Tag: voice-driven home assistants

Articles

Amazon intends to make the Echo smart speaker and Alexa voice-driven home assistant part of a full-blown network multiroom audio system

How to set up multi-room audio with Google Assistant & Chromecast speakers | The Ambient

How to set up multiroom music playback with Amazon Echo | The Verge

Amazon Echo speakers adding stereo pairing, better multiroom audio support | CNet

Amazon Leapfrogs Google And Apple In Home Automation | Lifehacker

From the horse’s mouth

Google

Multi-room group playback with Google Home (Support Resource)

Amazon

Play Music on Multiple Echo Devices (Support Resource)

Amazon Announces New Echo Devices—Add Alexa to Every Room and Your Car (Press Release)

My Comments

Google Home and the Chromecast platform is already running a basic network multiroom audio setup

Google recently enabled their Assistant and Chromecast platforms to support network-based multiroom audio through compliant audio devices.  This has the facility to stream selected online audio sources to the audio devices that work these platforms and permits the use of logical groups as well as party-mode playback of the same source across the multiple devices in that group.

Amazon initially let out an Alexa application-programming interface to permit multiroom audio play across multiple Echo or Alexa-compatible devices. This initially supported logical groups and party-mode playback of the same source across devices in a logical group. But they one-upped Google by adding extra functionality to their Alexa API for multiroom audio including the ability to set up a stereo speaker pair or allow a speaker to be a member of two groups. It is in conjunction with a newer Echo Show device answering the Lenovo Smart Display that is based on Google’s Home Platform.

As well, Amazon had just unveilled new hardware under their brand to take advantage of these new capabilities. One of thse is the Echo Sub subwoofer that can be set up to work alongside a single Echo speaker or a pair of Echo speakers set up to work as a stereo pair for wider stereo separation. It is about adding that bit of extra bass kick to the sound that comes out of those speakers. Then the Echo Dot and Echo Plus speakers have been revised while an Echo Input device was unveilled to put all its audio output via a a connected speaker or sound system.

To connect your favourite hi-fi system to the Amazon Alexa infrastructure, Amazon offered the Echo Link devices which just exist to stream audio content. Both of these connect to the equipment via an analogue RCA line-level connection or an SPDIF digital connection which can be coaxial or optical. They also have both a digital and analogue input connection, perhaps to pass audio devices through the connected sound system, but I am not sure if these devices can stream an audio source in to the Amazon Echo setup that you have established. The Link Amp variant has an integral power amplifier in order to play the music content through your existing passive speakers.

A question that may surface as Amazon rolls the enhanced network multiroom audio functionality across the Alexa platform is whether third-party devices could benefit from these new functions. As well, could Google answer Amazon by offering the extra feature and more for their Home platform especially if they run a range of smart speaker products under their own label? It could simply be the sign of things to come as both Amazon and Google duke it out for the voice-driven home assistant market.

Article

You can also manage your interactions with the Harman-Kardon Invoke speaker here

How to delete your voice data collected by Microsoft when using Cortana on Windows 10 | Windows Central

My Comments

Previously, I posted an article about managing what Amazon Alexa has recorded when you use an Amazon Echo or similar Alexa-compatible device.

Now Microsoft has a similar option for Cortana when you use it with Windows 10. This is also important if you use the Harman-Kardon Invoke smart speaker, the Johnson Controls GLAS smart thermostat as long as they are bound to your Microsoft account.

Manage your Microsoft Account (and Cortana) from Windows 10 Settings

In most instances such as your computer, Cortana may be activated by you clicking on an icon on the Taskbar or pressing a button on a suitably-equipped laptop, keyboard or other peripheral to have her ready to listen. But you may set her up to hear the “Hey Cortana” wake word to listen to you. This may be something that a Cortana-based smart device may require of you for expected functionality when you set it up.

This may be a chance where Cortana may cause problems with picking up unwanted interactions. But you can edit what Cortana has recorded through your interactions with her.

Here, you go in to Settings, then click on Accounts to open the Accounts screen. Click on Your Info to which will show some basic information about the Microsoft Account associated with your computer.

Privacy dashboard on your Microsoft Account management Website

Click on “Manage My Microsoft Account” which will open a Web session in your default browser to manage your Microsoft Account. Or you could go directly to https://account.microsoft.com without needing to go via the Settings menu on your computer. The direct-access method can be important if you have to use another computer like a Mac or Linux box or don’t want to go via the Settings option on your Windows 10 computer.

