What do we know about Amazon Alexa? Or first impressions of Amazon Echo Dot

The time of the “ browser war ” has long passed; however, its results are clearly visible today. Now the user has a choice among various reliable, convenient and actually the same type of software solutions, supported by the standards of HTML5, CSS3 and, of course, rapidly developing implementations of JavaScript. But it all started from the moment when development companies decided that the “winner”, which dominated the browser market, would “control” the Internet. And, as the philosophers say, history repeated itself. It seems that now we are talking about the voice interface and, accordingly, the competition of voice assistants.


Image: How to Mount Your Amazon Echo Dot on the Wall, Ceiling, or Under the Counter - Android Central

Historically, voice dialing was implemented in the first push-button cell phones, however, as well as Bluetooth Hands-Free. Then came the voice technology Apple Siri, Google Now and Microsoft Cortana, and only after them the world saw Amazon Alexa. Unlike previous solutions, the Alexa service was not tied to a specific gadget or operating system, computer, etc., but was accompanied by a voice assistant as a device and, at the same time, was technically available on any device.

What we see now: Google Home, Apple HomePod and Microsoft Cortana, entering the market of wireless speakers Harman Kardon Invoke. What is not "war" voice assistants. And if you recall the recent announcement that Amazon bought Ring startup, dealing with security solutions of the smart home and, quite fresh statement, about stopping sales of Google’s Nest thermostats at Amazon, it becomes obvious that the “battle” is already beginning for the Internet, as a platform for advertising, and for leadership in the field of the Internet of things (Internet of things, IoT) and, in particular, the smart home (Smart Home).
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Image: Echo Dot (2nd Generation) - Amazon

Consider in more detail the infrastructure around Alexa and, in particular, the Amazon Echo Dot device. Interest in the Amazon Alexa solution is understandable, because The proposed service, gadgets and the AWS cloud are closely interconnected and create for the user and developers a single information space in which voice control comes first. Not surprisingly, the Amazon ecosystem is now entering a new level of interactivity with the customer, both the store and the entire AWS cloud platform.

Not by chance, at the end of 2017, the smart column Echo Dot became the leader of sales on the Amazon site. With the official price of $ 49.99 and, for example, a small expectation of another promotion from Amazon, you can get a price for the device in the amount of $ 29.99. And, as the experience of the Raspberry Pi project showed, just the price of about $ 35 is fully justified for “stirring up” interest among geeks. Although the device does not support the Russian language, this is not a reason for not being interested in the new. Recall how once there was no Russian-language interface in popular operating systems, etc.

Today, buying at the Amazon site, even if we are not physically located in the United States, will not be difficult. The simplest thing is to resort to postal forwarding services. Another limitation is that not all services with which Alexa can interact with are supported outside the United States. But it is unlikely that such regional bindings will strongly affect the interest in the new, especially the playing of paid channels - not the main advantage for voice assistants. However, it should be recognized right away that the availability of commercial media services is significantly expanding, and the voice control adds very convenient functionality to them. The Alexa service is also available on other devices, for example, Echo Look smart camera, Fire TV Stick with the remote control Alexa Voice Remote and many others. By the way, Amazon Alexa’s features can only be found by installing the corresponding application on a smartphone or tablet (in the Fire Tablet with Alexa line, the service is already preinstalled), but the service is fully available using a specialized voice assistant.


Echo devices ($ 99.99) and Echo Plus ($ 149.99) are equipped with good acoustics, and additionally Echo Plus also includes an integrated Smart Home Hub. The Echo Spot ($ 129.99) and Echo Show ($ 229.99) devices contain built-in displays. Against the background of these devices, the Echo Dot loudspeaker occupies the initial positions, but, for example, you can always connect wired acoustics to it or use Bluetooth for this, and a tablet or smartphone will act as a screen. The delivery of the Echo Dot is as minimalistic as the device itself: a soft cardboard box with a speaker, a 9 W power supply, a Micro USB cable and a small booklet “Quick Start Guide”. To connect columns, install the application from the Amazon Appstore , Google Play or the Apple App Store . Then, since the device immediately after the purchase is likely to be tied to an Amazon account, it will be necessary to enter the Wi-Fi connection settings in the mobile application. At this time, the device will first open access to itself, becoming a Wi-Fi access point, and then, after selecting the desired access point, switch to the desired network. However, if the Echo Dot is configured from an Android application, it is not currently possible to enter the SSID settings for the hidden network. True, with the Fire Tablet such problems will not be, because Amazon has included the option of manually adding a Wi-Fi access point to the app for its tablets. If the device is not yet tied to an account, then you can initialize the new device using the menu “Set up a new device”.

