Amazon is moving a key bit of Echo software onto the cloud, meaning that all Alexa-enabled devices will be able to gauge the proximity of voice commands.
Anyone with more than one Alexa-enabled device in their home will know the tribulations of trying to speak to one device without activating another by accident.
Previously only a feature of Amazon’s Echo family of devices, Echo Spatial Recognition (ESP) limits confusion between multiple smart speakers or gadgets, ensuring that the one closest to you picks up on your commands.
With smart assistants like Alexa more ubiquitous than ever, and featured in thousands of smart home devices, it’s only natural Amazon are working to ensure those devices work in harmony together – and so encouraging users to bring as many as possible into their home.
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The update expands an ever-growing library of additional skills and features for the popular smart assistant, which also recently gained a new EQ function – meaning users can now ask Alexa to crank the bass during a song, or adjust its frequency to best suit the style of music being played.
By continually improving software capabilities over the cloud, Amazon is ensuring it futureproofs its products against the competition, and continues to add value for those who have bought into the Alexa ecosystem so far.
Source: techradar.com