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Want a smarter Alexa, savvier Siri, brainier Google Now or a cleverer Cortana? So do Amazon, Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft -- and each is working to make its voice assistant your personal Einstein of choice. Amazon recently enhanced its efforts by nabbing an AI expert from eBay, The Wall Street Joual reported Friday. Hassan Sawaf is now Amazon's director of artificial intelligence, focusing on "the user experience for users of Amazon's search capability across all products and businesses," according to Sawaf's LinkedIn page. The Joual was one of the first to spot Sawaf's updated responsibilities on LinkedIn. "eBay has wide and deep capabilities in AI across the technology organization, and r...

Enlarge ImageThe Ecobee3 Smart Thermostat and the Amazon Echo smart speaker. Ecobee Last year, Amazon established the $100 million dollar "Alexa Fund" for developers and manufacturers both large and small. The idea was fairly straightforward -- support people with good ideas on how to put the voice-recognition technology in the Amazon Echo smart speaker to good use. Now, the online mega-retailer is ponying up for its biggest investment yet and joining in on a$35 million-dollar funding round for the makers of the Ecobee smart thermostat. The funding round brings Amazon in with Thomvest and Relay Ventures, and comes several months after the Ecobee3 became the first smart thermostat to sync up ...

There are plenty of things in my house that I yell at. Some of them answer back these days, though, and even do what I ask. My dog is still a work in progress as far as that goes, but my Amazon Echo has just about nailed it. The Echo is a device that uses speech recognition to perform an ever-growing range of tasks on command. Amazon calls the built-in brains of this device "Alexa," and she* is the thing that makes it work.Alexa is a smart cookie: if I say "Alexa, play some Pink Floyd", she will find some Floyd and start playing it over the built-in speaker of the Echo. If I say "Alexa, what's the weather?" she will calmly tell me that it is too damn hot in Boston. How does she do this? The ...

There are plenty of things in my house that I yell at. Some of them answer back these days, though, and even do what I ask. My dog is still a work in progress as far as that goes, but my Amazon Echo has just about nailed it. The Echo is a device that uses speech recognition to perform an ever-growing range of tasks on command. Amazon calls the built-in brains of this device "Alexa," and she* is the thing that makes it work.Alexa is a smart cookie: if I say "Alexa, play some Pink Floyd", she will find some Floyd and start playing it over the built-in speaker of the Echo. If I say "Alexa, what's the weather?" she will calmly tell me that it is too damn hot in Boston. How does she do this? The ...

[embedded content] How closely are Amazon's Echo devices listening in on your conversations? Is it time to set up Tinder dates with multiple people at the same time? Plus, what are the ways politics are taking over Twitter during the Republican National Convention? Jeff Bakalar chats with CNET editorial intes Samantha Rhodes, Jake Krol and ZDNet's Zack Whittaker on these topics, originally broadcast live on Friday, July 22nd.Feel free to leave what you think about these topics in the comments, tweet to us using #OpenTab and join our next broadcast Friday on CNET's YouTube page around 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT.Let's block ads! بخوانید...

Enlarge ImageHey Alexa, go sit in a coer and think about what you've done. Amanda Kooser/CNET Alexa and I had a little quarrel Tuesday night. It wasn't our usual tiff where I ask her to tu off an alarm and she ignores me and then we both laugh about it later. Tuesday's record-breaking Prime Day shopping holiday included an extra bonus for Amazon Echo voice assistant owners. You could get an extra $10 off your first $20 voice purchase made through your Alexa device.I'm not the kind of person to go nuts for shopping holidays, but I was interested in getting a home security camera that would let me check in on my CNET test cats when I'm out. The Amcrest IP2M-841 1080p dome surveillance camera p...

Google built a knockoff of Amazon's Echo. Now, reportedly, it's Apple's tu. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images As if family squabbles weren't enough, just wait till all those voice-activated smart home speakers start trying to out-shout each other in your kitchen or living room.That's right, we not only have an Amazon Echo rival from Google, but, if a report from The Information tus out to be true, we may be seeing (and hearing) one from Apple too.The device will be powered by everyone's favorite iPhone seductress, Siri, and will, among other things, be able to tu on or off any appliance that's compatible with Apple's Homekit platform, The Information says. But the gadget may not appear for a whil...

Google built a knockoff of Amazon's Echo. Now, reportedly, it's Apple's tu. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images As if family squabbles weren't enough, just wait till all those "voice-activated smart home speakers" start trying to out-shout each other in your kitchen or living room.That's right, we not only have an Amazon Echo rival from Google, but, if a report from The Information tus out to be true, we may be seeing (and hearing) one from Apple too.The device will be powered by everyone's favorite iPhone seductress, Siri, and will, among other things, be able to tu on or off any appliance that's compatible with Apple's Homekit platform, the Information says. But the gadget may not appear for a wh...

Google is working on standalone hardware for the home that will integrate the web giant's search and voice technology, according to a report Wednesday by Recode.The device, which is going by the inteal name "Chirp," is said to resemble Google's OnHub wireless router. Such a device would likely make Google's familiar search command "OK Google" available throughout your home, a growing market for the web giant and its rivals.The device is seen as a competitor to Echo, Amazon's inteet-coected wireless speaker wrapped around a digital personal assistant named Alexa.Chirp is unlikely to launch at Google's I/O developers conference next week but is expected to debut sometime this year, Recode repo...

Hey Siri, thanks for the smaller phone, but how about an Echo-like smart speaker?Thursday's a big day in tech. Apple's iPhone SE and 9.7-inch iPad Pro go on sale. Also available are the latest products in Amazon's Echo family of smart speakers, the portable Amazon Tap and speaker attachment Echo Dot.For many of you, it's Amazon's products, and its digital voice assistant Alexa, that are the bigger draw. That's because the Pringles can-shaped Echo speaker has been a surprise hit thanks to its ability to let you ask about the weather, play NPR news, set reminders, add items to your grocery list and even order pizza for delivery.Your home is increasingly tuing into a battleground for tech giant...

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.Steve Wozniak, under the spell of an Echo. CNBC screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET Your phone's been hurting you lately, hasn't it? The sheer effort it takes to pick it up, press its buttons, bend your arm, and -- perish the concept -- talk into it is all a little much. You'd rather just wander about your world and utter your demands like a latter-day monarch, without lifting so much as a finger. I know this because that's what Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak would prefer.In a CNBC interview Friday, Woz explained that he'd found the answer to many of his woes. "I'm excited right now about the Amazon ...

Need an Uber ride? Just ask Amazon Echo. Chris Monroe/CNET Have an Amazon Echo? Need an Uber ride? You can now use the former to get the latter.Amazon's Echo, a cloud-coected wireless speaker that acts as your personal assistant via voice commands, now supports Uber, the ride-hailing service aounced in a blog Friday. Instead of using the Uber mobile phone app to request a ride, you can just ask Alexa, Echo's voice assistant, to request that an Uber driver come pick you up.The ability to hail Uber is just the latest feature to be added to the Echo, which can already play music, give you weather updates or tell you who's playing in the Super Bowl. The voice-controlled device is just one of a h...