Amazon’s Echo New Feature: Fact-check Politicians (AMZN)

Another tech gadget to make things a lot easier. e-commerce giant Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) recently introduced Echo, an IoT voice assistant that comes in handy in a lot of things.

This futuristic device gives you the feel of having your very own virtual assistant called Alexa. This device proved to be helpful in doing simple tasks like voice managing your radio, switching between music, podcasts, and news, reading audiobooks, and many more. Sometimes, you can just ask Alexa for the time, the weather, and other simple searches.

And now, due to the much-talked about U.S. presidential elections, Echo added another feature. The device lets you do a fact-check on politicians with the help of reports from FactCheck.org, PolitFact or the Washington Post.

Because candidates often make outlandish comments and claims, you naturally want to know the real deal. Echo makes this task easier for you. You just have to sit through an introductory spiel before you can ask your question. Also, note that you have to add major keywords in order to get precise answers.

So if you ever doubt some of Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump’s statements, you can always ask Alexa and she can help you decide when to call a politician’s bluff.

Amazon’s Echo might as well be one of the gateways to the future of technology. This simple home assistant, which by the way is Amazon’s challenger to Apple’s Siri, Google’s Now and Microsoft’s Cortana, has grown far beyond what’s expected of it.

The gadget was a surprise hit in the US when it first launched. Almost 3 million units were sold in America and the speaker is currently on sale in the UK and in Germany.

At first, users might just think of it as an ordinary speaker. It resembles two cans of beans stacked up or probably an industrial looking vase – but way cooler. As a speaker, it works very well and delivers crisp and distortion-free sounds.

If you are worried about the hassle of needing to come closer to be able to utilize its voice recognition command functions, you would be happy to know that Echo has 7 internal microphones that work for far-field hands-free voice control.

This device also has an “Echo canceller” which allows it to suppress the sound of the music it’s playing to be able to concentrate on the human voices. Echo is easily activated when you say the wake up word “Alexa.”

People who have used it Echo said that they find it strangely satisfying because it gives a “living in the future” vibe. In conclusion, the most interesting thing about Echo is its potential. It might be the first of what will be the basis of future high-tech devices.

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