Amazon's Alexa is ready to speak freely.
Amazon's digital assistant will soon be able to talk to you even if you haven't given a voice command, according to a new report from The Information. According to the company, your Echo could tell you when your taxi has arrived instead of waiting for you to ask it, for example.
While it may seem insignificant, it represents a significant change for the product and the entire category of personal, internet- connected assistants. (Imagine if Siri could alert you to a package delivery when you’re in the middle of a special dinner party.) More than 4 million Amazon Echo devices have been sold, so a more independent Alexa should help ease many people into the idea of conversing with a robot — as long as they don’t mind an unreal voice being heard inside their homes at odd times.
Note, however, that Echo shouldn't just talk to you randomly. It'll need to be informed by connected apps and provide information based on your settings. If you have an internet-connected coffee maker, Alexa could be able to notify you that your coffee is ready, if you've set it up to do so.
You might call it frivolous, but think about how many things you can use every day that you might otherwise have dismissed as minor conveniences: auto-loading Google searches without pressing “Enter,” sending notifications for new emails, hailing a cab, you name it. A smarter Echo could be just one more service to add to the list.
