Wow, I don't know why but I'd love to see this. From neowin.net
Hands on with Amazon Alexa on Windows 10 with HP's Pavilion Wave
Rich Woods
HP's refreshed Pavilion Wave looks like a smart speaker, but it's not.
This is a full desktop PC, but it's one of the first Windows 10 devices
to include Amazon's Alexa voice assistant. It's a big deal, as Amazon's
partnerships with four major PC OEMs - Acer, ASUS, HP, and Lenovo -
doesn't reflect well on Microsoft's own Cortana.
But if you're like me (and you're reading this article), you're probably
wondering what Alexa is like on a Windows 10 machine, so let's dive
right into that.
On the Pavilion Wave, the device lights up in blue when the wake word is
spoken, similar to how an Amazon Echo would. The interesting thing is
that it should work exactly the same way if you say, "Hey, Cortana".
Indeed, both voice assistants should be able to work in parallel, and
that should be the same across the board with the new PCs that we're
seeing with far-field microphones.
But what about the software? After all, a third-party voice assistant
isn't just going to magically appear. It comes with an Amazon Alexa app,
which is made by Amazon instead of the OEM. That means that no matter
which Alexa-enabled PC that you buy, it will have the same Alexa app.
Please note that I couldn't obtain actual screenshots, as this PC was
being demoed at CES.
Obviously, you can ask Alexa questions and it will answer you. Since
you're using it with a screen though, you now have a visual aid.
Naturally, you can also use it to play music, which is one of the most
common use cases for a digital assistant.
The app can tell you what's playing now, although it's lacking some
features that you might expect. For example, it would be a nice touch if
it included X-Ray Lyrics, or the ability to choose a song or artist for
when Alexa doesn't recognize your voice properly. Still, this is a first
version. We can hope that these things show up in an update. These are
features that you can get from the Amazon Music app, so it might make
sense to integrate them into a single platform.
I've also been told that Alexa can be used to play videos from your
Amazon account, such as movies you've purchased or those available via
Prime. I've not been able to test this, being that the demo machine
wasn't logged into an account that was subscribed to Prime.
Obviously, there is a menu of things that you can try when using the
app. It's not nearly as robust as the Alexa app on your phone, but
again, this is likely to get better over time. For example, if you click
on "Things to Try", it will open your default browser and open a
webpage, rather than a list within the app.
Settings is pretty limited as well. As you can see, you can turn the
wake word on or off, but you don't have a choice in what that word is.
With an Echo device, you can choose between Alexa, Amazon, Echo, and
Computer. This also seems like functionality that will be added in the
future, and it's unclear whether this will be able to be changed from
within the Alexa app on your phone. After all, the Pavilion Wave would
be registered as an Alexa device, so presumably, you could also control
these settings from other Alexa apps.
And then there's the device itself. The fabric design actually reminds
me of Amazon's Echo, and HP says that it's meant to match your interior
decorating. There's only one problem: you can't change the color of the
fabric. It would be nice if you could remove the shell and replace it
with a different one.
The device is not expandable by any means; you won't be able to open it
up and add more RAM or storage. This isn't something you'd expect from a
desktop PC that's not an all-in-one. It does offer a range of ports on
the back though.
Finally, on the front, there's an additional USB Type-A port, and a
3.5mm audio jack.
The refreshed Pavilion Wave will arrive this spring, starting at $549.
--
David Goldfield, Assistive Technology Specialist WWW.David-Goldfield.Com
