Enlarge / The 4th-gen Amazon Echo Dot smart speaker. (credit: Amazon)

Alexa hasn't worked out the way Amazon originally planned.

There was a time when it thought that Alexa would yield a robust ecosystem of apps, or Alexa Skills, that would make the voice assistant an integral part of users' lives. Amazon envisioned tens of thousands of software developers building valued abilities for Alexa that would grow the voice assistant's popularity—and help Amazon make some money.

But about seven years after launching a rewards program to encourage developers to build Skills, Alexa's most preferred abilities are the basic ones, like checking the weather. And on June 30, Amazon will stop giving out the monthly Amazon Web Services credits that have made it free for third-party developers to build and host Alexa Skills. The company also recently told devs that its Alexa Developer Rewards program was ending, virtually disincentivizing third-party devs to build for Alexa.

Enlarge / The most impressive part is what Home Assistant's voice control does not do: share your voice input with a large entity aiming to sell you things. (credit: Kevin Purdy)

Last year, the leaders of Home Assistant declared 2023 the “ Year of the Voice. ” The goal was to let users of the DIY home automation platform “control Home Assistant in their own language.” It was a bold shot to call, given people’s expectations from using Alexa and the like. Further, the Home Assistant team wasn’t even sure where to start.

Did they succeed, looking in from early 2024? In a very strict sense, yes. Right now, with some off-the-shelf gear and the patience to flash and fiddle, you can ask “Nabu” or “Jarvis” or any name you want to turn off some lights, set the thermostat, or run automations. And you can ask about the weather. Narrowly defined mission: Accomplished.

In a broader, more accurate sense, Home Assistant voice control has a ways to go. Your verb set is limited to toggling, setting, and other smart home interactions. The easiest devices to use for this don’t have the best noise cancellation or pick-up range. Errors aren’t handled gracefully, and you get the best results by fine-tuning the names you call everything you control.

Enlarge / The first Amazon Echo speaker. (credit: Luke MacGregor/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

A Delaware federal court has ordered Amazon to pay $46.7 million for infringing on four patents belonging to VB Assets with Amazon's Echo smart speakers and Alexa virtual assistant. A lawsuit from Nuance Communications-owned VB Assets, previously known as VoiceBox Technologies, claimed to have already invented a circular speaker that could connect to the web and answer voice-dictated prompts with a female, robotic voice.

Wednesday's judgment [ PDF ], initially reported by Reuters , orders Amazon to pay the sum via running royalty rather than a lump sum. The ruling follows a jury verdict [ PDF ] finding that Amazon infringed upon four of VoiceBox's patents. The patents relate to providing network-coordinated conversational services, a conversational voice user interface, and tying advertisements to natural language processing of voice-based input. VB Assets originally accused Amazon of infringing on six of its patents.

Amazon still has time to appeal the judgment, and VoiceBox has time to seek reimbursement for related costs.

Enlarge / A non-Amazon TV displaying a fire. (credit: Getty )

People who buy a Fire TV from Amazon are probably looking for a cheap and simple way to get an affordable 4K smart TV. When Amazon announced its first self-branded TVs in September 2021, it touted them as being a "great value." But owners of the devices will soon be paying for some of those savings in the form of more prominently displayed advertisements.

Charlotte Maines, Amazon's director of Fire TV advertising, monetization, and engagement, detailed the new types of ads that Amazon is selling on Fire TVs. In a StreamTV Insider report from November 1, Amazon said the new ads will allow advertisers to reach an average of 155 million unique monthly viewers.

Some of the changes targeting advertisers, like connecting display placement ads with specific in-stream video ads, seem harmless enough. Others could jeopardize the TV-watching experience for owners.

Enlarge / Dave Limp discussing Amazon's coversational AI abilities at Amazon's devices event last week. (credit: Eric Lee for the Washington Post/Getty )

Amazon thinks that in the near future, its Alexa voice assistant will offer enough value that customers will be willing to pay a subscription fee to use it.

After Amazon's devices event last week, when the company showcased generative AI features it's developing for Alexa , Bloomberg asked Dave Limp, SVP of devices and services at Amazon, if there will be a time when Alexa's AI features will require a subscription.

"Yes, we absolutely think that," the executive responded.

Enlarge / Alexa using generative AI to create a taco poem. (credit: Amazon News/YouTube )

Amazon is trying to make Alexa simpler and more intuitive for users through the use of a new large language model (LLM). During its annual hardware event Wednesday, Amazon demoed the generative-AI-powered Alexa that users can soon preview on Echo devices. But in all its talk of new features and a generative-AI-fueled future, Amazon barely acknowledged the longstanding elephant in the room: privacy.

Amazon's devices event featured a new Echo Show 8, updated Ring devices, and new Fire TV sticks. But most interesting was a look at how the company is trying to navigate generative AI hype and the uncertainty around the future of voice assistants. Amazon said users will be able to start previewing Alexa's new features via any Echo device, including the original, in a few weeks .

Alexa's added features are enabled by a new LLM that Amazon says was fine-tuned for voice conversations and that uses algorithms for body language and intonation recognition. The company was clear that Alexa will focus on generative AI going forward. But the new features are in their early stages, Amazon noted, so bumps, bugs, and errors are expected at first.

Enlarge / David Limp at Amazon's hardware event in Seattle, Washington, on September 27, 2017. (credit: Daniel Berman/Bloomberg via Getty Images )

As Amazon prepares for its annual hardware event tomorrow, Reuters is reporting feelings of trepidation and weakened morale among the company's flailing hardware team. The beleaguered department is said to be worried about the potential of upcoming products, while being pressured by a push for cheaper hardware and the impending departure of long-time department head David Limp.

Reuters' report today cited "more than 15 current and former employees" of Amazon's Lab126 for developing hardware. The publication said it was able to uncover five devices Amazon was developing:

• Carbon monoxide detector with Alexa
• Household energy consumption monitor with Alexa
• Digital measuring device with Alexa
• Virus-testing device that was originally "intended to detect COVID," Reuters said
• Home projector

Some of Reuters' sources pointed to additional projects, but the publication couldn't verify full details. Amazon says it doesn't comment on products in development.