Beware the internet of things .....
Posted: 10 Jan 2017, 19:25Lovely story in The Times (paywall) today ......
The Amazon Echo is a Wi-Fi enabled speaker with a voice recognition system that sits on your sideboard, and can answer your questions and carry out various tasks like switching home appliances on and off and arranging for internet shopping. Those of you with iPhones know all about Siri; the Echo's "persona" (and key word) is Alexa.
Seems there was a US TV station which carried a report about a 6 year old girl who managed to use their Amazon Echo machine to order a dolls house. The TV presenter said, in the course of his report, "I love the little girl saying "Alexa ordered me a dolls house"."
Across the TV reception area, where people were tuned into the show, the presenter's use of the key word "Alexa" woke up all the Amazon Echo machines within range - which then obeyed the instruction and promptly ordered dolls houses ........
The Amazon Echo is a Wi-Fi enabled speaker with a voice recognition system that sits on your sideboard, and can answer your questions and carry out various tasks like switching home appliances on and off and arranging for internet shopping. Those of you with iPhones know all about Siri; the Echo's "persona" (and key word) is Alexa.
Seems there was a US TV station which carried a report about a 6 year old girl who managed to use their Amazon Echo machine to order a dolls house. The TV presenter said, in the course of his report, "I love the little girl saying "Alexa ordered me a dolls house"."
Across the TV reception area, where people were tuned into the show, the presenter's use of the key word "Alexa" woke up all the Amazon Echo machines within range - which then obeyed the instruction and promptly ordered dolls houses ........