Well, after a simple setup, you can immediately ask: "Alexa, what can you do?", "Alexa, what time is it?", "Alexa, what's the news?", Alexa, stop. "," Alexa, how's the weather? ”,“ Alexa, Wikipedia: Artificial intelligence. ”And so on, for example, you can make a voice call to a mobile (only for the location of the United States, Canada, Mexico) or to a device with Alexa, as well as send SMS and much more. To add new skills to the voice assistant, just go to the Alexa Skills website or simply ask, for example, “Alexa, what are your top skills?” And then choose the ones you need.

The popularity of Amazon Alexa may well be explained by the ambitions of the global online store and, at the same time, the AWS cloud platform, but still the convenience of voice control and the availability of a huge number of ready-made Skills platforms, which are constantly updated with an open API, are in the foreground. Also, in favor of Alexa, you can add that wherever the application is installed, be it a smartphone or tablet, etc., the user is always at hand with an updated database of connected devices included in the local infrastructure. This is achieved very simply, thanks to a single account in the Amazon service.

Now there are many devices and services that support Alexa, ranging from smart light bulbs, door locks and all kinds of sockets to smart home level systems, cloud services, etc. If it were not for competitors, then one could say that Alexa is becoming the de facto standard for a smart home. By the way, in fact the way it is, given the prevalence of solutions for Alexa in the US market, because modern high-tech manufacturers and numerous startups are unlikely to add the required functionality or their Skills for the voice interface platform offered by Amazon.


What can I say, having spoken a bit with Alexa by means of Echo Dot? Perhaps it is convenient and undoubtedly very interesting to “play around” with the technology itself. The built-in microphones, as it seemed, perceive the key phrase a bit on high tones and with intonation of the question, i.e. thanks to this, there are practically no false positives. Perhaps you need a fairly good pronunciation of the English language to react to the keyword and, of course, correct subsequent recognition of the phrase. It is also better to connect external speakers. To all this, I would like to expand the multi-language support service, because now Alexa only supports: English (US, UK, Canada, India, Australia), German, Japanese, French (will be added soon). But despite all the shortcomings, it is impossible not to recognize the uniqueness of the service and the entire infrastructure of Amazon.

Alexa is positioned not only as a user device for the smart home, but is also going to conquer the corporate niche, already as a managed service for business. For example, with a voice assistant, it is possible to implement scenarios from everyday office life: “Alexa, call Jeff.”, “Alexa, ask Teem to find an open conference room.”, “Alexa start the meeting.”, “Alexa, order more paper for the copier. ”,“ Alexa, turn on the lights. ”,“ Alexa, ask Splunk, 'how many Amazon EC2 instances are running in South America'. ”,“ Alexa, when is my next meeting? ”and etc. Conducting conferences, working with a schedule, calendar, ordering paper for an office printer / copier, as well as voice requests for statistical data, for example, by company, services provided, products, etc., all this and much more should certainly attract the attention of the corporate user to organize collaboration in the office or the company as a whole.


Image: Alexa for Business - Amazon Web Services

Essentially, Alexa for Business differs from a regular consumer service, by linking devices not to a user's personal account, but to a corporate account, which makes it possible to centrally manage devices, group them and add the necessary skills for Alexa. At the same time, users and their personal devices can be registered in the corporate account, which can expand the functionality of the voice assistant skills for a specific user. As conceived by the developers, Alexa should help efficiently organize the workplace and collaboration space. In fact, by a fairly arbitrary voice command, you can get an adequate response of the necessary systems or find out the necessary information.


