Are SMART SPEAKERS spies?
Is your smart speaker SPYING on you? They are the year's must-have presents but privacy campaigners fear 'connected' gizmos are actually highly efficient surveillance devices
Christine Sullivan was stabbed to death alongside Jenna Pelegrini in the U.S.
At first glance there was no witness, but an Amazon Echo was in the kitchen.
A judge ordered Amazon to turn in any voice recordings made at the time.
Source: Daily Mail
Amazon Alexa, known simply as Alexa, is a virtual assistant developed by Amazon, first used in the Amazon Echo and the Amazon Echo Dot smart speakers developed by Amazon Lab126. It is capable of voice interaction, music playback, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, playing audiobooks, and providing weather, traffic, sports, and other real-time information, such as news. Alexa can also control several smart devices using itself as a home automation system. Users are able to extend the Alexa capabilities by installing "skills" (additional functionality developed by third-party vendors, in other settings more commonly called apps such as weather programs and audio features).
Most devices with Alexa allow users to activate the device using a wake-word (such as Alexa); other devices (such as the Amazon mobile app on iOS or Android) require the user to push a button to activate Alexa's listening mode. Currently, interaction and communication with Alexa are only available in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese. In Canada, Alexa is available in English and in French (with the Québec accent).
As of September 2017, Amazon had more than 5,000 employees working on Alexa and related products. In January 2019, Amazon's devices team announced that they had sold over 100 million Alexa-enabled devices.
Google Home is a brand of smart speakers developed by Google. The devices enable users to speak voice commands to interact with services through Google Assistant, the company's virtual assistant. Both in-house and third-party services are integrated, allowing users to listen to music, control playback of videos or photos, or receive news updates entirely by voice. Google Home devices also have integrated support for home automation, letting users control smart home appliances with their voice. The first Google Home device was released in the United States in November 2016, with subsequent product releases globally from 2017–2019.
Through software updates to Google Home devices and Google Assistant, additional functionality has been added over time. Multiple speakers can be placed in different rooms in a home for synchronized playback of music. An update in April 2017 brought multi-user support, allowing the device to distinguish between up to six people by voice. In May 2017, Google announced multiple updates, including free hands-free phone calling in the United States and Canada; proactive updates ahead of scheduled events; visual responses on mobile devices or Chromecast-enabled televisions; Bluetooth audio streaming; and the ability to add reminders and calendar appointments.
The original Google Home speaker was released in November 2016, featuring a cylindrical shape with colored status LEDs on top. In October 2017, Google announced two additions to the product lineup, the miniature puck-shaped Google Home Mini and the larger Google Home Max. In October 2018, the company released the Google Home Hub, a smart speaker with a 7-inch touchscreen video display. A second smart display called Google Nest Hub Max was announced in May 2019, and will feature a 10-inch display and video camera.
In May 2019, Google announced that Google Home devices would be rebranded under the Google Nest banner.
Source: Wikipedia
Google imagines devices OR Amazon Echo Devices OR Apple Assistants could in the future scan and analyze the surroundings of your home, then offer you content based on what they detect.
