Alexa is Your New Guard Dog -- and Snoop

A new in-built skill in Alexa monitors your house for break-ins and emergencies while you are away.

There's no hiding from Big Brother  Alexa

Simply say "Alexa I'm Leaving" and the device will go into "Guard" mode. If the device hears the sound of breaking glass or a smoke alarm it will send out an alert with that message. Users can also playback the sound from their phone with that message.

If the homeowner uses ADT as a security company Amazon will also send an alert to them so that it can take action.

To enable the service Alexa uses the same acoustic technology as it does to monitor for its wake word (ie Alexa). This is a very novel use of technology, but it certainly opens the door for abuse.

For example police departments have been known to get warrants for recordings that Alexa has made, but now since we know that Alexa is listening in real-time I can imagine that the police could get a warrant to eavesdrop.

Forget about those movies where the police place bugs in your house or tap your phone -- we've done the work for them.

Amazon Look is Discontinued

Smart speaker blog voicebot.ai is reporting that Amazon is discontinuing the Echo Look device.

The Echo Look was an Alexa-enabled smart speaker for fashion advice. Users could stand a few feet away and say, “Alexa, how do I look,” and it would snap a full-length photo capturing your entire attire. Then Amazon’s virtual fashion consultant “Style Check” would kick in and users could review their photos and feedback in the dedicated Echo Look app. It would recommend clothing options that could be purchased that match the users wardrobe. 

Echo Look's functionality is being incorporated into the Amazon Shopping app.

While its great that the AI feature is now going to be available to everyone, pity the people who bought the device and trained it on behalf of the company. Bezos gets to profit some more. 

Alexa "Drop-In" Feature Becomes Intercom for the House

For those too lazy to find their family members in another room to announce dinner time or don't want to scream at the top of their lungs, Amazon has extended their "Drop-In" feature that allows a message to be broadcast to all devices in a house.

It's well known that some households have more than one smart speaker. Whether in the bedroom, dining room or kitchen smart speakers are proliferating around the home. People are even putting then in the bathroom (whatever happened to reading material).

So now anyone can invade every nook and cranny of a house with that important announcement.

You can read more about the feature from Business Insider.

Amazon is Buying Your Old Echo Devices

Amazon Echo 

CNET reports that Amazon will let consumers trade-in their old Amazon Alexa devices. Depending on the model and type of device you can get between $5 and $30 plus 25% off of a new qualifying 

The original  Amazon Echo looks like a giant compared to the new generation product. My youngest son has inherited my device and uses it in his room. It's his alarm clock and audio-book player all in one (really the only thing that he listens to is Harry Potter).

My preferred Alexa device are the ear buds. I didn't really like these before compared to the Apple Air Pods but they've grown on me mainly because they stay in my ear without dropping out. What's interesting however is that I never use the Alexa functionality of the earphones.

Anyway back to the story, the buy-back program certainly is a great way for consumers to refresh their devices. I'm sure Amazon is ripping them apart for parts that may be still useable but more expensive to use from scratch