Picture: Alexa for Business - Amazon Web Services

Of course, if we talk about security, then you should not “teach” Alexa to immediately disclose confidential company data to everyone. In this regard, it should be noted that Alexa for Business provides an additional set of API, which provides for the possibility of obtaining information about the location of the device. Thus, the voice request is performed in the context of the device and its association with the location in the office. Clearly, this is not about GPS coordinates, but about the actual grouping of devices, which is set in the service control panel. Also, we note that it is hardly worth trying to automate the maximum of scenarios for the voice assistant, thereby obtaining: automation for the sake of her own. In addition, one should not expect that voice requests from users will increase productivity, for example, in Open Space offices, although here you can come up with a number of interesting scenarios.


Screenshot: Announcing Alexa for Business: Using Amazon Alexa's Voice Enabled Devices for Workplaces - AWS News Blog

You can also consider various options for using Alexa in the office infrastructure, for example, in the conference room, a positive effect from the voice assistant is achieved when conducting presentations and setting up equipment. To simplify routine work in the meeting room, it is appropriate to ask Alexa to announce the list of products and services offered, to detail certain characteristics, etc. We get that the voice assistant service is good enough not only for a smart home, but also very good in the workplace. The main thing is to keep a balance and not to impose such a service just to please the new trend. But now it is clear that Alexa has all the prospects to harmoniously complement any office space.

But, as they say, we are returning home from the office, then, again - to the office, of course, in our car, and here Alexa also strives to take its “honorable” place. Now the leading automakers (BMW / Mini, Ford, SEAT, Skoda, Toyota / Lexus, Volkswagen, etc.) and companies developing car electronics, have announced the closest support for Alexa and the inclusion of a voice assistant in their vehicles. Thus, the Alexa service is available everywhere. But, of course, it is also interesting how the events will unfold, for example, regarding other voice service providers and assistants. And also, for example, in the context of the recent original development of the Mercedes-Benz User Experience (MBUX) , which debuted in the A-Class series of 2018 models.


Image: Toyota is adding Amazon's cars to cars. We've been used to - Business Insider

So, since Alexa is increasing the pace of market penetration, and the corresponding service clearly deserves the attention of developers, the question immediately arises of how to create your original skill (Skill)? By the way, this can be done quite simply if you use a mobile application and think over your dialogue with the system.


Screenshot: Alexa application on Android phone (drawing prepared using MockUPhone service)

It is more interesting to control "live" devices, for example, a smart home, by resorting to the help of a voice assistant. To do this, you can use the Belkin WeMo device-based emulation approach, which is often described in the Internet publications of enthusiasts who develop smart home systems and are seeking to use a voice interface in their infrastructure.

Of course, if only mention was made of the “smart home”, then in fact it is immediately worth mentioning the de facto relevant standard for the implementation of the end devices — the ESP8266 chip or similar budget solutions. One way or another, the WeMo devices will have to be taken as a reference device, since Amazon Echo is able to work with them directly and the data exchange protocol is sufficiently “studied” by enthusiasts. Just want to note that since this approach is based on the reverse engineering of commercial device protocols, it should be treated, though, as the simplest solution for a smart home, but it should be understood that licensing of protocols is required for consumer level tasks or certification of their devices. In any case, you will need to "agree" with Amazon on decision support. But so far it is interesting to consider only the very concept of interaction with the voice assistant at the prototype level.


Picture: Amazon Echo and Home Automation - Maker Musings

So, as an example, you can take the implementation of the interaction protocol in Python or, even more simply, use the technologies of the Arduino IDE project for ESP8266 devices. One of the projects that attracted the attention is “ Arduino Esp8266 Alexa Multiple Belkin wemo switch emulator ”, which allows, in fact, to develop its smart device with a voice interface in a very short time. For the device being developed, the firmware code should be slightly adapted. You only need to enter the settings for connecting to a Wi-Fi access point and modify the code of callback functions that will be executed depending on the logic of the device. For example, a call announcement for a light switch in a room: "room = new Switch (" apartment lights ", 80, roomLightsOn, roomLightsOff);". Accordingly, the functions “roomLightsOn”, “roomLightsOff” should set the logic of the digital ports of the board. Everything is simple, however, as for any project in the style of Arduino.


