New Amazon Echo Products: Time to Update Your Office Gadgets?
In "Castaway," Tom Hanks pointed at a clock and called it a "pulsating, accursed, relentless taskmaster."
And we know what happened after that -- five years on a deserted island. Losing time was the real curse.
Lawyers know that curse all too well -- the billable hour hanging over their heads. Well, Amazon thinks it's new smart devices can help with that.
Voice-Activated Tech
Amazon is repeating itself with new Echo products: Echo Dot, Echo Sub, Echo Plus. Yes, there is an echo in here because they are all smart speakers. Speak, and they will listen.
Echo Input is different. It works like Chromecast, which you plug into your television to connect it wirelessly to tall your Echo devices.
Together, you basically have a smart home or office. After all, lawyers need background music to ease away the hours.
Of course, Echo devices offer a lot more than speakers. Amazon's Alexa, the voice for Echo products, is iPhone's Siri but everywhere.
The Echo of Everything
If you want your digital assistant in your car, there's Echo Auto. If you want to see a face, Echo Show is there.
You can tell Alexa to play music, turn on appliances, read documents, calendar events, send messages, and even order products online.
For lawyers, perhaps the best thing Alexa can do is track your billable time. But the best things are not always free.
There is a downside to the Echo Wall Clock, says Ars Technica. "We're getting into Spaceballs: The Toilet Paper territory here."
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