Click here for your Cortana Voice interaction history

You will be prompted to sign in to your Microsoft Account using your Microsoft Account credentials. Click on the “Privacy” option to manage your privacy settings. Then click on the “Activity History” option and select “Voice” to view your voice interactions with Cortana. Here, you can replay each voice interaction to assess whether they should be deleted. You can delete each interaction one by one by clicking the “Delete” option for that interaction or clear them all by clicking the “Clear activity” option.

Details of your voice interactions with Cortana

Your management of what Cortana has recorded takes place at the Microsoft servers in the same vein to what happens with Alexa. But there will be the disadvantage of Cortana not having access to the false starts in order to use her machine learning to understand your voice better.

These instructions would be useful if you are dealing with a Cortana-powered device that doesn’t use a “push-to-talk” or “microphone-mute” button where you can control when she listens to you.

Article

You can find out what Amazon Alexa has recorded through your Echo device

How To Find Out What Your Alexa Is Recording | Lifehacker

My Comments

Recently, the computer press went in to overdrive about an Amazon Echo setup that unintentionally recorded and forwarded a family’s private conversation and forwarded it to someone in Seattle. Here, the big question that was asked was what was your Amazon Echo or similar smart speaker device recording without you knowing.

Amazon Echo, Google Home and similar voice-driven home-assistant platforms require a smart speaker that is part of the platform to hear for a “wake word” which is a keyword that wakes up these devices and has them listening. Then these devices capture and interpret what you say after that “wake word” in order to perform their function. One of the functions that these devices may perform is audio messaging where they could record a user’s message and pass that message on to another user on the same platform.

I had previously covered the issue of these voice-driven assistants being at risk of nuisance triggering including mentioning about the XBox game console supporting a voice assistant that triggered when an adman on a TV commercial called out a spot-special for the games console by saying “XBox On Sale” or “XBox On Special”.

Here, I recommended the use of a manual “call button” to make these devices ready to listen when you are ready or a “microphone mute” toggle to prevent your device being falsely triggered. As well, I recommended a visual indicator on the device that signals when it is listening. This is a practice mainly done with voice-assistant functionality that is part of a video peripheral’s feature set or software that runs on a platform computing device. Google’s Home smart speaker instead uses the microphone-mute button to allow you to control its microphone.

But you can check what Alexa has been recording from your Amazon Echo or other Alexa-compatible speaker device and delete private material that she shouldn’t have captured. This is also useful if you are troubleshooting one of these devices, identifying misunderstood instructions or are developing an Alexa Skill for the Alexa ecosystem.

1. Here you launch the Amazon Alexa mobile-platform app on your smartphone. If you are using the Amazon Alexa Website (http://alexa.amazon.com) as previously mentioned on this site, there is a similar procedure to go about identifying your Amazon Echo sessions.
2. Then you tap on the hamburger-shaped “advanced operation” icon on the top left of your screen.
3. Tap on Settings to bring up a Settings menu for your setup. Go to the History option in the Alexa Account section of that menu.
4. Here, you will see a list of interactions with any Alexa-ecosystem hardware or software front-end related to your Amazon account. These will be categorised by what has been understood and what hasn’t been understood. There is an option to filter the interaction list by date, which is handy if you have made heavy use of your Amazon Echo device through the months and years.

You can play each interaction to be sure of what your Alexa device or software has recorded. With these interactions, the current version of the interface only allows you to delete each unwanted interaction on by one. The effect of the deletion is that the interaction, including the voice recording, disappears from your account and the Amazon servers. But this could degrade your Amazon Alexa experience due to it not having much data to work on for its machine-learning abilities.

Here, at least with the Amazon Alexa ecosystem, you have some control over what has been recorded so you can remove potentially-private conversations from that ecosystem.

Articles (German language / Deutsche Sprache)

A German software developer is taking steps to make the Amazon Echo Show become that small kitchen TV

Amazon: Neuer Alexa-Skill verwandelt Echo Show in einen Fernseher | Netzwelt.de (Germany / Deutschland)

Amazon Skill link

Fernseher für Alexa | Live-Streams hören und sehen

My Comments

There has been a practice amongst a significant number of households to keep a small television in the kitchen. This started off with the arrival of the small portable TVs but is now facilitated through the availability of small flatscreen TVs including computer monitors equipped with an integrated TV tuner. Here, it has been seen as a way to watch those news and lifestyle shows that are run during breakfast time by the TV stations while you are eating breakfast, or to watch daytime TV shows like “Days Of Our Lives” while ironing in the kitchen.

Similarly using a tablet that runs the appropriate client apps could yield the same goal, whether you are dealing with a “broadcast-LAN” tuner, a free-to-air TV platform that has member stations stream their content, a TV-Everywhere platform ran by a pay-TV service or something similar.

