Amazon's Echo smart speaker has added an upgade to its Alexa digital assistant that allows it to read aloud almost any Kindle book purchased from the Kindle Store, borrowed from various sources, or accessed through Family Library. Echo users can activate various functions including pause, resume, and skip chapter, but not jump to a specific chapter.
Echo is a 9.25-inch (23.5-centimeter) tall cylinder with a 7-piece microphone. The device responds to the default name "Alexa," although the user can change it to "Amazon."
Echo users just have to ask Alexa to "read Kindle (book title)." The software will then start narrating the book in a robotic voice that is more mechanical than a human audiobook narrator.
Alexa also responds to various commands. They include "pause," "resume reading," and "go forward." However, when skipping chapters users must go forward one chapter at a time, instead of jumping to a specific one like Amazon's Audible service, according to The Verge.
Alexa uses the same text-to-speech tech to read various types of texts, including books, news articles, and Wikipedia, according to Engadget. The new Amazon feature is also free.
Last week Amazon added another feature to the Echo speaker that allows users to play Jeopardy! with the device. People must command the digital assistant to start Jeopardy. They can then hear questions from categories such as world history and pop culture.
Amazon is using Echo and Alexa to become more powerful tools for smart homes, instead of just playing music and answering basic Internet queries. Last week at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) many companies including Ford unveiled voice control applications for appliances and vehicles.
Amazon's new book-reading feature adds Alexa tech to Vivint smart home products. They include smart locks and security systems.
The tech giant is reportedly developing a smaller version of Echo. Unlike the current model it would not be required to always be plugged in.
Echo was released in November 2014. It runs on Amazon Web Services and requires a Wi-Fi Internet connection to function.
The smart speaker provides various services. They include offering news and weather from local radio stations, NPR, and ESPN; and playing music from Amazon Music accounts and Pandora streaming music service.