Amazon is often regarded as one of the companies that democratized voice assistants and home automation, thanks to Alexa and its range of Echo devices.
Amazon has succeeded in filling our homes with smart speakers, now it s working on an Alexa-powered hub with which to control your entire smart home.
As Bloomberg reports, Amazon s Lab126 hardware division is thought to be working on a digital command center powered by Alexa and acting as the one device from which your entire smart home is controlled. It s expected to be mounted on a wall and offer up to a 13-inch screen, making it the largest smart display Amazon has designed so far.
From this one device you ll be able to interact with the different smart devices scattered throughout your home, but also use it to play media, enjoy video chats, interact with the Alexa voice assistant, and receive a host of notifications based on your calendar events, reminders, or your smart devices reporting in.
Amazon’s Alexa. We thought it would never happen
Voiceitt’s technology combines machine-learning algorithms with speech recognition technologies to provide people with speech disabilities an advanced way to communicate and be understood. The company’s AI-powered system learns from people with atypical speech to expand its voice database, providing a modern use of smart technologies to create a more inclusive world.
Mainly focused on in-person communication for people with atypical speech or other speech disabilities, the Israeli firm realized that the growing smart voice services, like Alexa, are a perfect point of interaction that can assist people with speech disabilities by empowering their independence and relieving helping family members.
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Some engineers at Amazon s Lab126 hardware devices unit have been coming into the office over the past few months because their work can t be done at home.
But now they re questioning why they have to continue to come in when the state has announced new stay-at-home orders that put in tighter limits to office work.
At least one of the Lab126 engineers has been diagnosed with COVID-19 in recent weeks, and those who have come in contact with that person have been quarantining at home, Business Insider has learned.