Amazon Echo brings AI to Bluetooth speakers

“AI” is known to most individuals on the Web as the “computer” chess player in a chess game that knows all your moves and how to respond to them. In most cases, AI players online are hard to beat. I play against the AI team in FIFA 14 quite often, and find that, with the exception of spontaneous moments where I make last-minute decisions that can’t be predicted as easily), the AI does a pretty stellar job of beating me in the soccer games.

While the AI is mostly known for its fierce competitiveness in games, Amazon is bringing AI to Bluetooth speakers with its announcement of the Amazon Echo yesterday.

The Amazon Echo is a Bluetooth speaker that comes with voice command and activation so that you can’t get the answers you need when you need them. “Alexa,” the voice assistant’s name, is a direct counterpart to Siri and Google Now, although Echo seems to be a bit more impressive than even Apple’s Siri. In the past, I have always applauded Siri over Google Now because of her personality. Well, Siri may have her hands full with Amazon’s answer to voice command personalities with Alexa.

Alexa is excellent at trivia, from spelling “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” (I think I spelled this right, haha) to telling the mass of the earth, how many teaspoons are in a tablespoon, and so on. Alexa can set alarms, making the AI Bluetooth speaker incredibly helpful for chefs and home cooks, and, in connection with Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet series, proves useful in adding reminders to user calendars (which means you’ll never miss your dentist appointment again). Echo is also internet-connected, gathering content from the cloud when you ask Alexa questions and adding your calendar reminders by way of the cloud also.

Amazon Echo plugs into your wall, and can be set anywhere in the room you’d like. You need not worry about shouting or speaking loudly, since Alexa is always on (which is what we’ve come to expect from voice command assistants) and can hear you around the room. There’s a little ring at the top of the speaker that lights up when Alexa responds to your question or command.

Amazon’s also got a neat video below showing how the family experience is impacted by the Amazon Echo and Alexa’s voice service. When asked about Siri, Apple’s voice command, Alexa responded, “Siri’s a great app – but I’m different.”

Alexa’s reach into mobile

I’m excited to see Amazon’s Alexa battle like personalities Cortana, Siri, and Google Now (though Google’s offering is the least “personal” of them all; I’d really like Google to change Google Now’s name to something other than the company’s name). With the push, however, I want to see Amazon bring Alexa into the entire range of its mobile devices, particularly its Kindle Fire HDX and others. Alexa would aid customers who need to use the company’s “MayDay” service when troubleshooting a problem or asking a question about a product or service. Alexa will likely serve in a capacity where she would pull up Amazon Video movies when prompted, shop for items when asked, and so on. As you can see in the video below, Alexa can already play music lists when asked to do so; it’s only a short reach from this to “Alexa, post a new Facebook status for me.”

One feature that I’ve yet to see with manufacturers of mobile devices (smartphone giants Google, Apple, Samsung, and Amazon, among others) is voice-activated logins. Google has been experimenting with fingerprint authentication in Android M, and Samsung and Apple have utilized fingerprint-scanning tech in their mobile devices, but it would be nice to have a “voice detection” login feature whereby one’s voice could log an individual in to a device. I realize that this may catch some users off-guard, seeing that privacy and security are highly valued in today’s world, but I want you, the reader, to also understand that Alexa via Amazon Echo is likely gathering information about your voice pitch and sound when you ask questions.

Apple’s Siri has been highly criticized when it became publicized that Apple was sending voice recordings of users to data centers in the US. And Samsung’s come under harsh criticism because of its voice-activated Smart TVs that allow you to perform TV functions with your voice. All of these have been said to border on privacy and security violations, but those who assume this to be true do not understand the technology. The truth of the matter is that the voice command in-built into mobile devices cannot answer a question if there’s no way to “receive your question” and process it. In other words, voice records and data storage is necessary for utilizing voice command experiences.

At the same time, however, Apple has found a way to ensure user privacy when possible. The fact that its Touch ID does not store fingerprint data on the device is such an example. Perhaps Apple can extend this setup to voice data in the future.

