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Monday, 8 January 2018

Acer to bring Amazon Alexa voice assistant to notebooks and desktops starting Q1 2018

Acer today announced that it would roll out Amazon Alexa voice assistant to select PCs starting from Q1 2018. The list of PCs includes Aspire, Spin, Switch and Swift notebooks, as well as Aspire all-in-one PCs. Alexa voice assistant will be initially available in the US via an update through Acer Care Center, and wider support is expected to be rolled out mid-2018. Acer will be utilizing the Intel Smart Sound Technology which is an integrated audio DSP (Digital Signal Processor) built to handle audio, voice, and speech interactions. The company mentioned that the latest notebooks and desktops would support Amazon Alexa and respond to voice commands quickly while offering high fidelity audio without impacting system performance. Alexa on Acer will be able to check calendars, create lists, answer questions, play favorite music, podcasts or audiobooks; and manage smart home devices by controlling lights, thermostats, and home appliances through voice commands to Alexa. Alexa voice assistant uses the voice and four digital microphones that support far-field voice recognition from up to nine feet (2.74 m) away, while others with dual microphones will be able to activate Alexa within three feet (0.91 m). Acer has announced Alexa support for the new V6820M/i 4K UHD projector. The Acer V6820M/i wireless projector ...