How the Amazon Echo’s Cloud-Based Voice Assistant is Changing the Home Automation Space

Amazon’s Alexa might bring your Star Trek-like “Smart Home” to life.

The Apple Homekit isn’t the only one trying to get your appliances to interact with each other.

Alexa, Amazon’s cloud-based voice assistant used in the Amazon Echo, went on sale last June of 2015. It has garnered generally positive reviews, but recently Amazon made a big 100$ million dollar investment in an Alexa Fund to help other companies incorporate their own software to use Alexa.

At CES 2016, Alexa has been incorporated into a number of products including security cameras, cars, and lighting systems. You can do anything from asking about the weather, to adding milk to your to-do list. Alexa has so far been the easiest way to talk to any accessory or appliance in your home with a Wi-Fi connection.

For more on how Alexa works, checkout the Amazon Echo introduction video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkOCeAtKHIc

Read more on TheVerge.

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