Photo: Development on the basis of Esp8266 and interaction with the device via Alexa voice interface

After the firmware on the ESP8266-based board, it remains only to give the command: “Alexa, Discover Devices”. Then, the detected devices will appear in the mobile application in the “Smart Home” settings and then you can already create your skills for Alexa and the corresponding devices. Perhaps this is the easiest way to create Alexa Skill. It should be added that the search for smart devices can be performed in the mobile application without Alexa enabled, but then for the devices being developed there should be a predetermined skill, etc. Perhaps, from the point of view of development, this is a more correct solution, since The official Alexa API will be used. Here one of the easiest solutions is to use the well-known IFTTT service. By the way, the Alexa Skill Testing Tool may be interesting for debugging skills.

If we talk about the development for IoT and the smart home, then most likely the “smart” hub (Hub) for such a solution will already contain support for Amazon Alexa technologies, for example, the openHAB Cloud service , ioBroker and others, or the functionality of the voice assistant can be provided at the previous level mentioned service IFTTT. Also, this service is fully integrated with the Node-RED environment.


Picture: Functional Architecture - openHAB Cloud

For those who do not want to understand the Alexa SDK documentation and programming at all, interactive services are quite suitable for “learning the skills” of a voice assistant. These are the Backendess and Storyline services. Both in the first and in the second, a graphical interface based on “Drag and Drop” and predefined blocks is used to create skills.


Screenshot: Storyline lets you know Alexa skills without coding - TechCrunch

The Storyline service interface is ascetic and simple, and Backendess is suitable for those who love Google Blockly -style logic creation.


Screenshot: Developing Alexa skills without code - Part1 (Codeless in Backendless mBaaS) - Backend as a Service Platform

Obviously, the most correct way, like the free one, to develop your Alexa skills is to use the original Alexa Skills Kit from Amazon. This way we will consider a little further in this publication. And now, perhaps, we digress from software solutions and consider the Amazon Echo Dot hardware platform.

The current, second, version of Echo Dot consists of two boards. One - with one microphone in the center and six around the perimeter, plus LED backlighting. The second is actually the core of the system based on the 64-bit 4-core ARM processor from Mediatek.


Interestingly, Amazon welcomes the development of devices based on Alexa technology and offers the AVS Device SDK for building such systems. In addition, the Alexa Voice developers site in the Alexa Voice Service section provides ready-made kits for prototyping Development Kits for AVS devices. From such prototyping kits, mainly based on various DSP digital signal processors, you can choose a suitable example for your device or, on the contrary, use only a part of the system intended for digitizing sound. The price range of prototyping kits is wide enough, ranging from $ 1,250.00 for a complete Qualcomm Smart Audio 6-Mic Development Kit for Amazon AVS system or just $ 129.00 for the All-Far SoC-Only 3-Mic Far-Field Development Kit for Amazon AVS. For systems that only digitize audio, prices range from $ 499.00, for example, for Intel Speech Enabling Developer Kit for Amazon AVS or $ 299.00 for Microsemi AcuEdge Development Kit for Amazon AVS, etc.

The operation algorithm and structure of the AVS Device SDK is quite understandable. The user's device must recognize the keyword phrase “Alexa” (using Audio Input Processor and Wake Word Detection (KWD) - the key phrase recognition library actually implemented by the hardware system on a chip or DSP), then digitize and transfer the rest of the voice request for processing to the cloud Amazon and subsequent execution of prescriptions (libraries are used: Alexa Communications Library (ACL) for transmitting data in JSON format using HTTP / 2 protocol, Alexa Directive Sequencer Library (ADSL) for ensuring the life cycle of directives, Capability Agents for providing interface and events, etc.).


Picture: Alexa Voice Service SDK Architecture - GitHub

In this way, Amazon is actively stimulating the rapid development of voice assistant infrastructure. And the market responds quickly to the situation around Alexa's voice interface. For example, interesting devices appear, for example, charging Roav VIVA at a discounted Amazon price of about $ 39.99, which adds Alexa skills to any car using a standard cigarette lighter device.


