Ring doorbells are providing customer data to companies such as Facebook and Google, an investigation suggests. The Electronic Frontier Foundation found the Ring app was “packed” with third-party tracking, sending out customers’ personally identifiable information. Five companies were receiving a range of information, including names, IP addresses and mobile networks, it said. Ring said it limited the […]
GE announced new additions to its C by GE line of smart lights today, with the featured product being its first full-color model. Like the rest of the C by GE line, the color bulb doesn’t require a hub. Instead, it uses Bluetooth and can be controlled directly from your phone. The new bulb is […]
Amazon today said Apple Music subscribers will soon be able to enjoy their playlists through Alexa-powered devices. Apple Music customers can request that Alexa play songs, artists, albums, and Apple playlists, as well as stream Apple Music radio stations. For example, people can say “Alexa, play Beats 1” to hear Apple’s global radio stream. In order […]
Google today introduced an update to Google Assistant that brings new behaviors and features to the voice-activated helper. First, the Assistant is rolling out a feature meant for families called Pretty Please. The idea, introduced at I/O in May, is to help parents and families respond to positive conversations with polite reinforcement. When children or other […]
Amazon has made the Alexa Mobile Accessory Kit available to developers, which will enable them to build the smart assistant into headphones, wearables, and more. Amazon first announced the AMA Kit in January of this year and has been testing it since. This week marks the general availability of the kit. The kit supports Bluetooth and […]
Goggle is adding a wide range of features to its AI-powered Google Assistant that focus on improving the experience at home. First, family members will be able to respond to broadcasts. The broadcast feature lets people send a voice message to their Google Home speakers or video displays from their phone. Until now, broadcasts have […]
A US judge has asked Amazon to hand over audio recordings from an Amazon Echo which was in a house where two women died. Their bodies were found under the porch of a home in New Hampshire with multiple stab wounds. The man accused of their murder has pleaded not guilty and is due to […]
Users earlier today reported that Amazon Echo devices and the voice-controlled personal assistant service Alexa were not working, according to downdetector.com and social media. According to the outage map on Down Detector, Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant wasn’t working in various parts of the U.S., Europe and India. The issue seems to be concentrated on the […]
Alexa’s Whisper Mode has started to roll out to U.S. owners of Amazon’s digital assistant, though for now it only understands whispers in English. Whisper Mode, which Amazon unveiled last month, could come in handy in a number of scenarios. For example, if you’re trying to get your baby off to sleep and want to […]
Google at their New York event announced that a new version of its Google Home app will reach Android and iOS devices this week. The app has been entirely redesigned to ease the process of controlling various smart home devices, such as smart lightbulbs. For example, all the devices in a home will be visible in […]
