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Amazon Echo Gets UK Release, New White Model
Amazon has finally officially confirmed a UK release of its Alexa-powered smart speaker, the
Amazon Echo. Available now, the smart Bluetooth speaker will come in both black and, for the
first time, white. The Echo Dot will also be coming to the UK. Taking on the likes of Apple’s Siri
and Microsoft’s Cortana, Alexa is a voice assistant that is designed to help users with controlling
their home and managing their lives. It has been available in the
USA since 2014, but now is the first time it’s going to be available
outside North America. Solid news on why it has taken so long
is not available, although adjusting the speaker to an English
accent has apparently been a challenge.
Alexa is available on the Amazon Echo, a smart Bluetooth
speaker, but can also be interacted with on the Amazon Fire
TV, Amazon Tap and Echo Dot. Using voice commands to
communicate with any of these devices allows users to play
music, read out emails, order food, or control increasingly their
smart home.
Not only will the Amazon Echo be available in the UK,
Amazon is also making the device available in Germany
– meaning this is the first time Alexa has been able to
communicate in any language that is not English.
Alexa smart home director, Charlie Kindel explained the
company’s decision behind its recent CEDIA partnership.
“Clearly, there is a lot of usage in the DIY space,” Charlie says.
“But the big opportunity is where there is more of a total home
solution, where customers would rather a pro come in to help
with some of the more mundane configurations.”
Despite the European release, not everything will be plain
sailing for Amazon as the voice assistant market is beginning
to heat up. Google announced its own smart speaker using its
virtual assistant that has the power of the Google search engine
backing it up, dubbed Google Home.
More Information: Amazon www.amazon.co.uk
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Sonos Integrates With Crestron; Control4,
Lutron, Savant, iPort, QIVICON Sign As Partners
Sonos has announced a new partnership with Crestron, enabling the Sonos App to be natively
integrated with Crestron home automation systems.
The collaboration makes it easy for installers to offer Sonos as part of a Crestron home
system enabling users to interact fully with their Sonos system via Crestron soft and hardware.
Users can view all of their Sonos favourites, play/pause the music, adjust the volume, view
now playing information with artwork and add or remove zones as they move about the house
via the Creston platform and touchscreens. Sonos can also be integrated into personalised
Crestron scenes, such as ‘Welcome Home,’ where Sonos can be part of a mac