Drivers in the US can now find, reserve and pay for parking at some 75,000 off-street locations across the country from their vehicle simply by saying “Alexa, find parking nearby” or by instructing the virtual assistant to find parking at a specific destination... More
Owners of LG smart TVs can now transfer content between their NFC smartphone and their TV by tapping their phone on the company’s new Magic Remote remote control device... More
Drivers can now use Alexa to pay for their fuel using just a voice command at any of more than 11,500 Exxon and Mobil stations across the US... More
Amazon has unveiled Dash Cart, a smart shopping trolley that automatically tracks the items shoppers place in their trolley as they shop — and then lets them simply exit the store when they have completed their shopping, with no need to visit a physical checkout... More
‘Alexa, send flowers’: Order a bouquet in time for Christmas using only your voice — Interflora — “Global flower delivery company Interflora has become the first UK retail brand to launch a complete end-to-end ‘V-commerce’ service, with just one simple voice-based transaction making it possible to send flowers via Alexa and check out with Amazon Pay, all without lifting a finger.”
PayByPhone is now available through Amazon Echo Auto — PayByPhone — “To use the PayByPhone skill for Alexa, users must enable the skill and connect their existing PayByPhone account through account linking. After this, users can simply say, ‘Alexa, ask PayByPhone to start parking’ to begin a new parking session at the user’s desired spot for their desired duration.”
Alexa now lets you donate to nearly 50 nonprofits — Cnet — “Alexa allows you to make a donation between US$5 and US$5,000 and tells you it will share your name, address and email with the charity. It will ask repeatedly if you want to go through with the donation, but you can also set up a four-digit voice-shopping code to prevent accidental donations.”
Hands-free banking: ‘Alexa, ask NAB if I’ve been paid’ — National Australia Bank — “The NAB skill for Amazon Alexa will allow customers, who have connected Alexa with their NAB account to ask their Alexa device questions like: ‘What’s my savings account balance?’, ‘How much do I owe on my credit card?’ or ‘Did I get paid this week?’… ‘In the future, we certainly see this experience turning into one where you can pay bills, make funds transfers or even purchase items at the command of your voice.’”
Westpac taps into voice technology with Amazon Alexa Skill — Westpac — “Westpac customers can now access their account balance, recent spending history, and reward points status with Alexa… Westpac customers who have enabled the skill and linked to their Westpac account can ask a range of questions relating to their account balance and last 50 transactions.”
NTT Data study finds Alexa and Siri will drive the digital customer experience of the future for financial services firms — NTT Data — “Consumers are comfortable providing FSIs [Financial Services Institutions] with access to a wide range of data if it enables them to provide advice on spending, insurance products or coverages, or targeted financing options to meet their financial goals. 68% would share online retail purchase information, 61% would share geolocation information, 49% would share Uber, Lyft and OpenTable information, 42% would share Facebook and Twitter information.”
Amazon Alexa skills to accept payments — VentureBeat — “Developers and businesses making skills for Amazon’s Alexa will soon be able to accept Amazon Pay for purchases directly within voice apps from the Alexa Skills Store… Initial skills categories to accept Amazon Pay include donations, restaurants, and event ticketing.”
NissanConnect Services skill for Amazon Alexa — Nissan — “Forgot to lock your vehicle? Looking to remotely start your Nissan to heat it up or cool it down before you get in? The NissanConnect Services with Amazon Alexa skill allows you to connect with and control your Nissan vehicle, or vehicles, as quickly and easily as having a conversation… With NissanConnect Services with Amazon Alexa, you can use your voice to remotely start your Nissan, unlock your doors or flash your lights.”
A simple design flaw makes it astoundingly easy to hack Siri and Alexa — Co.Design — “Using a technique called the DolphinAttack, a team from Zhejiang University translated typical vocal commands into ultrasonic frequencies that are too high for the human ear to hear, but perfectly decipherable by the microphones and software powering our always-on voice assistants. This relatively simple translation process lets them take control of gadgets with just a few words uttered in frequencies none of us can hear.”
USAA launches pilot of new skill for Amazon Alexa — USAA — “USAA’s skill for Amazon Alexa pilot will leverage Clinc’s artificial intelligence conversation management technology to produce a more human-like interaction from Amazon Alexa, as the skill remembers context, follow-up questions, and complex human language. This technology will also learn as members interact with it and infer information not explicitly specified by users throughout a conversation.”
Control Ikea Home Smart products with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple’s Home app — Ikea — “Ikea is adding functionality to its smart lighting range by enabling people to voice control their lighting with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant and to set up and adjust lighting using Apple’s Home app and Siri voice commands. This takes Ikea one step closer to making smart home technology accessible for the many.”
American Express brings the card member experience to the connected home with launch of the Amex skill for Amazon Alexa — American Express — “By linking their online American Express account to the Amex skill, eligible card members with an Alexa-enabled device can check their account balance, review recent charges, make a payment and more through voice commands. The Amex skill for Alexa also connects with the Amex Offers ecosystem, enabling card members to browse certain available limited-time offers and add offers to their eligible cards.”
With Echo Show, Amazon seizes the lead in the race to artificial intelligence — Forbes — “This 7-inch touchscreen-equipped digital assistant — Echo Show — is the latest addition to the Alexa family, which began as a simple voice-controlled alarm clock and is fast becoming the central hub of digitally connected homes.”
Having information about how, when and why consumers seek to contact organisations through digital assistants and chatbots and understanding why they are gravitating towards doing so is critical to achieving the full potential of conversational commerce, according to Barclaycard’s managing director of future payments Nick Kerigan and director of future payments Sanjaya Shrestha. More
Starbucks customers across the US will soon be able to purchase gift cards using Apple Pay and send them to friends and family within Apple’s iMessage platform. The move comes as the coffee giant reveals it now has approximately nine million mobile paying customers with one in three using Mobile Order & Pay, which accounted for 8% of all transactions made across US stores last month. More
Homeowners with smart home company August’s Smart Lock system are now able to ask an Amazon Alexa-enabled device to unlock their front door using their voice and a secure voice PIN of four to 12 digits... More