Why aren't we all talking about the Amazon Echo?

Alexa, read me my shopping list. Alexa, what is the score of the NCAA championship basketball game? Alexa, play some Kenny G.

Who is Alexa?

The Amazon Echo is a cylindrical voice command device (robot) that goes by the name "Alexa." At first glance, this thing looks like a typical Bluetooth speaker that you might keep handy in your living room, kitchen counter, or nightstand. You can adjust the volume of t he 9.25" Echo using the circular dial that doubles as the top of the cylinder. Or, if you're done listening to Kenny G, you can just say "Alexa, shut up." (But that would be rude.)

Source: technobuffalo.com

What Makes It Smart?

The Amazon Echo uses cloud-based processing based Amazon Web Services, but works with other companies to make Alexa extra smart. For instance, the Amazon common voice platform acquired technologies from Yap, Evi, and IVONA. Yap specialized in multimodal speech recognition; this makes the Echo "wake" from default mode when it hears "Alexa." The knowledge base and semantic search engine software comes from Evi; so Alexa can understand more than an ordinary robot. The Polish IT company, IVONA, which provides the speech synthesis software that give Alexa a soothing, human-like voice. Couple that with innovative natural language processing algorithms built in, and the Amazon Echo almost seems like a 10-inch plastic addition to your family. I would imagine it would be awkward watching the film Her (2013) with Alexa staring at you from across the room.

Source: user JoBlo Movie Trailers on YouTube.com

Hardware & Connectivity

Remember those chunky calculators from high school made by Texas Instruments? The same company makes Alexa's processor, but it does a lot more than quadratic formulas. The hardware includes 256MB of LPDDR1 RAM and 4 GB of storage space. In terms of connectivity, it is provided using Wi-Fi capabilities and Bluetooth 4.

Source: vrworld.com

Industry Implications and Competition

Most people who own smart products know how many opportunities they can offer. With each new model comes more reliability, speed, and efficiency. Companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple are constantly developing new, innovative ideas to increase functionality with an end goal of higher product utilization. In other words, the goal for a good smart product would be for the consumer to use it often and rely on its functionality: a recipe for brand loyalty. This need creates a force in the industry to keep its consumers coming back for better devices and newer models. The introduction of the Amazon Echo made waves in the smart product industry and is now facing threat of new entrants from competing companies such as Google's "OnHub" and improvements with Apple's "Siri," which was the first of its kind. I'm sure that once more people hear the buzz about the Echo (or the echo about the Echo...ha), the more likely it will be that off-brand companies will come out with substitute or "knock-off" products that would probably hit the shelves at stores like Kohl's. This is another threat on the rivalry of the industry. That being said, Amazon uses its bargaining power against us as consumers with the Echo because it is catered mostly to Amazon Prime members or potential members, so, along with the purchase of the $179.99 Echo, it would be strongly encouraged to purchase a Prime membership as well.

Source: macrumors.com

Why Alexa Deserves More Attention

Nobody puts baby in a corner, unless baby is Amazon Echo and the corner is where your kitchen counters meet. I understand that $179.99 is a good amount of money, especially if you don't have a lot of disposable income. However, Amazon lets you pay in 5-month increments of $36. I'm unsure why my Aunt is the only person I know who has it. Given some of its praise, ratings, and the level of functionality, it is surprising to me that it is currently the third-best-selling product from Amazon, behind the Kindle. However, the recent holiday season caused a spike in Echo sales and its recent Superbowl 50 commercial might be a wake-up call to its audience. I think Alexa might be here to stay for a while.

Source: Amazon

Limitations & Improvements

Given the fairly expensive cost and sad, desolate place that is my bank account, I currently do not own an Amazon Echo, but I would definitely consider this for my next "treat yourself" purchase. Hopefully by the time I scrounge up enough dough to make this purchase justifiable, the Echo will have made some improvements. For example, you cannot purchase songs or media using voice command. It also does not currently have GPS capabilities, and must be set manually (its default location is Seattle.) This can cause discrepancies in weather services, time zones, or other location miscommunications. The Echo is also currently only available in English.

Who knows what might be next for smart products like Alexa? Maybe in a few years, robots will surpass human capabilities and we will have to make laws to govern them and... I think this is just turning into the plot to I, Robot. Anyway, I think we might be hearing more from the Amazon Echo pretty soon.