Smart Speakers could bring contactless health monitoring by detecting abnormal heart rhythms

Posted on by Prakhar Khanna

According to a new research done by University of Washington, ordinary smart speakers could be used as a contactless way to screen for irregular heartbeats. The researchers came up with an AI-powered system. It relies on sonar technology to pick up vibrations caused by nearby chest wall movements. It it ever comes to existence, it has the potential to change how doctors conduct telemedicine appointments by providing data that would otherwise require wearables, health hardware or an in-person checkup.

“We have Google and Alexa in our homes all around us. We predominantly use them to wake us up in the morning or play music,” said Shyam Gollakota, a UW computer science professor and co-author of the report. “The question we’ve been asking is, can we use the smart speaker for something more useful.” Smartphone makers could integrate the technology into existing products via software updates, researchers say.

As per the researchers, their goal was to find a way to use devices that people already have to edge cardiology and health monitoring into the future. This system has a mounted chest wall. If you want a reading, you will have to sit within two feet of the speaker for it to work.

It works by emitting audio signals into the room at a volume humans can’t hear. The pulses bounce back to the speaker, and an algorithm works to identify beating patterns generated from a human’s chest wall. Another algorithm is then applied to determine the amount of time between two heartbeats. These inter-beat intervals could allow doctors to gauge how well your heart is functioning.

This data was compared to results from medical-grade ECG monitors. Surprisingly, the smart speakers’ readings turned out to be relatively accurate, only deviating from the ECG readings by an amount that “wasn’t medically relevant,” the researchers say. The test was done on a developer version of Alexa with a low-quality speaker to run their tests. Hence, speakers in mainstream devices could be more powerful, which could enable readings from farther away.

Via: The Washington Post

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Amazon’s Alexa now lets you share songs and play it on your friends Echo device

Posted on by Nadeem Sarwar

Ever wished that you could just play that dope track you love jamming to all the time on your friend’s Echo smart device by just saying a few words? If yes, there is some good news. Amazon has introduced a music-sharing feature for Alexa that lets you do just that. All you need to do is just say the magic words: “Hey Alexa, share this song with Claire”, and your friend will get a direct notification to play it on their bedside Echo speaker. And if they happen to like the song, the listener can also send a reaction telling you about the same!

Go ahead, impress your significant other this Valentine's Day with a beautiful song!

When you share a song with a loved one, they’ll get a notification on their phone via the Alexa app as well as a voice nudge via their Echo smart device. Now, your contact can ask the virtual assistant to play it on their Echo once they receive the music sharing message, or they can tap on the push notification in Alexa companion app to specify the connected Echo device on which they want to play that song.

READ MORE: Alexa gets Live Translation to translate real-time convos on Echo devices

After receiving a song notification, Alexa will automatically find it on the default music streaming service of your choice, or any other music app installed on your phone. “If a matching song cannot be found, Alexa will suggest a station based on the song’s title and the artist’s name,” Amazon says in its blog post.

In order to use the new feature, you need to enable the Communication feature in Alexa app which you can do by following these steps:

  1. In the Alexa app, tap on the Communicate tab.
  2. Enter your mobile number and verify it.
  3. In the next step, grant the app permission to make calls and send messages.
  4. You’re now all set to use Alexa’s new music sharing trick. At this stage, import the contacts in your phone to make the sharing task easier.
  5. Now, tap on the new message option in the Communicate tab to see who you can share music with.

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Amazon extends Spotify podcast support for Alexa devices to 11 more countries

Posted on by Nadeem Sarwar

In December last year, Amazon announced that Alexa-enabled smart devices can finally play podcasts on Spotify for both premium and free tier users. But so far, the neat convenience has been exclusive to the US market. That finally changes, as Amazon is finally extending Alexa support for playing podcasts on Spotify to users in 11 more countries. Owners of Alexa-enabled devices can now ask their smart device to play a podcast on Spotify in Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain and the United Kingdom.

And in case you’re wondering, this new Alexa capability is available for both free and premium users. Of course, the latter class of users might have to listen to ads before the podcast episode starts on Spotify. All you have to do is say something like “Hey Alexa, play the XYZ podcast” and you’re good to go.

In addition to starting a podcast episode anew on Spotify, users can also ask Alexa to ask to play an episode again or resume from the point where they left off in the Spotify app. Plus, you can switch to the next or previous episode, or navigate the playlist based on the timeframe it was released, all via voice commands. Plus, you can also enjoy the podcast library of someone else’s playlist using the Spotify Connect feature.

