Amazon’s Echo will soon be able to give you heads up on what’s going on around you, without you actually prompting the device, reports The Information. If launched (which looks almost certain), this could well be one of the most exciting updates to hit the amazing speaker setup since its launch.
Until now, you had to prompt the Echo to give you info by using the keyword ‘Alexa’, after which the speaker would begin listening for a command or request. This was then followed by a suitable vocal response generated by the system. But apparently, this is all about to change now.
According to the report, Amazon is currently working on features to allow the Echo to talk without being talked to. These notifications could be anything from weather updates, news you love or even general reminders.
Alexa, Amazon’s amazing digital voice assistant hasn’t been all that cool in the unprompted notification sector. The closest the service comes to the feature is sound based alerts based on an alarm or timer.
Reports also suggest that the new notification scheme could extend to all the hardware that supports Alexa. This means you can get centralised notifications at one place in the form of voice prompts. How cool is that?!
The Echo supports audio and visual capabilities. Anyone who has seen one before will know about the infamous light ring that surrounds its upper edge, that’s where its superpowers are stored. Apparently, Amazon could use these capabilities and allow developers to either of these. This means you could even see the Echo blinking out lights in case you have to notice it.
While the whole development seems like something which was waiting to happen, Amazon might have some bigger plans underplay. With more development coming up for Echo and Alexa in the coming months, the two are bound to garner up a handful of third-party apps. The new push notification service is the ideal method to start showing developers the potential of Amazon’s smart services.
