Amazon Echo, Rumor, Cnbc, WSJ

Amazon slashes prices on Echo devices that play Alexa’s sweetest-sounding music

Amazon slashed prices on Alexa-controlled Echo devices with the best music sound quality. All Alexa smart speakers stream music, but some sound better than others. Save on Echo Plus and the Echo Sub bundled with Echo and Echo Plus speakers. The post Amazon slashes prices on Echo devices that play Alexa’s sweetest-sounding music appeared first on Digital Trends.
Tags: Amazon, Deals, Echo, News, Trends, Smart Home, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Save on Echo Plus

What’ll you do with all the money you save buying these $16 smart bulbs instead of $50 Philips Hues?

If you decide to go with Philips Hue smart lights, you can easily spend hundreds of dollars on each room as you upgrade your old "dumb" lights to smart LED bulbs. After all, standard A19 color bulbs from Philips Hue are a whopping $50 each. Here's another option: check out MagicLight WiFi Smart Light Bulbs, which offer very similar features for just $16 a bulb or under $15 if you buy a 2-pack. In other words, you can buy three of these bulbs for every one comparable bulb from Philips Hue!Her...
Tags: Google, News, Voice Control, Philips, Philips Hue, Amazon Echo, Alexa Google, Philips Hues, Philips Hue Here