Category: smart speaker
‘Alexa, help me find a job at McDonald’s’
People looking for a job at fast food chain McDonald’s can now start their application using Alexa or Google Assistant. The global chain is hoping to attract new staff with increasingly popular voice-powered assistants taking answers to a few basic questions such as name, job area of interest and location. With the Apply Thru skill…
Google to reduce stored voice data from AI assistants
Google has said it will reduce the amount of voice data it stores, following a scandal linked to AI assistants and how audio data from users was being listened to by human reviewers. The technology giant said that while its own Voice and Audio Activity (VAA) programme has always been opt-in, it will now ask…
Amazon Alexa users can now ask it to speak more slowly
Amazon Alexa users can now ask the digital assistant to speak more slowly as part of efforts to make the virtual helper easier to interact with. The artificial intelligence-powered assistant is behind Amazon’s line of Echo smart devices and can be found in a number of smartphones. Amazon has announced that users can now say…
Parents ditch Alexa as a baby name!
It has become a near-ubiquitous virtual assistant, responding to the voice commands of householders around the globe. But the emergence of Alexa-enabled gadgets in UK homes in the last two years has also coincided with a decrease in the name’s popularity. After all who wants their baby's name to be associated with that of a…
BBC to launch Alexa rival
The BBC is developing its own Alexa-style digital voice assistant for next year which it claims is capable of understanding regional accents. ‘Beeb’ is being considered as the wake-word used to get the attention of the voice-activated technology, which is designed to work on existing devices such as smart-speakers, mobiles and TVs instead of launching…
NatWest trials voice banking with Google Assistant
Banking on your voice could become the new way to check accounts if a NatWest trial using the Google Assistant proves to be on the money. The bank is launching a trial using the voice-powered virtual helper, allowing customers to ask the Google Home smart speaker for details such as their bank balance or recent…
Sport Social football news service launches for smart speakers
A new smart speaker tool is to enable football fans to hear the latest news from all 20 Premier League clubs when they ask their virtual assistant for updates. The service, named Sport Social, is to launch on August 10 for both Amazon’s Alexa and the Google Assistant, during the opening weekend of the Premier…
Amazon Alexa users ‘allowed to opt out of human reviews’
Amazon has given virtual assistant users the option to opt out of having human reviewers listen to their voice recordings. It has also pledged to provide clearer information on its recording review practices. However, the technology giant will not follow Apple and Google in suspending the practice of using human reviewers to analyse some recordings.…
Apple suspends humans ‘grading’ recordings
Apple has suspended the practice of having human contractors listen to Siri recordings after concerns were raised about user privacy. A report by The Guardian last week revealed the company used the programme to listen to a small number of recordings from the voice assistant to grade them. The report said contractors had regularly heard…
Alexa gains free ad-supported Amazon Music
Devices using Alexa in the UK can access a selection of free ad-supported music from Amazon Music, as competition against the likes of Spotify heats up. The tech firm said it is making playlists and stations available to users at no extra cost, marking Amazon’s first step into free music streaming funded by advertising. People…