It should be noted that the AVS Device SDK can be installed on various platforms: Ubuntu Linux, Raspberry Pi (Raspbian Stretch), macOS, Windows 64-bit, Generic Linux. Of course, you should separately highlight the possibility of installing on Raspberry Pi 2 or 3. It turns out that you can turn the Raspberry Pi into a kind of Echo Dot. But I immediately want to make a reservation, the fact is that the AVS Device SDK was created for device prototyping and “the game will be worth it,” if the goal is to create a device. For a simple acquaintance, it is enough to install a mobile application.

To see the AVS Device SDK in action and deal with the components of the platform, consider installing on Raspberry Pi 3 running Raspbian Stretch with Desktop. First you need to install the operating system on the Raspberry Pi and make the minimum settings, for example, configure the keyboard locale, connect to Wi-Fi. By the way, there is an opinion that for Raspberry Pi it is difficult to set up a connection to a hidden access point. In fact, you only need to edit the settings file: "$ sudo nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf". At the end of this file, add lines with the name of a hidden access point and the corresponding password:

network={    ssid="yourHiddenSSID"    psk="Password"    scan_ssid=1 } 

Then, it is worth worrying about the microphone. If the sound output of the Raspberry Pi 3 can be provided in digital form via HDMI or at a normal analog output, then for a microphone it is advisable to purchase a sound card with a USB interface for $ 2- $ 3. And further, you should configure the ALSA subsystem to work with the map. AVS Device SDK uses the default audio subsystem settings. For most cheap USB audio cards, you probably don’t need to install drivers. The system will be defined as a USB PnP Sound Device and a C-Media chip. For example, you can find out the command: «$ dmesg | grep C-Media or $ lsmod | grep snd_usb_audio ". To output all playback and recording devices, you can use the commands: $ aplay -l and $ arecord -l, and you can control the volume levels from the console using: $ alsamixer.


Photo: Deploying AVS Device SDK on Raspberry Pi 3 Platform

Perhaps the simplest solution for setting the default sound based on the Raspberry Pi 3 is outputting via the HDMI channel and recording a microphone from a USB sound card. The next stage is to deploy the AVS Device SDK, but before that it’s worth registering on Amazon developer portal and register your product in the Alexa Voice Service section, even if it is a local test sample. The fact is that after downloading all the components of the AVS Device SDK: "$ wget raw.gifubusercontent.com/alexa/avs-device-sdk/master/tools/Install/setup.sh && wget raw.githubusercontent.com/alexa/avs -device-sdk / master / tools / Install / config.txt && wget raw.githubusercontent.com/alexa/avs-device-sdk/master/tools/Install/pi.sh "we will need to fill in the config.txt configuration file, where specify the access token and client identifiers and devices that are set or generated during the registration phase of the voice device:

 CLIENT_SECRET="" DEVICE_SERIAL_NUMBER="123456" #can be any unique number CLIENT_ID="" PRODUCT_ID="" 

After completing the steps, all that remains is to run the installation script and decide on the license agreement from Amazon and third-party developers: “$ sudo bash setup.sh config.txt”. Everything, now you only need to authorize in the cloud a new device using the OAuth protocol, by running the script: $ sudo bash startauth.sh and go to the local server: localhost : 3000. Now we start the test application and communicate with Alexa: “$ sudo bash startsample.sh”. I especially want to note that if you look at the settings of the mobile application Alexa, then our new device will automatically appear there. This is another little touch in favor of the integrity of the infrastructure of the voice assistant from Amazon.

The entire sequence of AVS Device SDK deployment actions based on the Raspberry Pi is well described in the documents: “ Raspberry Pi Quick Start Guide with Script ” and “ Create Security Profile ”. From myself I want to add that the big problem is setting up the audio interface. It should be noted that the start word recognition module did not start working, but the phrases of commands and questions are perfectly recorded and processed by the cloud. A bit of an impression of interrupting system responses seems to be caused by the priority of the output of diagnostic messages. It is worth emphasizing once again that the AVS Device SDK should be perceived not as a replacement for the Echo Dot, but as a development tool, although how to say it all depends on enthusiasm and inspiration.

