New smart speaker expected as Apple kicks off conference

Rosalie Gross | 06 June, 2017, 06:13

Tapping Apple's Siri digital assistant, such a speaker is expected to serve as a butler as well as an outlet for listening to music.

Amazon has updated its smart speaker so that it's fully functional in the build-up to the General Election.

Amazon just announced its AI assistant Alexa will now be able to recognize commands to set reminders and named timers.

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Read our Echo tips and tricks guide to find out about the best hidden features and Alexa easter eggs.

Alexa, which powers Amazon's popular home automation device Echo, has gained a growing following over the past two years for its ability to answer questions, turn on lights, and order goods from Amazon.com.

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Amazon says both reminders and named timers were among the top requests from customers. If you're in the USA, you'll soon receive an update for your Echo speaker (if you haven't yet) that gives Alexa the capability to set reminders. Not very useful if you're fixing a full-on feast however, with lots of things cooking at the same time. Assign each one a specific title and you'll be informed when they hit zero - so Alexa will tell you when the "rice timer" is up, with the "lamb curry timer" still ticking away in the background.

In addition, you can now give timers names so Alexa doesn't confuse multiple set timers. In fact, Digitimes' sources say that Amazon surpassed its full-year shipment goal for the Echo Dot in just a few months earlier this year.

"To attract developers in the modern world, you need a platform", McIlwain said.

To speed up the process, you can lump everything into a single command by saying, "Alexa, remind me to go to the grocery store tomorrow at 8:00 am". To see all reminders/named timers, users can simply open the Alexa application on their Android or iOS device and navigate to the "Alerts and Alarms" section of the app.

You can also ask Alexa to remind you of something after a short period. Apple's Reminders app is already the most-used app on my iPhone, since I'm constantly setting reminders to run errands, pick up groceries, pay rent, or get work done; it's a great way to stay organized.

Amazon is constantly updating Alexa with new skills, ranging from the mundane to the critical-reminders and lists being the latter.

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New smart speaker expected as Apple kicks off conference

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