Amazon has decided to extend Alexa to third-party applications not made by Amazon, which will allow Amazon developers to make the most of the new voice assistant. I can already see Alexa making her way to the Fire Phone, which will go a long way toward increasing the Fire Phone’s mass market adoption. Of course, Google Play Store access would, too, but Amazon’s insistence on a forked Android experience with only Amazon apps has been a way to spare the privacy concerns of Amazon users who don’t envy the user data access of the search engine giant and how Mountain View insists of mobile ads tailored to user data and interests.

Bluetooth speakers have been useful for desktop owners who need a widespread audio experience, but mobile users would likely not find external Bluetooth speakers a major win. HTC’s One M7 was the start of the company’s BoomSound audio experience, and many consumers, even the majority of Android users who’d rather pick up a Galaxy S6 edge instead of the One M9 (whose photography is worse than Samsung’s 2012 Galaxy S3) would like to have better internal audio performance. This means that Alexa will have to extend beyond Bluetooth speakers to make “her” mark on mobile. For now, though, Bluetooth speakers will serve a variety of customers on a variety of operating systems, and Amazon wants to gain as much of a consumer base as possible – even those who’d rather use an iPad or a Samsung Galaxy Tab or Note tablet for their tablet needs. 

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Ily smart home phone could create a new market – with some tweaking

Samsung, Apple, Google, and other manufacturers are starting to settle into the idea that the future trend of the home is smart, smart, smart. With the Internet of Things (IoT) connecting everything to the Web while giving these same things smarter capacities than society has ever seen, we’re sending the message that the current “dumb” state of home appliances is not enough. When you think about it, it doesn’t seem to make sense that we have smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs with internet connectivity, as well as Smart refrigerators, washers, and dryers – but few smart thermostats (Google’s Nest being the exception) or smart doorknobs. We even have desktop computers, portable laptops, and now smartwatches and smart fitness bands are the trend – but no overarching smart platform to handle all our smart devices. The Smart Home needs everything to be both smart and connected.

New York startup Insensi has an interesting addition to the ideal Smart Home prototype (just a concept, for now). The company has created Ily, a smart home phone that is more a tablet than a phone. Before I get into some analysis, let’s take a look at what the Ily has to offer.

The Ily has an 8-inch display with a 1024 x 768 screen resolution and does not have an internet browser with access to to the Google Play Store. The Ily can be used to place audio and video calls, send texts, and share photos. Tech sites claim that you can walk around the house making calls with the Ily and that it’s meant to be used as a home phone (though you can download the Ily app on either iOS or Android and stay in touch with friends and relatives who must also use the service). As for the calls, video chats, and music streaming, it appears to be a free experience from Insensi (who says that you need only pay for the hardware; the rest can be free, unless you want to have your own phone number and voicemail service set up.

Some say that the Ily is the perfect device for children, since parents must approve their child’s friend contacts, but it seems as though Insensi wants this “smart home phone” to appeal to families as a whole. It may very well accomplish its goal, with the video and audio calling and photo sharing capabilities.

The Ily smart home phone has its advantages

The Ily smart home phone wants to bring families together, use technology for good, and that’s commendable. The Ily phone is a home unit not intended to be used in the car or out at the coffeeshop, bookstore, or mall. That’s a win-win for Insensi’s product goal.

Next, the Ily home phone does have its “smart” capabilities. It can share photos, send texts, and place video and audio calls, not to mention access Spotify’s music streaming service (perhaps others). Insensi’s Ily can connect to your Wi-Fi network or your current “dumb” landline phone by plugging in the phone cable to the Ily device. These are all “wins” for a stationary product. Years ago, no one would’ve ever dreamed of a smart home phone with capabilities that place it way beyond the “dumb” landline phones many citizens in the US and worldwide still rely on for their home communication. Ily shows that in the “smart” mobile age in which we live, everything – including traditional home phones – need an upgrade and can get one if we’d take the time to implement smart capabilities.