Now, with Amazon Echo Show and Spot on the scene along with the imminent arrival of smart displays based on the Google Assistant platform thanks to Lenovo and JBL, a software need has been identified. This need is to bring regular TV stations to these devices so they can become like that small TV.

One effort has taken place in Germany to bring the Internet streams provided by the German public TV stations and most of the cable channels to the Echo Show at your voice command. Hear, you can ask this “Stream Player” to show a station by name or by “channel number” and it will show up on the Echo Show.

What I see of this Alexa Skill that is being premiered in Germany is something that can appeal to a “free-to-air TV” consortium of the Freeview kind, a voice-driven interface for a broadcast-LAN tuner including the SAT-IP platform or a cable-TV provider’s “TV Everywhere” platform. Here, these Alexa Skills or platform-equivalent apps could then enable smart displays to work as the traditional TV. But it may be considered “heretical” by the Millennial generation who are used to watching content on their own terms.

Articles

LG’s 2018 TVs get faster and smarter with Google Assistant, Alexa | Engadget

LG 2018 TVs tap Google Assistant, Alexa for voice control | CNet

NVIDIA Shield to support Google Assistant | CNet (Video – Click or tap to play)

My Comments

A trend that is appearing for this year is to see Smart TVs equipped with the ability to work with Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa. In this case, there will be a microphone integrated in the remote control or the TV set and Google Assistant will reply through the TV’s speakers. The Amazon Alexa Skill that some manufacturers will offer will have access to some but not all of the TV’s functionality through your Amazon Echo or Alexa-compatible device.

Initially Sony had rolled out an Android TV software update to enable Google Assistant to work on their Android-based Smart TVs, while they have an Amazon Alexa Skill in beta-testing.

Now LG are building in Google Assistant in to their webOS Smart TVs which will have access to the EPG as well as functions essential to watching TV. It will also have the same control path as Google Home when it comes to controlling your smart-home devices and if you run a Google Home smart speaker, you could ask Google Assistant to do things like turn on the TV or change channels without needing the TV’s remote. They are also offering an Amazon Alexa Skill for those of you using Amazon Echo but this will provide a limited level of control over your LG TV.

NVIDIA has answered the TV-ownership reality that TV sets aren’t necessarily disposable by rolling out the Google Assistant to their Shield Android TV games console. Here, you can add Google Home control to your existing TV along with the ability to ask questions of Google Assistant. This is facilitated with integral microphones in its game controllers and remote control and Google Assistant replies through the connected TV’s speakers.

This highlights the market reality that TVs and video peripherals will be required to work with one or more of the voice-driven home assistants whether as an endpoint or as a function set added on to the home-assistant platform.

2018 will be a very interesting year for personal and small-business computing directions. There will be a few key trends such as heavy use of voice-driven assistants, the rise of the smart home, network-based multiroom audio becoming mainstream amongst other trends. Online entertainment will also face certain trends like the rise of niche-focused online video services, 4K being the norm for TV resolution, virtual-reality and mixed reality being part of gaming amongst other things.

Voice-driven home assistants

Amazon Echo and friends – the device of 2018

4 different voice-driven home assistants to be on the market – Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant (Home), Microsoft Cortana and Apple Siri

A vibrant development ecosystem for each of the voice-driven home assistants. These may include entertainment ideas that integrate one or more devices based on these assistant platforms.

An increasing number of consumer-electronics manufacturers to integrate at least one voice-driven home-assistant in their products. It may encompass devices beyond network-capable smart speakers such as music or home-theatre systems or TV sets. Some vehicle builders are also integrating one of these assistants in the infotainment systems in some of their vehicle models without the need to implement Google Auto or Apple CarPlay.

Video display to be a product differentiator amongst voice-driven home-assistant platforms and products. It would be facilitated through a display integrated in or directly connected to the device, or through a display that is connected to a Chromecast or similar network media device that works with the system. This will augment replies from the assistant in a visual manner, most likely with still images, logos or videos, but can be a path for using the voice assistant to bring up image or video content.

An increased acceptance of “smart speakers” and devices based on voice-driven home-assistant platforms amongst consumers with at least one of these devices appearing in most households. It can also include households using multiple devices in their home, whether on the same or different platforms. This has been demonstrated through the last Christmas shopping season where many Amazon Echo devices were sold during that season.

It will take through a year for the app stores associated with “skills” and functionalities for these voice-driven home-assistant platforms to mature. There will be market requirements that the app stores will identify and enforce in order to assure that users of one of these platforms have a safe and pleasant experience with these devices.A similar situation has had to take place for smartphone and desktop app stores including identifying and removing rubbish from these stores.

