Amazon's Alexa: From AI ambitions to practical partnerships?

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Amazon's Alexa is undergoing a strategic shift, pivoting from ambitious artificial-powered aspirations to a more pragmatic approach. Instead of relying on complex AI models, the company is reportedly focusing on partnerships with established companies like Uber, OpenTable, GrubHub, Ticketmaster, and Instacart. This strategic move aims to enhance Alexa's capabilities in specific tasks, such as ordering food, booking rides, and making reservations.

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'Minecraft' is getting real-life theme parks

Image: Merlin Entertainments

The company behind LEGOLAND is bringing Minecraft to life. Merlin Entertainments and Mojang Studios are creating two permanent Minecraft amusement parks. One will be opened in the US and another in the UK. They're scheduled to open between 2026 and 2027.

The parks will feature interactive attractions, rides, restaurants, gift shops, and everything else you expect from a theme park. But there will also be digital tie-ins. It's unclear what they'll be but Merlin claims there will be "touchpoints that will allow guests to unlock exclusive in-game content to continue their gaming journey." The company also intends to bring these experiences to other locations.

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Amazon upgrades Echo Show 15

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If you find the new Amazon Echo Show 21 to be too large, the update to the 15-inch Amazon Echo Show might be more for you. The Echo Show 15 gets the new camera, audio, and smart home upgrades as its bigger sibling. It comes with an auto-framing camera with better video call quality thanks to double its field of view and 65% more zoom over its predecessor. Amazon adds noise reduction to make calls clearer as well.

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Amazon debuts larger Echo Show 21

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Amazon's wall-mounted smart display gets a big screen update. The Amazon Echo Show 21 sports a 21-inch screen with a 1080p resolution. According to the company, it features better audio and doubles the viewing area of the original Echo Show 15. It can supposedly deliver "immersive sound, double the bass and room adaptation technology."

The Echo Show 21 also has a better camera and a built-in smart home hub that supports Matter and Thread protocols alongside Zigbee. The auto-framing camera now has over double the field of view and provides 65% more zoom than its predecessor. It also adds noise reduction to make the audio for your video calls clearer.

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