It is impossible not to mention that in our case, for the Raspberry Pi 3 board, the radiators did not have time to come from China, so the board was close to overheating during compilation and nevertheless hung once. Restarting the installation decided everything, however, as well as lowering the external temperature in the room, it is good that the utilities successfully podgadali and turned off the heating.

So, although the publication has become quite large, but still the goal is close - in fact, we are approaching a complete description of the Amazon Alexa voice assistant infrastructure and, in particular, the Echo Dot device. If this review is divided into parts, then the integrity of the “whole picture” will simply be lost. To complete the description of the Alexa project infrastructure, it is simply necessary, though briefly, to mention the correct “right way”, or official, way of developing your skills for a voice assistant from Amazon. Of course, this development starts with the developer portal and the Developer Console.


Screenshot: The New Alexa Skills Kit Developer Console (Beta) Streamlines Development Process - Alexa Blogs

In fact, development goes through phases: build, test, launch, measure. First, the project is described online and the project foundation is created, then in the development console, you can test the skills and run the project, make it public or private, and provide the developers with statistics on the use of their skills. The Alexa Skills Kit skill creation documentation allows you to quickly begin and complete your project, while the Skills Kit itself provides many ready-made examples that you can take as a model for development. The Alexa Skills Kit also includes many prepared APIs that you can use with your skills.

Functionally developed skills are divided into four types: Custom skill (custom interaction model), Smart Home Skill API (pre-built model), Video Skill API (pre-built model) and Flash Briefing Skill API (pre-built model). Custom skills are a traditional dialogue between a device with Alexa skills and a user. If to implement the skill you need branching logic or work with a database, then for the implementation of the software part, Amazon offers to link the development of skills and capabilities of the AWS cloud using the AWS Lambda service.

In fact, development comes down to describing interaction with Alexa in the format of JSON files and programming of the AWS Lambda service, with hosting (hosting) in the same service implementing its skill. Alexa will send requests to the Lambda service, where the programming code for Node.js, Java, Python, or C # will execute the query logic. As an alternative, this is placement of your skill implementation on your own web service and hosting on any alternative site, for example, another cloud hosting provider. In the case of self-hosting software implementation language does not matter, as long as the web solution supports the standard HTTPS protocol for working with the Alexa API.

The next type of skills is the Smart Home Skill API, as it is easy to guess, designed for solutions related to hardware solutions and smart home equipment. Here the AWS Lambda service can become a kind of “bridge” between the voice assistant’s work and the servers that process and manage the “electronic stuffing” of the smart home, however, like other smart devices, such as industrial applications, for business, etc.


Picture: How To Do Smart Home Skill API Works - Alexa Skills Kit

The remaining areas of skills realization for Alexa are the development of skills for managing and working with video content (Video Skill API) and working with news content (Flash Briefing Skill API), for example, working with HTTPS queries, RSS feeds or structured content. JSON, etc. But here it is necessary to recognize that it is better to “try once” and create your own skill for Alexa, than to “watch” and practice theory. Although, it will certainly be material for our next publications.

In conclusion, we would like to note that Amazon has many more interesting solutions related to artificial intelligence and audio interface in the context of the AWS cloud. For example, if you do not need to control devices, and only voice certain phrases, then there is a Polly service in the Amazon cloud that converts text into natural speech and stores the result in an MP3 file.


Picture: Amazon Polly - Amazon Web Services

If you want to create a chat bot that understands natural language, you can use Amazon Lex. This service, based on deep learning technologies, which, by the way, is also used by Alexa, allows you to perform automatic speech recognition upon receiving text at the output.


Picture: With Amazon Lex, you can create highly interactive, interactive, custom solutions for connected devices - Amazon Web Services

But, of course, with Alexa it is much more fun and, perhaps, easier to solve problems at the new level of building audio interfaces for interacting with IoT devices, despite the fact that the price of an Echo Dot column has become quite affordable. However, each geek has at hand a suitable Raspberry Pi board, on which the Alexa Voice Service is simply installed. In fact, the Echo Dot voice assistant based on the Alexa service expands the framework of established approaches for solving everyday tasks. Of course, there is a limit on localization, on the number of services provided outside the US, etc. But it is always interesting to look into the future and experiment with it in the present.

