Triple Beam: The Sonos Beam review

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

We live in a time where smart speakers are as common as TVs and smartphones. Powering these smart speakers are intelligent assistants which can respond to queries, set timers, run searches and play back an incredible range of streaming music, news and online content.

Behind each intelligent assistant is a tech company and its ecosystem of products. Amazon has millions of items for sale, Google has a massive advertising model, and Apple wants to shoehorn users into its Neverland of apps, services and devices.

Many of the existing $500 smart speaker releases of late seem to be solutions in search of problems. Apple’s HomePod is a circular single speaker that claims to be able to generate stereo sound. The Google Home Max is a heavy and oversized boombox for the streaming age. Both are expensive and serve one purpose, to play back streaming music and serve as the link for expanded smart home functionality.

The Sonos Beam, now that’s a different story. The second smart speaker from Sonos is also their third soundbar product and it is the hat trick of smart speakers capable of solving many problems at once.

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Your Amazon Echo speakers can now work as an intercom

For Canadian and U.S. owners of Amazon Echo speakers, you can now turn your speakers into a one-way intercom system. The setup of Alexa Announcements isn’t complicated. All you need to do is talk to Alexa and say things like, “Alexa announce that dinner is ready.” And then all the Echo devices in your home will make the announcement. Or you can use other hot words like “Alexa, tell everyone…” or Alexa, broadcast…” It isn’t clear yet if this will work on other Alexa-enabled devices but for now we’re assuming it’s only for Echo speakers.

Source: Android Authority

Amazon claims its working on the laughing Echo devices

It’s like one of our worst nightmares coming true. Some Amazon Echo users are reporting that Alexa has started laughing at random without any prompting. One user on Twitter claims it started to laugh as he was about to fall asleep, another one on Reddit describes the laugh as sounding almost like a real person (after Alexa refused to turn off his lights after three tries). Amazon says they are aware of the issue and are working on the matter.

Here’s Amazon’s official statement about the issue: “In rare circumstances, Alexa can mistakenly hear the phrase ‘Alexa, laugh.’ We are changing that phrase to be ‘Alexa, can you laugh?’ which is less likely to have false positives, and we are disabling the short utterance ‘Alexa, laugh.’ We are also changing Alexa’s response from simply laughter to ‘Sure, I can laugh’ followed by laughter.” 

Source: Gizmodo

Amazon's Alexa-powered Echo speakers now available in Canada

Amazon’s anticipated cloud-based voice service, Alexa, is now available in Canada along with three Alexa-enabled devices: Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Plus. The lineup of innovative voice-controlled speakers allows users to experience a new level of convenience and intelligence. From simply asking Alexa for the temperature, or the news of the day, to controlling your entire home’s lights and locks, Alexa’s capabilities are endless and ever-expanding. You can order your Echo device today at www.amazon.ca/echo. Hit jump for specs and pricing.

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