Smart speakers are one of the biggest trends in home automation. Not only do they give you a way to listen to your favorite music, they can also make your day easier, entertain, check weather and much more.
What Is a Smart Speaker?
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How Do Smart Speakers Work?
Smart speakers operate via voice commands. When the speaker “hears” you speak a trigger word, it tries to carry out the command that follows. The trigger word is typically the smart assistant’s name. With Google Assistant, the trigger word is two words: “Hey Google.” It’s like trying to get a person’s attention.
Say you wanted to listen to music. You would say the trigger word and then your command. It would go something like this:
- “Alexa, play pop music.”
- “Hey Google, play pop music.”
- “Siri, play pop music.”
Smart Speaker Features
All smart speakers can play music from streaming services like Spotify, Pandora and Sirius. In addition to streaming music, they can also:
“Alexa, play pop music.”
“Hey Google, play pop music.”
“Siri, play pop music.”
- Create virtual grocery lists;
- Give you reminders;
- Add events to your online calendar;
- Give you weather and traffic updates;
- Answer questions.
Speakers that use Alexa and Google Assistant can also do advanced tasks like order pizza, play games and tell stories.
Create virtual grocery lists;
Give you reminders;
Add events to your online calendar;
Give you weather and traffic updates;
Answer questions.
Can Smart Speakers Be Hacked?
It is possible for hackers to remotely access your device so that they can listen to your conversations. There really isn’t any evidence this is a common problem, although there have been instances of other smart devices getting hacked. In most of these instances, the hacker accessed the devices through an owner’s weak passwords or through the app, not by actually hacking into the electronics of the device itself. Using a strong password and two-step authentication is the best way to protect your devices from hackers.
Do Smart Speakers Listen In?
Smart speakers are built to listen all the time, in case you need them. The words you say are sent to the device’s cloud to be “translated” so the assistant knows how to help you. Sometimes what you say is collected and analyzed by the company to “improve customer performance.” You can turn off the ability to save sound clips for analysis in the speaker’s app settings.
