When it comes to speakers and other audio equipment, Sonos is one of the more beloved out there. And despite not having its own voice assistant on board its range of smart speakers, they are still some of the most sought-after options out there. But for fans of the speakers, it looks like Sonos is ready to jump into the voice assistant market in the very near future.
Alexa
How to listen, delete, and ask Amazon not to save your Alexa voice recordings
Echo is a series of smart voice assistant devices by Amazon. You can review and listen to voice commands given to Alexa on your Amazon Echo, inside the Alexa app, and any other device with Alexa built in. From here, you can delete the voice recordings individually or in bulk. The settings also allow you to stop saving your Echo recordings. Finally, you can even ask Amazon to no longer use your Alexa voice recordings for evaluation and training purposes. This'll ensure no human hired by Amazon listens to them. In this guide, we show you how to do all these using the Alexa app on your iPhone, iPad, Android, and the Amazon website in a browser on Mac or PC.
Apple aims to boost HomePod efforts with new Audio Software Lead
While the HomePod mini appears to be doing all right, all things considered, Apple is still missing a huge chunk of the smart speaker market. Meanwhile, Google and Amazon have capitalized. But it looks like Apple's not quite ready to go quietly into that good night (yet).
Accessing your Alexa assistant just got quicker with Amazon’s new iPhone widget
Amazon has released a new iOS widget, dubbed ”Ask Alexa”, that provides quick access to the company's voice assistant, right from the home screen of your iPhone and iPad.
Apple acquired more AI companies than Google and Amazon dating back to 2016
Artificial intelligence is a major focal point for a variety of companies out there. Especially the ones launching "smart" products like smart speakers, and of course services like Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa. So perhaps it's not too surprising to hear that Apple gobbled up the most companies in an effort to build up its own efforts.
Apple is training Siri to better understand those with atypical speech
Siri does an okay job of understanding those who query the digital assistant. However, there is still room for improvement. Especially for those with atypical speech. But Apple, and other tech companies, are working on that.
You can now text your requests to Alexa for iOS
As first spotted by The Ambient, users of Amazon's Alexa app for the iPhone and iPad can now send their requests to the assistant via text messages instead of only using their voice.
HomePod mini vs Amazon Echo: Which should you buy?
Apple introduced a tinier version of its popular HomePod called HomePod mini. This smart speaker is not only smaller in size, but also in price as compared to its parent. Both of these features put the HomePod mini more in the running as a direct competitor to the Amazon Echo.
Whether for yourself or a gift for a loved one, you might be trying to decide between the two (or three including the Amazon Echo Dot). To help, we have a comparison of HomePod mini versus Amazon Echo. Hopefully this will help you pick the best smart speaker for your home or someone else’s.
Apple Podcasts integration with Amazon Echo and Fire TV expands to users in Germany
People in Germany who own an Echo device can now ask Amazon's Alexa smart assistant to stream any audio show available on the Apple Podcasts directory.
Microsoft is ending support for Cortana on iOS
As companies were jumping on the digital assistant bandwagon, Microsoft launched its own alternative: Cortana. It proved to be plenty helpful, but Google's and Amazon's dominance in this regard (across platforms, and Siri on iOS) forced Microsoft to make some tough decisions.
Amazon overhauls Alexa app around core functionality rather than third-party apps
Amazon has overhauled its mobile Alexa app for iPhone and iPad around first-party features.
Amazon’s Alexa will be able to launch Android and iOS apps using voice commands soon
It's a relatively painless process to use Siri and ask the digital assistant to launch an app on your iPhone or iPad, but for folks who prefer to use Amazon's option, Alexa isn't quite there yet.