US market indices are shown in real time, except for the S&P 500 which is refreshed every two minutes. Your CNN account Log in to your CNN account While the products feature incremental updates, Limp said Amazon’s current lineup contains hints of what’s to come with its AI efforts, beyond generative AI.įor example, if Alexa is enabled on an Echo Show, where it can rotate and follow users around the room, “you’ll see glimmers of where it’s going over the next months and years,” Limp said. Last week, the company unveiled several new products, including the $39.99 Echo Pop and the $89.99 Echo Show 5, its smart speaker with a screen. “To give you a sense, there’s still thousands and thousands of people working on Alexa,” he said.Īmazon is indeed still investing in Alexa and its related Echo smart speaker lineup. “We’re still taking a lot of risks in this organization.”īut Limp said Alexa remains a “North Star” for his division. “I wouldn’t doubt we’ll dust them off at some point and bring them back,” he said. Limp said the company also shelved some “more risky” projects. Limp said his division lost about 2,000 people, about half of which were from the Alexa team.Īmazon also shut down some of the products it spun up earlier in the pandemic, such as its wearable fitness brand Halo, which allowed users to ask Alexa questions about their health and wellness. In March, the company said about 9,000 more jobs would be impacted. The Alexa division has not escaped unscathed.Īmazon confirmed plans in January to lay off more than 18,000 employees as the global economic outlook continued to worsen. Like other Big Tech companies, Amazon is now slashing staff and shelving products in an urgent effort to cut costs amid broader economic uncertainty. The effort to continue updating the technology that powers Alexa comes at a difficult moment for Amazon. But the viral success of ChatGPT has arguably accomplished that faster and across a wider range of everyday products. It has to be the true source of knowledge for everything.”Īlexa launched nearly a decade ago and, along with Siri, Cortana and other voice assistants, seemed poised to change the way people interacted with technology. “And to be able to do that, it has to be conversational. “We’re not done and won’t be done until Alexa is as good or better than the ‘Star Trek’ computer,” Limp said.
It could also enable more personalized interactions, allowing the assistant to learn about the device owner’s interests, preferences and better tailor its responses to each person. In theory, this technology could one day help Alexa have more natural conversations with users, answer more complex questions, and be more creative by telling stories or making up song lyrics in seconds.
The most popular search engine in the world is about to look different
Ireland Danil Shamkin/NurPhoto/Getty Images Someone should probably tell them.The Google logo is seen on on the company's European headquarters in Dublin.
AMAZON HALO VIEW FITNESS TRACKER FREE
It's also a little embarrassing for Halo partners like US-based fitness club Planet Fitness, which is currently offering free Halo bands if you sign up today. That doesn't lessen the pain though for people who invested in the brand and have their fitness tracking and wellness regimen tied to the Halo product. While Amazon isn't saying so, the shuttering of the Halo brand is likely connected to the waves of layoffs at the tech giant. It'll also return unused subscription fees (many of Halo Band's core features were only available via subscription). You could still buy accessory bands for the Halo band, but what would be the point?Īmazon, by the way, is ready to refund all Halo purchases made in the last 12 months.
Late last year, the Amazon sub-brand added the sleep-focused Halo Rise lamp, an illuminator with a light source that looked like a giant on switch (even though it was tracking when you turned on your biological off - or sleep - switch).Īs of this writing, all of these products have disappeared from Amazon's website. The last line was nothing if not prescient.Ī year after launching the original Halo Band, Amazon introduced the Halo View, which cost a bit more but added a small AMOLED screen. It's not too pricey, but requires a subscription service to use more than basic tracking – and despite getting six months free with purchase, we’re left wondering about the long-term value of the device. All the info goes straight to the phone app, which has extra optional features, like monitoring your vocal tone and tracking your body fat percentage. The Amazon Halo is a neat, minimalist fitness tracker without a screen.
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