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AI Software

Amazon Built An Echo Simulator You Can Use In the Browser (venturebeat.com) 54

Posted by msmash from the a-thing-to-do-over-weekend dept.
Jordan Novet, writing for VentureBeat: Amazon today announced the availability of Echosim.io, a website that simulates the capabilities of the Amazon Echo speaker, which employs Amazon's Alexa voice assistant technology. The thing about Alexa is that many people who don't own the Echo -- or its smaller siblings, the Tap and the Echo Dot -- haven't been able to see what Alexa is capable of. The new tool -- which was inspired by the Alexa in the Browser application that Nexmo developer advocate Sam Machin came up with during a hackathon last year -- solves that problem. All you have to do is head to the website, sign in with your Amazon credentials, and start holding your mouse down over the microphone button to see what Alexa can do. It's nifty for anyone to use, but it's also potentially useful to developers. "Developers worldwide can use Echosim to experience Alexa," Amazon Alexa developer marketing manager Glenn Cameron wrote in a blog post.Interesting move, especially for people who either do not want to -- or can't -- purchase the device (unavailability being one reason). You will need to login with your Amazon account in order to test Echosim.
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Amazon Built An Echo Simulator You Can Use In the Browser More

Amazon Built An Echo Simulator You Can Use In the Browser

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  • The thing about Alexa is that many people who don't own the Echo -- or its smaller siblings, the Tap and the Echo Dot -- haven't been able to see what Alexa is capable of.

    What is it capable of? Its primary purpose is to collect huge amounts of personal data on you, your family, and your friends, so that Amazon can monetize that data to pay for Jeff Bezo's flying car.

  • Great (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Now you can voluntarily give up even more privacy in your browser. Why would anyone use this? Why are people bashing Apple because Siri isn't storing such data in the cloud? Screw Cortana, Echo, and Google Now.

  • Flattened right out (Score:3)

    by chuckugly ( 2030942 ) on Friday May 27, 2016 @03:58PM (#52198279)
    The server is flatter than a pancake, the /. effect is still a thing I guess.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      Now, I'm hungry. Thanks. :P

      Also, it is back up now but "Amazon account is required, please login."? :(

      • Hey, pancakes are delicious, and once they stood her back up she didn't cope with background noise much better than any of the other voice gizmos. Maybe dedicated hardware can help w/ that but I'll not be finding out.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by antdude ( 79039 )

          Yep. Same for french toasts. Too bad I can't eat their syrups. My exposed teeth are too sensitive. :(

  • Internal Server Error The server encountered an internal error and was unable to complete your request. Either the server is overloaded or there is an error in the application.

  • The thing about Alexa is that many people who don't own the Echo -- or its smaller siblings, the Tap and the Echo Dot -- haven't been able to see what Alexa is capable of. The new tool [...] solves that problem. All you have to do is head to the website, sign in with your Amazon credentials...

    Oups, it requires an Amazon account. No demo for me, then.

    Alexa doesn't exists!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Pulzar ( 81031 )

      Oups, it requires an Amazon account. No demo for me, then.

      Alexa doesn't exists!

      I'm glad you felt the need to tell us that. It's very important to the discussion about a new toy that us geeks like to play with and understand.

  • No nerds in Slashdot crowd any more... :( (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Pulzar ( 81031 ) on Friday May 27, 2016 @04:52PM (#52198563)

    Readers here used to be interested in nerdy toys and discussed how they worked, and how to hack them and get the most of out them... Now it's a bunch of people with tinfoil hats complaining about Amazon is trying to track them and feed their data to the cops of Jeff Bezos.

    Aren't there some nerds in the crowd that wanted to play with an Echo but didn't want to buy one just to try it out, and are happy that they can now see what it does? Doesn't anyone appreciate the engineering challenge of this?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by linuxguy ( 98493 )
      Agreed. The intelligent people have left Slashdot. The remaining are mostly griefers. I swore off Slashdot a couple of weeks ago, but accidentally visited today. An old habit that will take some time to kill I guess. Comments on this story and all others on this site are a strong reminder of what the remaining crowd here is. Whiny crybabies and paranoid schizophrenics.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Locutus ( 9039 )
      Sure seems that way doesn't it. FYI, I recently built an AlexaPi using an old rPi B+, a old logitech USB webcam for the mic and headphones. Getting started with it asking about weather, appointment/calendar events, etc. Will start building todo's and see about getting music working. The browser version is pretty cool as it lets me do the same when at the computer. And also used AlexaPi to reorder a few things. I hear the Dot and Echo have such good noise cancelling and voice pickup it can recognize comma

    • What's nerdy about fellating Amazon? Wouldn't it be nerdier to talk about an Echo replacement that's FoSS?

    • Aren't there some nerds in the crowd that wanted to play with an Echo but didn't want to buy one just to try it out, and are happy that they can now see what it does? Doesn't anyone appreciate the engineering challenge of this?

      I'm pretty sure my boy is going to be playing with this all weekend. He hasn't lost the spark! (he's nine)

      Grumpy old men are grumpy.

  • This speaker creates excellent echos? no. This speaker is some kind of voice recognition technology like google voice and siri? maybe.

    It would be nice if someone could explain wtf this thing is and why i should care that its now available in website form. Article and summary are identically hollow.

    People cant see what its capable of. Fine, but unless you have an amazon account you cant summarize it either? we have to "see" it, it is so great that it cannot possibly be put into words?

  • I don't think so. Why would I give up a bunch of personal data, or alternately jump thru a bunch of anonymizing hoops, just to try your new product (which aside from the gee-whiz factor isn't something that I would use much)?

    If they want to suck me in for purposes of peddling my data, they've got to sweeten the bait a little better than that.

  • Whats wrong with TV adverting?lol infomercials.or any adverting.isn't that what good companys that make great product do. Or are they scared?

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