Home automation and the smart home

More households to start installing or building out home-automation subsystems in their homes. This may happen with the assistance of telcos, ISPs and monitored-alarm security services offering “connected-home” packages and subscriptions.

Support for multiple smart-home technology platforms to be par for the course for smart-home devices. This may be in the form of Internet-based “home automation hubs” supporting multiple standards or “smart-home” devices being able to work across multiple platforms whether through inherent support or the use of replaceable modules.

Support for at least one voice-driven home-assistant platform to be “de rigueur” for any home-automation subsystem.

Businesses involved with central-heating / air-conditioning and home security to contribute to the “smart-home” scene. This will come about through the supply, installation and maintenance of upgrades and add-ons for extant building HVAC or security infrastructure focused towards integrating it with the “smart home”. As well,businesses supplying and installing new HVAC or security infrastructure will sell equipment that works with the “smart home” at affordable prices.

Bluetooth 5 to become a strong contender as a wireless medium for the smart home. This includes support for “mesh” operation with devices acting as radio repeaters for multiple devices which will be considered a key feature.

There will be an industry expectation for the “smart home” and “Internet Of Things” industry to improve their stance on data security and software robustness. It will be in the form of a software-update cycle being required for devices along with consumers being notified of any bugs or software deficiencies that affect their home network’s data security. This will be underscored by government regulation, insurance-company expectations or industry-driven logo-based certification programs addressing this issue.

Another trend to expect for the smart home is to have this technology work cohesively through large multiple-occupancy buildings. This could range from integrating Amazon Alexa with the entry-door intercom used int these buildings so you can speak to visitors through your Amazon Echo or ask Alexa to “release” the common entry door, to “smart home” systems that regulate heating and lighting in the common areas for consistent comfort, amongst other things/

Network-based multiroom audio

More classes of consumer audio/video equipment to be enabled for network-based multiroom audio. This means that TVs, stereo/home-theatre systems and the like will be offered with multiroom audio functionality, with more of these products in a manufacturer’s range at price points affordable for most people.

DTS Play-Fi and Qualcomn AllPlay to be seen as the “go-to” platforms for network-based multiroom audio where an AV brand hasn’t invested in their own multiroom technology. It can open up paths for multiple brands to invest in their own network-based multiroom product lines without “reinventing the wheel”.

Support for streaming integrated and connected local audio sources to be the norm for multiroom audio. This means that broadcast radio or CDs from integral radio tuners or CD players, or vinyl records played on connected turntables and TV soundtracks emanating from connected TVs can be streamed around a network-capable music system.

Multiroom audio to support multichannel speaker clusters in a group. This could allow a pair of like multiroom speakers to serve as a stereo speaker pair, to the creation of a surround-sound arrangement based around multiple multiroom speakers used in one room.

Online entertainment

The rise of streaming video services focused towards particular entertainment niches and genres. It will include studios with large respected content catalogues adopting a “direct-to-consumer” approach for making their content wares available to consumers via an online path.

Traditional TV channels and radio stations will be relying on online components like video-on-demand services and podcast outlets to keep themselves relevant. This is because of the fact that most of us are listening to or viewing content at our own convenience rather than making an appointment to hear or view it as it is broadcast.

Video-on-demand services will be offering video content at 4K UHDTV resolution with High Dynamic Range pictures for best-case picture quality. The sound will be delivered using Dolby Atmos or similar object-based surround sound as a best-case option.

Virtual, augmented and mixed reality will be seen as an important part of the gaming experience, thus requiring powerful but portable computer equipment. This will increase interest in gaming laptops and small-form-factor gaming rigs of the Intel Skull Canyon kind.

This will cause questions to be asked about the quality of residential Internet services offered by the popular telcos and ISPs. Here, issues will be brought out about latency during video playback or even how long it takes for an online video service to be “ready to play” once you select what you want to view.

Questions are being raised and industry codes-of-practice being looked in to in relation to treasure chests, loot boxes and other elements associated with gambling included in computer and video games either to offer extra gameplay elements like customisations or valuable options. It may also be investigated by various governments under the context of gambling laws, perhaps with a view to regulation of this practice. Similarly app stores may also be looking at ways to make consumers aware of games integrating gambling elements in their gameplay.

Hardware and Software Design

Convergence between desktop and mobile computing

There will be a strong convergence between “regular” desktop / laptop computers that run desktop operating systems, and “mobile” smartphone / tablet computing devices. This will take place in the form of desktop operating systems written to work with ARM microarchitecture used in mobile devices along with mainstream “regular” computers pitched for everyday computing needs being built around the same electronics as a high-end smartphone or mobile-platform tablet.

