These devices are voice-activated and are used to play music, provide news, weather and traffic reports by wirelessly (wifi and bluetooth) connecting to Amazon’s cloud services (i.e. Alexa). The voice recognition works in a similar manner to iPhone’s Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana. Because the device is voice activated, it is always powered and its microphones are always listening for commands. Echo can also connect and manage lights and electrical outlets from other vendors including WeMo, Philips Hue, SmartThings, Insteon, and Wink. The device (and therefore any other devices controlled by it) can also be managed remotely by smartphone apps and web browsers.
- Examples: Amazon Echo, WeMo, Philips Hue, SmartThings, Insteon, Wink
- Technologies: speaker, microphone, storage, wifi and bluetooth connectivity for remote management and file storage
- More information: http://www.seattlebusinessmag.com/business-corners/predictions-2015-internet-things-becomes-internet-everything, and http://www.zdnet.com/article/fbi-deal-with-your-own-internet-of-things-security/