Let Alexa be mistaken now and, for example, may accidentally scare with her laugh, or react to a “voice attack” provoked by an advertising message on TV, but Amazon’s artificial intelligence is constantly being improved, taking existing computer systems to a new level. By the way, the problem with laughter is solved by replacing the phrase “Alexa, laugh” with “Alexa, can you laugh”, and the reaction to massive voice requests is simply cut off by the cloud's artificial intelligence. However, what will happen if the request is not massive, namely, it is aimed at compromising a certain device, attacking a specific user, etc.? Perhaps this is a new reason to consider approaches to cybersecurity, in general, and the protection of devices with voice interfaces, in particular. And, of course, some “cosmic” humor with Alexa.


Further, perhaps, we should consider alternative solutions, for example, from Google, compare services, etc., but, as they say, this is the topic for the next publication. And the comments of our readers about experience with Alexa or ideas about the role and place of speech interfaces in our daily life are always interesting. After all, on the one hand, such solutions are still more focused on obtaining a certain “wow effect” from demonstrating technology, but on the other hand, it is impossible not to recognize the potential convenience and benefits of the technologies and solutions we considered.

Interesting resources and links:

Theory, comparison and description of infrastructure:

- How Amazon from Amazon gradually captures the world - Geek magazine
- Amazon Alexa Ecosystem - overview of everything that can work with Alexa Echo - Geek magazine
- How to become an Alexa developer: The smart person's guide - TechRepublic
- Echo of the competitor, the HomePod - Apple's new $ 350 - and it's getting destroyed - Business Insider
- The Best Google Assistant Skills to Use With Your Google Home - Lifehacker
- Microsoft Cortana now features IFTTT integration - SlashGear
- Harman Kardon Invoke review: The First Cortana speaker sounds amazing - Engadget
- Amazon bought Ring for $ 1 billion: what does a startup do and how its Ukrainian office is structured
- This is a Smart Homes - Gizmodo
- Amazon will stop selling smartphones - Business Insider
- Top Amazon products in 2017 - Geektimes
- How Alexa conquers the world - gq
- Alexa for Business features - Amazon Web Services
- AWS re: Invent 2017 - Amazon Web Services
- 24 Ways Amazon Alexa Skills Online - Small Business Trends
- Which cars have Amazon Alexa and which are getting it soon? - GearBrain
- 5 CES 2018 Announcements for Alexa Inside Cars - VentureBeat

Practice:

- Easy Alexa (Echo) Control of your ESP8266 Huzzah - Adafruit
- Esp8266 Project: ESP8266 & Amazon Alexa for home automation - DFRobot Blog
- Amazon Echo Alexa Skills Kit integration with Node- RED - nathan.chantrell.net
- Developing an Alexa skill - Ink and Slots - Backend as a Service Platform
- Amazon gives developers access to Echo mic technology - 3DNews
- Teardown Tuesday: Amazon Echo Dot v2 - All About Circuits
- The Rova Viva adds Alexa to your car for $ 38.99 - CNET
- Setting WiFi up via the command line - Raspberry Pi Documentation
- USB Audio Cards with a Raspberry Pi - Adafruit
- Sound configuration on Raspberry Pi with ALSA - Stephen C. Phillips
- Using a USB Audio Device With a Raspberry Pi - Envato Tuts +
- Alexa SDK Sample App audio issue - AVS Device SDK
- Raspberry Pi Alexa: Build your own Amazon Echo - Pi My Life Up

Programming skills:

- Build Your First Custom Alexa Skill in 10 Minutes
- Using voice to control a website with Amazon Alexa, part 1/6
- Using the Amazon Echo to Support Continuous Integration Builds - Part 1

Common questions and criticism:

- As Bezos solved an unexpected problem in advertizing of the clever column - Geek magazine
- Alexa voice assistant may suddenly laugh. Scared by Users - Meduza
- Distribution of Alexa and development of Amazon in the direction of artificial intelligence - Geek magazine
- This replica of HAL-9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey comes with Amazon's Alexa built in - The Verge