Insensi says that it designed the Ily smart home phone to be used by ages 3 and 93 alike, catering to the younger and older citizens in our world who have extremely limited technical know-how.

The Ily Family Phone is safe for children because it lacks an internet browser. I know of a friend couple of mine whose parents just bought their child an inexpensive Android tablet. The problem with the free games they’ve downloaded from the Google Play Store, however, is that mobile ads exist all over the game setups, with the child tapping one ad and heading to the Google Play Store (to the frustration of parents). Installing an ad blocker of some kind is near impossible on Android because Google makes its money from ads, although Safari provides its own “Ad Block” web browser extension that does the job effectively. Lacking ad trouble, the Ily Family Phone already has its share of welcoming users.

The Ily smart home phone does have its drawbacks, however

I could go into the low screen resolution (1024 x 768) that the device offers, which is akin to that found on Google’s Nexus 7 (2012) tablet that had a 7-inch screen instead of the Ily’s 8-inch screen (which means the resolution will be even lower than that of the three-year-old Google tablet), but that’s irrelevant.

What is relevant with the Ily smart home phone that is a drawback pertains to first, the design. I understand the need for Insensi to craft a device that can be used by young and old alike, but I think a design change could help this endeavor. Think of the older-aged crowd that have relied on cordless phones for the last twenty or thirty years (if not longer). Why not craft an easy-to-use smart device with a touchscreen display and a design that mimics current cordless landline phones? After all, the cordless phone design is one that’s been popular for a number of years. In a design similar to the current phones that many older-aged citizens use, Insensi would appeal to the old-school sense while bringing the older crowd to adapt to a new tech experience. Insensi’s made a device that is certainly kid-friendly, but the device is so modern that it lacks appeal for the older crowd.

Of course, a response to my criticism would be, “but what about the touchscreen? Touchscreens make such devices kid-friendly.” I agree; why not, however, create a phone/tablet hybrid that is both kid-friendly and has old-school appeal? Have a tablet-like setup for the base of the phone, and produce a receiver that mimics current “phone” icons on the smartphone desktop. Parents can take the receiver off at home to talk, then place it back on and activate video calling when they want to talk to their parents or the children’s grandparents and view the other party on the touchscreen. I think that a receiver should be incorporated into the experience because it happens to be one of the old-school hardware design components that would resonate with the older crowd.

Asus's FonePad design would complete the Insensi Ily Family Phone and give it an edge. 

Sticking with the area of design, I think that the phone/tablet hybrid should consist of a setup like the Asus FonePad that lets you dock your phone in the back of the tablet slate to 1) charge the phone and 2) power the on-screen tablet experience. If Insensi could make the Ily Family Phone something like the Asus FonePad with the phone/dock/charging experience, the company would have a winner on its hands.

I say this because most young families already have electronic devices such as Android tablets and Apple’s iPad – so they don’t really need the touchscreen experience of another tablet-like device. They also have free calling services such as Skype, so they wouldn’t need free calls and texts, either (since calls and texts are unlimited and free in the US on all top four carriers AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile). The device does have its kid-friendly appeal, and that’s likely to win parents who often get tired of passing their iPad Air to their children all the time.

Another suggestion for the Ily Family Phone is AM/FM radio. Again, the appeal to the older generations will dictate the success or failure of this device, and AM/FM radio capabilities that are built into the Ily will combine two needs (phone and radio) into one. Older generations could use the Ily for radio play when they’re not talking on the phone – and the Ily Family Phone could stop radio play when the person receives a call, and start radio play after the call is completed (without any help from the user). Spotify, with its internet music streaming service, is too complicated for most starting users. AM/FM radio provides an easy way to listen to music without the need to log in with a username and password (which will be hard for older persons to remember and keep close by).