It will also affect how computer software is developed and sold. Software development tools will allow “one-touch” packaging of executable software forms for traditional Intel CISC and ARM RISC microarchitectures. Similarly, software-development tools will allow for “write once run anywhere” across desktop and mobile usage environments. There will even be the Holy Grail of one being able to write the same piece of software and have it run on all the major desktop and mobile operating systems while having an expedited software-development path.

Highly-powerful yet compact computers

Expect the rise of highly powerful compact computers this year.

This trend is leading towards computers that will become increasingly powerful but compact. This goal is not just facilitated through laptop computers being equipped with the same electronics as a high-end smartphone but there will also be another option where a single piece of silicon will house a CPU along with a discrete graphics processor being the performance option thanks to Intel’s latest processor offering.

For laptops, 2-in-1s and tablets; both options can lead towards the integration of larger batteries which permit longer running time before the battery goes flat. For computers that aren’t portable by nature, the “performance” option with the discrete GPU on the same silicon as the CPU could lead towards small-form-factor desktop and “all-in-one” computers being more powerful.

New Connections

The USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 connectors will become more ubiquitous on computing devices. This includes seeing it as a power / data / digital-audio / video output for highly-portable devices like smartphones, tablets and ultraportable laptops. The number of external-graphics modules will increase especially with highly-portable integrated-chipset designs pitched towards ultraportable laptops.

As mobile devices move away from the 3.5mm phone jack towards USB-C or Lightning sockets for connecting audio accessories, these audio accessories will have their own digital-audio circuitry. It could lead to the availability of wired headsets with highly-strung digital-analogue conversion circuitry for high-quality sound along with microphone arrays, something that was only available with Bluetooth headsets.

The increase in Silicon Valley’s power base

Silicon Valley to become the “new Hollywood” with companies like Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Google creating more of their own video content and providing it through their own video-on-demand services. It can also manifest in the Silicon-Valley multinationals taking over film studios, music labels and other similar names in the entertainment industry.

The Silicon-Valley behemoths, especially Google and Facebook, are being seen as influential as, if not more influential than, traditional media companies. It is called out in relation to the power of these companies to summarily deny information services like social-network presence to individuals or business entities; “turn off the money tap” when it comes to serving advertising on Websites or apps; or “bury” Internet resources unapproved by Silicon Valley so they are hard to find for the average user.

It encompasses home much proper debate there actually is in issue important to civil society and whether Silicon Valley has been manipulating this debate. As well, the data commodity that the Silicon Valley behemoths are trading in is being used as a means to control this debate.

There is also questions raised about online advertising especially in context to brand safety, impact on user experience or true viewership of Websites with end-users, advertisers and publishers wanting to see an environment similar to what is expected for traditional media.

It is leading governments and industry authorities to place questions on how much influence the Silicon Valley behemoths should have compared to traditional media which is regulated by broadcasting or antitrust laws. In this same context, it also highlights whether competing or niche services have access to a potential customer base.

It is also extending to other industries like personal point-to-point transportation along with accommodation where Uber and Airbnb are being questioned about their effect on the traditional service providers and local communities. It is leading to questions being raised by governments and stakeholders in the affected industries about how to assure competition between the Silicon-Valley service providers and traditional businesses.

Conclusion

Each year show up some very interesting trends for personal and small-business IT and our online lives and 2018 will be no exception/

Article

You can now connect Gmail to Cortana for calendar, mail, and contact support | Windows Central

My Comments

Select “Connected Services” in Cortana’s notebook

Some of you may just use GMail simply as another Webmail account but you can have client-side access to it from certain email clients like Windows Mail, Outlook or your Android email client. Here, if you are using Windows Mail for example, you may find that you could have Cortana work your account from their simply by adding it to the list of accounts your Windows Mail installation works with.

But you may also just use the Web-based user interface for your GMail account and simply use it also as a contacts and calendar storage for your Android phone, especially if you do upgrade your phone frequently.

Select GMail as the service to add to Cortana

Here, you can create a direct link between Cortana and your GMail account so you can summon her for information from that account. This can be of importance if you buy the Harman-Kardon Invoke smart speaker which is powered by Microsoft’s Cortana voice-driven personal assistant.

To do this, open Cortana on your Windows 10 computer and click on the Notebook icon. Then click on Connected Services in the menu that pops up. Select “Add a service”, then select “GMail”. Here, you will be asked for your Google username and password that you operate your GMail account with. Enter these credentials and Google will then ask you whether you want to allow Cortana access to your account. Once you assent to this, your GMail details are available to Cortana.

This will become more of a trend as an increasing number of social networks, Webmail services and the like provide the necessary “hooks” to allow the various voice-driven personal assistants to work with their services.