Looking back at the last two Consumer Electronics Shows, you can see a tremendous focus on voice assistants. However, there was a key difference between the 2017 and 2018 shows: Amazon Alexa was all over the place in 2017 and it took until the next … [Read more...]
Why an Amazon Alexa-powered home robot makes sense
Earlier this week, news broke that Amazon is reportedly building a domestic robot. The robot’s codename of “Vesta” is the Roman god for hearth, house and family. Ironically, it was earlier this month on the IoT Podcast that we debated robots as a … [Read more...]
Why the IoT and my smart home have me using a phone less and less
Over the past few years in various conversations, Stacey has told me she doesn’t carry her phone around at home. Ludicrous, I say! At least that’s what I used to say. It turns out that the smart home and IoT now has me doing the same thing: As I add … [Read more...]
Alexa, play me an ad that I don’t want to hear (said no one ever)
Here’s a good news, (potentially) bad news story. First the good news: Even though it typically doesn’t provide sales numbers for its product lines, Amazon touted record purchases of Alexa-enabled products this holiday season. Given how … [Read more...]
It’s time for our smart homes to get smarter (with ML and AI)
Amazon announced that it sold millions of Alexa devices last weekend, helping to bring digital assistants to more individuals and smart homes. And yet, how “smart” are our smart homes these days, really? Not very when you think about … [Read more...]