Conclusion 

Insensi’s Ily Family Phone has promise, but the company should work on improving the design for the elderly crowd. If the goal is to connect both children and grandparents or older relatives, then there should be quite a bit of old-school appeal. After all, elderly individuals and older-aged relatives will have to be the target crowd for the Ily Family Phone to sell, seeing that most young adults and parents are trying to become a part of the new, space-age mobile phone experience.

For young parents, the key to the success of the Ily Family Phone will be convenient. Let’s say that the family in question is young and already owns iPhones. Such a family would not want to come home and fumble with a tablet that lacks a web browser when they can just pick up the iPad and surf the Web. Ily may need to create a family version aside of an adult version that provides full mobile capabilities, but even adding some sort of smartphone charging on the back of the Ily device would be enough to entice some parents. After all, they can talk to relatives and grandparents while their smartphone is charging…which means that they wouldn’t be free to fumble around with it and distract themselves while on video calls with family. Locking down the smartphone into the back charging dock would be a perfect way to charge the device and meet a need of young parents, all while nailing time with family. It’s the best of both worlds!

The Ily will compete in the minds of many young parents and families with current mobile devices like the iPad Air 2, Nexus 9, and Samsung Galaxy Tab 4, Tab A, and even the Note 10.1 2014 that are already on the market. Insensi must set its products apart from these well-known, highly-branded manufacturers, and taking an “Asus” route (as I’ve said above) will help in this endeavor.

Samsung has also patented a FonePad-like hardware design of its own, called the Galaxy Hit – so we’ll see if Samsung ever gets around to it. They make consumer products such as washers and dryers, so it wouldn’t be too farfetched to see them make a Tizen Family Phone that runs the company’s OS while giving older customers the few features they need to adopt it and throw out their old stereos and boom box immediately.

Visit the links below to learn more about Insensi.

http://www.insensi.com

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150623005274/en/Introducing-ILY-Family-Phone™#.VYvxG-v46fQ

USB Type C or USB-C: Smartphones’ Next Big Thing?

Smartphone manufacturers have it hard in today’s consumer market. There was once a time when a few smartphone makers stood out for their hardware designs, being praised merely because of how gorgeous their smartphones looked (little mattered about the software). Today, however, numerous smartphones on the market look good – leaving manufacturers to find new technologies, or at least implementations, by which to stand out from the pack.

ShenZhen Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus took the market by storm with its one-click root device (OnePlus One) with its CyanogenMod ROMming and vanilla Android appeal. The price was just as good as the hardware and software, $322USD, leaving many to wonder why they’d pay $600 for a phone when a more inexpensive but more freeing experience would work for them.

Even with the price, however, OnePlus has stood out for other things on its One smartphone, one of them being the use of DCI 4K video recording. In the smartphone world and smart TV worlds, the use of “4K” is tossed around by a number of manufacturers for marketing hype purposes. In reality, there are two different kinds of “4K”: 1) true 4K and 2) 4K UHD. The second option stands for “4K Ultra HD” and produces a resolution that’s near 4K (3,840 x 2160) but not exactly (true 4K has a resolution of 4,096 x 2,160). The “DCI 4K” in the OnePlus One’s camera means that its video recording capabilities match that of the “Digital Cinemas Initiative” (hence, DCI) standards. DCI 4K is used by professional photographers and the cinema industry at large, so the DCI standard is true 4K. The 4KUHD standard will still produce excellent video recording scenes, but it doesn’t match the 4K standard dictated by DCI. The OnePlus One smartphone is one of the first smartphones to utilize true 4K video recording capabilities.

Now, OnePlus is back to bring another industry standard to the forefront: USB-C charging with the announcement about its next smartphone, the OnePlus Two.

What is USB Type-C, or USB-C, charging?

USB Type-C or USB-C charging is the next standard in “Universal Serial Bus,” a way to mark and define connector cables. We’ve had our share of USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 when it comes to smartphones, but there are still a few problems. For one, there’s always one end that must connect to the port (you can’t reverse the ends for double connectivity), and current USB standards aren’t as fast as they could be.

