Amazon's Alexa Goes to Work in 2 New Devices

Amazon on Thursday announced two products, Echo Dot and Amazon Tap, that extend the range of the Alexa-enabled home automation products anchored by the company's Echo device, which uses voice recognition to manage routine tasks.

The Echo Dot is a small, hands-free device that uses the same far-field voice-recognition technology as Amazon Echo.

It can connect to home speakers via Bluetooth or with an audio cable, and it lets users control their home stereo systems with voice commands.

It also can be used as a voice-controlled assistant to manage other smart-home devices, including lights, thermostats and electrical switches, or it can be placed in the bedroom for use as an alarm clock.

Amazon Prime members can order the device for US$89.99 via Alexa Voice Shopping. Existing Amazon Echo or Amazon Fire TV customers can order it by saying to those products, "Alexa, order an Echo Dot." Echo Dot cannot be ordered via the regular Amazon website or on the company's shopping apps.

Once the device has sold out, it will no longer be available for order.

Amazon Tap is an Alexa-enabled portable Bluetooth and WiFi speaker that works with the Alexa voice-recognition system to carry out various tasks, such as ordering pizza and getting news updates and music from Pandora, Spotify or other services.

The speaker, which will be released March 31, is available for preorder for $129.99.

Advances Limits of Echo

Both products, while addressing separate needs, help make up for shortcomings in the Amazon Echo and Alexa voice services, said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

"The Echo Dot is likely to be used by consumers who want to extend the range of existing Amazon Echoes, resulting in what will effectively be voice-activated wireless intercom systems," he told TechNewsWorld.

The case for the product is a little fuzzy, King said, but he can see a customer using it to order an Uber pickup while packing bags, rather than walking into the main room and using the Amazon Echo.

"The Echo Dot seems more interesting since it's both portable and addresses concerns that many people voiced about the intrusive listening capabilities of the Amazon Echo," he added.

The option of engaging or disengaging the device manually may allay concerns of some customers and privacy wonks about Amazon's new tool following you around the house virtually, King noted.

Somebody's Watching Me

Apple dealt with similar concerns with Siri, particularly when it refused to disclose the use and storage of collected voice command data. IBM banned the use of Siri at work in 2012 over concerns about the collection of proprietary information, King noted.

Amazon is trying to extend Alexa's range so that users can have a connected house, instead of just one connected room, said Rebecca Wettemann, vice president of research at Nucleus Research.

"Users that appreciate the benefits of Alexa -- hands free, voice-enabled simple commands and the ability to quickly order things that Alexa knows about -- are likely to see advantages," she told TechNewsWorld.

Some of the data mining that Amazon engages in today, such as using past purchases to suggest potential new purchases from the website, will make some customers wary about Alexa's capabilities to collect personal information, Wettemann warned.

Data collection is becoming ubiquitous with the growing market for the Internet of Things and is only going to raise more privacy concerns, according to Susan Schreiner, an analyst at C4 Trends.

"We live in complex times when it comes to data collection and privacy," she told TechNewsWorld, "and it's about to get more thorny with the impending avalanche of IoT products that collect data on a continuous 24/7 basis."

Do 1800s Antitrust Laws Apply in the E-Commerce Age?

Laws usually are established after interpersonal or business activities collide with the real or perceived rights of others. After parties with different positions fight about who's right and who's wrong, legislatures create laws to solve the legal issues raised, and courts enforce them or create their own (Miranda rules, for example).

Many of the laws from the past, however, do not make sense when applied to e-commerce. From time to time, I write columns about various laws that don't make as much sense as they did way back when. This column addresses antitrust laws that make sense when selling traditional goods, but fall short in the e-commerce environment.

First, a little history about antitrust laws. Back in the 1800s, the U.S. and state governments created antitrust laws because of the total control companies exerted over certain industries, such as railroads, oil, steel and sugar.

Under federal and state antitrust laws, the government or competitors can sue to stop anticompetitive behavior. U.S. and state antitrust laws were used to break up AT&T in 1982 when it was in the landline business, but Ma Bell got back together as it morphed with the advent of the Internet and use of cellphones. Today, we see antitrust laws being applied to brick-and-mortar businesses such as the proposed merger of Staples and Office Depot.

Groupon Flies High on Alibaba Investment

Groupon's stock slipped a little on Wednesday, following Tuesday's dramatic 40 percent spike on the news that Alibaba had purchased about a 5 percent stake in the company.

Alibaba last week disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had bought about 33 million shares of Groupon.

The disclosure boosted shares of Alibaba, as well as the struggling Yahoo, which owns a stake in Alibaba.

Groupon last week released an encouraging Q4 earnings report, and the company's stock rose by roughly 29 percent.

Love Triangle

Yahoo received a roughly 9 percent bump between Friday and Tuesday, and the Alibaba Group saw its stocks rise in similar fashion. Yahoo might have seen a bigger surge if it hadn't sold off 140 million of its Alibaba shares during the company's initial public offering in 2014.

The relationship has the potential to continue rewarding all three parties in the near term and well into the future, according to Andy Abramson, CEO ofComunicano. Groupon can serve as a vehicle to extend Alibaba's reach to its partner shops and retailers.

"Alibaba has an incredible pipeline of suppliers who need to bring their technology products into the U.S.," he told the E-Commerce Times. "On the flip side, Groupon's platform is ripe for expansion into Asia, and no organization has the sort of footprint across southeast Asia, especially China and Hong Kong, as Alibaba does."

Alibaba has to leverage the Groupon technology to increase visibility and traffic abroad. If it can pull that off, "the investment gets paid back very quickly," noted Abramson.

There's a lot Alibaba can do with its stake in Groupon, but the company is likely looking for a bigger portion, said Justin Hamel, CEO of MastaMinds.

"It appears that Alibaba is like a shark in the water, circling and waiting to devour a bigger position in Groupon," he told the E-Commerce Times. "It looks like they may be using Groupon as a strategy to expand their market share in the U.S. market. Not a bad move in my opinion."

Groupon Regroups

Despite beating analysts' expectations with revenue of US$917 million for the fourth quarter, Groupon is in the midst of a turnaround. It started the daily deals craze, held its turf against potential usurpers and has managed to stay alive while rivals faded away.

"Its clear that Groupon's business model went from 0 to 100 to 0 real quick," said Hamel. "I wouldn't exactly write Groupon off at this point. They have a huge customer base and a solid brand name."

Seeing what others may not have seen, Alibaba refused to write off Groupon. Last's week Q4 earnings report shows that Groupon's rebuilding plan has been effective, at least in part.

Late last year, the company cranked up its turnaround effort by switching out its CEO with COO Rich Williams and pulled back its reach to focus on markets in 28 countries instead of 45. Groupon also laid off about 1,000 members of its workforce.

"What Groupon needs now is a new angle," Hamel said. "Groupon's previous angle using the daily deals has fizzled out."