Sounds interesting? Follow these steps to let Amazon’s AI assistant control Spotify podcast playback on the smart devices in your home:

  • Download the Amazon Alexa app on your Android or iOS device and link it your smart device.
  • In the app, open the menu and follow this path: Settings > Music & Podcasts.
  • Find the “Link New Service” option and select Spotify. Doing so will link your Spotify account to the Alexa account on your smart device. “If you’re in Brazil, Mexico, Germany, or the UK, tap “Default Services,” and then select Spotify as the default podcast service,” adds Amazon.
  • Now, all you have to do is say the magic words “ Hey Alexa, play XYX podcast on Spotify.”

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Alexa gets Live Translation to translate real-time convos on Echo devices

Posted on by Prakhar Khanna

Amazon is introducing a new feature for Alexa-enabled Echo devices. It is rolling out Live Translation feature, which allows individuals speaking in two different languages to converse with each other. Here, the Alexa-enabled Echo devices will act as an interpreter and will translate both sides of the conversation.

The latest development comes from Amazon’s blog, which announced the rollout of the Live Translation feature for Alexa in the US. Yes, the feature is currently limited to the US. As of now, it works with six language pairs — English and Spanish, French, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, or Hindi. It only works on Echo devices with locale set to English US.

To start, you need to ask Alexa to serve as an interpreter for the language that the person you want to talk to speaks. Now, as the two of you converse, Alexa will keep translating by automatically identifying the person who’s talking. If you own an Echo device with a screen, you’ll also be able to see a visual translation in addition to hearing the audio. If you want to end the conversation, you’ll need to say, “Alexa, stop“.

Naturally, the feature would be more helpful if it were brought to the Alexa mobile app since travelers are (at times) in dire need of live translation during their visit to foreign lands. But for now, it is limited to Alexa-enabled Echo devices. It will be particularly useful for shop owners who need to interact with foreign travelers on a daily basis.

For the unaware, this is not the first time a company is introducing the live translation feature. It has existed on Google Assistant-enabled smart devices for over a year now. The company introduced interpreter mode for its Assistant at the start of 2019, and it was brought to Android and iOS by the end of the year.

Amazon says it is working on adapting the neural-machine-translation engine to conversational-speech data and generating translations that incorporate relevant context, such as tone of voice or formal versus informal translations. 

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Amazon’s new tool will let Alexa launch apps and perform tasks on your phone

Posted on by Nadeem Sarwar

Asking Google Assistant to open the map or telling Siri to book an Uber ride is easy, but the same level of control has so far eluded Alexa. In a bid to make its virtual assistant more useful, Amazon has today launched a new tool called Alexa for Apps, that will allow developers to bake an in-depth Alexa integration in their apps and make life easier for users.

Talking about the functional aspect, users can ask Alexa to search a hashtag on Twitter with just a voice command, ask the SONIC app what is new on the food menu and ask for the location of the nearest outlet, and execute a host of other tasks in certain apps. For example, users can ask Alexa to open the TikTok app and tell it to start recording their voice or shoot their video. Here’s how it works:

Alexa for Apps is currently in the preview stage, and it is available for both Android and iOS platforms. But the functionality is not just limited to apps, as the new tool can be configured to perform a web search or open the app repository if you don’t have the requisite app installed on your phone. Developers need to apply for early access in order to check out the new Alexa for Apps tool and test it across a variety of hardware.

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Apple, Amazon and Google will now work together to improve smart homes

Posted on by Samuel Martinez

Google, Amazon, and Apple are joining forces with other brands to make a new and unified Connected Home platform for all smart home devices

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Pocketnow Daily: iPhone SE 2 Price and Dates Sound HOT!! (video)

Posted on by Samuel Martinez

On today's Pocketnow Daily, we talk about the possible price and launch of the iPhone SE 2, Apple's arrival to the 5G market and more

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Alexa is dominating the smart speaker business, while Google Assistant takes a big hit

Posted on by Samuel Martinez

The latest report from Canalys shows who's boss in the smart speaker market, with new competition coming from Chinese companies

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Samsung Galaxy S10 5G pre-order dates, Google Pixel 3a confirmed & more – Pocketnow Daily

Posted on by Samuel Martinez

Watch today's Pocketnow Daily as we talk about pre-orders dates for the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, leaked specs of the Pixel 3a, Pixel 3a XL & more

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Portal and Portal+ are Facebooks new smart speaker with Amazon Alexa

Posted on by Samuel Martinez

Here are the new set of smart speakers that Facebook is presenting to the market, the Portal and Portal+ that will also ease your privacy concerns

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