USB Type-C or USB-C has one major advantage: you can connect either end of the cable to your smartphone or device without frustration. It’s convenient, and consumers crave convenience more than ever in this high-tech world in which we find ourselves.

There are other advantages to USB-C charging as well. I did a perusal of some Web content about USB-C, and few tech sites actually list many of the advantages of using this new technology. Other advantages include faster charging, which means you won’t have to wait as long to see your smartphone charge to 100%; faster data transfer rates, up to 10Gbps speeds – Google Fiber won’t bring this quick a data transfer; it can double as a charger and a video port so that you can actually record video and send it to smartphones, tablets, and PCs; and, last but never least, it’s compatible with current ports, though you’ll likely need an adapter.

As can be seen, USB-C charging does a number of things quickly (data transfer) while remaining compatible with current USB port standards and being an all-in-one USB solution. Samsung went with USB 3.0 in its Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy S5 to push the progress of USB technology but returned to USB 2.0 because the company claimed that few were using it.

We have a feeling that with Apple’s new implementation of it in the MacBook, more manufacturers will want to push technological progress forward with USB Type-C charging. Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5 is said to come with USB-C charging as well, so the field is certainly ripe for OnePlus to blaze a new trail in USB tech. The faster data transfer rates places USB-C charging in the Space Age.

Take back the email: Google releases “Undo Send” for Gmail on the Web

Ever heard the saying “It’s better to be safe than sorry”? This comes up in a number of situations (saying something to a friend, relative, or partner that you later regret, learning how to spend conservatively, and so on), but the Web presents us with new “regrets” – particularly when it comes to “letting someone have it,” telling them everything we’re thinking and feeling.

I know, I know: we all say things in the moment that we wish we could take back later. I’ve often sat at my desk, typing some angry email, then placing it in draft and rereading it to myself before I decide to send it (just to “doctor” it and remove the angry words). In some cases, I type it in Microsoft Word and read it over, just to get out my anger with mean words before I type the nice words in an official Gmail email.

Well, Google has now unveiled a way to “take back the email” that could ruin your relationship with your spouse, your lifetime career, and a business connection that could have implications for years to come. On the company’s App Team blog yesterday, Mountain View announced the happy news: “Previously a popular feature in Gmail Labs, and recently added to Inbox by Gmail, today we’re adding ‘Undo Send’ as a formal setting in Gmail on the web.”

“Undo Send” is space age tech; for years, we’ve lived in the world of “once it’s out there, you can’t take it back.” Think of someone who has sent an email to the wrong individual with confidential information that he or she wants no one to know. For that individual, “Undo Send” will be a godsend. The person who applies for a job but realizes after the fact that he or she forgot to send his or her resume for the job will now be able to undo the application in order to prepare that resume and increase his or her chances for the position. This is a feature that will truly aid individuals in their daily lives.

How to find the “Undo Send” feature in Gmail

Keep in mind that the “Undo Send” feature is only available on the Web right now, so you’re going to be disappointed if you think the mobile smartphone experience will provide it for you.

To find the “Undo Send” feature in Gmail on the Web, follow the steps below:

Step 1. Go to the “wheel” icon at the top right of your Gmail page in Chrome’s Web browser.

Step 2. Click it, and select “settings.”

Step 3. Scroll down the page and you’ll see “Undo Send” beneath “Send and Archive.” Check the “Enable Undo Send” box and then select how many seconds you want to have the privilege to take back the email: 5, 10, 20, or 30 seconds. Be sure to save your changes at the very bottom of the settings form when you’re done.

That’s it!

The Undo Send button will be seen as an “Undo Discard” feature after you send an email and receive the message “your email was sent” in the yellow response box at the top of your Gmail email account. You can even check to see if the email was sent; you’ll find Undo Send works perfectly. My best advice is to set the response time to 30 seconds so that you don’t have a dilemma of heart and mind when retrieving a sent message.

Have you tried the new feature yet? If so, feel free to let us know. Did Undo Send save you from an embarrassing situation? Drop us a line in the comments below.