Smart speakers upon us
Smart speakers, which are praised for their usefulness and criticised for their creepiness, are finally coming to New Zealand.
Amazon said it will start selling the Echo, which is powered by its smart assistant Alexa, in New Zealand early next year. No prices have been announced but you can expect to pay about between $180 and $200. It is the first smart speaker specifically designed for the New Zealand market and it will have ‘‘skills’’ and features dedicated to Kiwis.
Skills are a set command or task that the Echo performs. For example, if you have an Uber account, you can ask: ‘‘Alexa, ask Uber to request a ride.’’
Amazon has partnered with several Kiwi companies which will have skills available. These include Air New Zealand, TVNZ and Sky TV.
There is a lot of buzz around smart speakers as they are easy to use, affordable and effective.
They are also one of the few hyped products that have become useful and popular, and they also demonstrate the success of artificial intelligence.
The Echo will soon be joined by Apple’s HomePod, which is set to arrive sometime next year after being delayed. Google Home can be bought from overseas but there is no dedicated New Zealand version yet.
For some, smart speakers are like a digital flatmate that can make your life easier. You can use it to play music, find out the weather forecast and latest news headlines, order food or ask for wine recommendations.
For others, Alexa – which can hear everything you say when you’re close to it – is a perfect demonstration of the creepiness of technology. However, Amazon is not recording everything it hears. It’s been likened to a pet. It can hear everything, but can only understand what it has been trained to respond to. For the Echo, it’s everything after the command word, ‘‘Alexa’’. It works in the same way as Siri does on an iPhone.
Still, Amazon is collecting your personal data. But then again, so is your smartphone, computer and television. As with any piece of technology, you will need to decide if the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.