Dec 27, 2023
“What would it mean for your business if you could target potential clients who are actively discussing their need for your services in thei
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“What would it mean for your business if you could target potential clients who are actively discussing their need for your services in thei
Futurama's Bender makes for a bad-tempered smart speaker
Unlike Siri, this fan-made smart speaker will tell you to "Bite my shiny metal ass."
Read more in my CNET article here.
Imagine your smartphone knew everything about the city – but the city didn’t know anything about you. Wouldn’t that be truly ‘smart’?
As the audio engineer for the Tiny Desk concert series, of course I obsess over how our concerts are experienced — so when I watch someone pull up a session on their smartphone, laptop or tablet, with those tiny and tinny speakers, my heart sinks a little. I'm thrilled people love these concerts as much as we love making them, but they sound so much better when played on a decent sound system, or on headphones. Sure, the concerts sound OK on a mono phone speaker, but you'd be amazed by what you're missing once you've heard the audio mix on a device that can actually reproduce the low and high ends of the frequency spectrum, where all the chest-thumping bass and shimmering cymbals live.
Thankfully, audio snobs need not look on in horror (as much) anymore: great-sounding, relatively affordable smart speakers are popping up everywhere. They're all convenient for barking questions at, like "What's the weather on Friday," or, "How many grams in a pound?" (454, as it turns out.) These are decidedly not the hockey-puck shaped smart devices — with no bottom end, muffled highs and a jarring mid-range — currently littering the homes of family and friends. After spending a bunch of time listening to each one, I frankly couldn't choose a clear favorite — I just know they all sound better than what most people have in their homes.
Tiny Tech Tips: Which Of The New, 'Hi-Fi' Smart Speakers Sounds The Best?
Photo: Mhari Shaw/NPR
Many of us around the world now have a smart speaker in our homes, but there are also many people who do not fully understand how they work.
“Alexa, delete my data.” “OK Google, self-destruct.” “Siri, get rid of everything.” “Cortana, where’s my voice stored?”
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/how-to-delete-amazon-echo-google-home-data
Amazon Echo's Alexa, Google Assistant and Cortana are always listening to obey your commands. Utter the wake word – Alexa, Cortana or Hey Google, and they spring into life. But what if you don't want your voice recorded and stored on Amazon's servers forevermore?
Thankfully, all these services give you the option of deleting your data. Here's how to remove your voice data collected by the Amazon Echo, Google Home, Siri and Cortana....
Google’s smart speaker is finally back
Google has released its first new smart speaker in six years, bringing the Google Home name back with a design centered around its Gemini AI assistant. The speaker focuses on more natural conversations, better smart home controls, and improved voice recognition while also offering richer 360-degree sound in a compact design.
WIRED found the speaker to be one of the strongest options in its category, praising both the audio quality and the much smarter AI experience. Gemini can handle more conversational requests, remember context during follow-up questions, and work more seamlessly with compatible smart home devices than the older Google Assistant.
The biggest downside is that several headline features sit behind Google Home Premium. Advanced tools like Gemini Live, enhanced home automation, and extended camera history require a paid subscription, making the $99 speaker more capable if you're willing to pay beyond the initial purchase.
Final Note:
It feels like smart speakers have quietly become AI devices first and music players second. The hardware sounds promising, but whether the subscription is worth it will probably be the deciding factor for a lot of people.
Google has stopped manufacturing its 2nd-gen Nest Mini and Nest Audio smart speakers, which are being replaced by the new Gemini-powered Google Home Speaker.
Google has stopped manufacturing its 2nd-gen Nest Mini and Nest Audio smart speakers, which are being replaced by the new Gemini-powered Google Home Speaker.