Amazon – Mattina Technology

Amazon Echo Review

The Amazon Echo is an incredible and powerful device. When I first took it out of the package I had to do an initial setup to connect it to the internet. The process is fairly simple. The first thing I had to do was download the Alexa app on to my iPhone. After I downloaded the application I booted it up and it walked me through the setup process.

What is Amazon Echo?

Amazon Echo is a personal assistant that can help you complete everyday tasks. It can play music, turn lights on, answer questions, set timers, and control the thermostat. In order to activate the Amazon Echo I had to say Alexa first. It is a very responsive device and I think it will help people transition from regular homes to smart homes. One of the Amazon Echo’s core features is the ability to order products from Amazon. If you are running low on paper towels you can quickly order more with the Amazon Echo.

What are the Specs of the Amazon Echo?

The Amazon Echo has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. It’s dimensions are 9.25″ X 3.25″ X 3.25″ and it weighs 37.5 oz. It also has a 2.5 inch woofer and 2.0 tweeter. The echo has a built in microphone and volume control ring as well.

What I like about the Amazon Echo

The Amazon Echo is very useful if you have a quick question. I like to ask it about the weather on a daily basis. It will give you a quick recap of the weather. You can also ask it for the weekly forecast. I also like to use the Amazon Echo to turn the lights on and off. The ability to control your lights from the comfort of your couch is amazing.

The speaker is also great for playing music while cooking. I really like how I can quickly change the song with my voice or control the volume with my voice. It connects to a variety of music apps. This includes Spotify, TuneIn, and Pandora.

What I don’t like about the Amazon Echo

One thing I don’t like about the Amazon Echo is its ability to answer personal questions. I feel like they could have given the device more of a personality. The personal answers that it does give are always short. It would be great if you could have a full on conversation with the AI.

Overall the Amazon Echo is a great device. It is really good at answering short factual questions. It can give you detailed weather information, or tell you the score of a sports game. However it is not good at answering long opinion based questions. It also has trouble with longer factual questions. The Amazon Echo is the first personal assistant that can really change the future. It is a great music player and smart home solution. What do you think about the Amazon Echo?

-MT

Amazon Kindle Oasis

Kindle Oasis, Side.jpg Amazon recently revealed that a new kindle e-reader is coming out on April, 27 2016. It looks like it will be the most revolutionary e-reader to date. It has a tapered design and an ergonomic hand grip. The new kindle is 20% lighter and it has a removable charging cover. I think that the removable charging cover adds a lot to the device. I hope this feature comes to future smartphones. However the new kindle is overpriced. It costs $289.99. What do you think of the Kindle Oasis?

Source: Amazon

-MT

Kindle 7 Review

The Kindle 7 is one of the cheapest tablets on the market, and it is a great device for the price. I purchased my Kindle tablet for 35 dollars. My first tablet was the original Kindle Fire, and it is difficult to compare to the new kindle 7. Amazon has really spruced up their App Store. They now offer a variety of free games and apps with Amazon Underground.

The Kindle 7 does not have a very good display or sound system. The resolution is 1024 by 600 pixels, and it has one mono speaker. It is not a great device for watching movies and tv shows, but it will get the job done.

It works well for browsing emails, reading books and playing games. The Kindle 7 also has an expandable storage option. This feature should be included in all tablets. The Fire tablet has a 1.3 GHz quad core processor; it is not a slow tablet.

I am not going to compare the Kindle Fire to the iPad, because that wouldn’t be fair. It is not a great tablet for media or office work. However, it works well if you just want to browse Facebook or read a book. It is not a powerhouse, but it is a nice entry level tablet. I give the Kindle 7 a 6.5 out of 10.

-MT

Amazon to buy Twitch

It was recently rumored that Google would be acquiring Twitch. However, that deal did not go through and it looks like Amazon will be acquiring Twitch for 970 million in cash. Google might not have been able to acquire Twitch because of antitrust laws. I would have preferred Google getting Twitch. It will be interesting to see what Amazon does with Twitch. Hopefully, they don’t make Twitch part of their Amazon Prime service.

Source: Business Insider

-MT

Amazon Unveils New Fire Phone

Amazon is entering the Smartphone Market on July 25th, 2014. Yesterday the company announced the Fire Phone. The Fire Phone’s most intriguing feature is its dynamic perspective. This feature adds a 3D like effect to the smartphone. The Phone also uses an application called firefly to scan items into the phone so they can be purchased or researched. I am surprised that Amazon is entering the smartphone business. They have already entered the tablet market and television market with the Fire TV.

The Fire Phone will be sold through AT&T. The 32GB model will be $199 and the 64GB model will be $299. The Fire Phone has a Quad Core Processor and 2GB of ram. It also has a 13 megapixel camera with a 4.7 inch display in 720p. The specifications look impressive and it will be interesting to see how it competes with other smartphones.

Source: Amazon

-MT

Amazon Fire TV

Yesterday Amazon announced a new set top box. It is called the Amazon Fire TV. It is set to compete with the Apple TV, Roku 3 and Google Chromecast. The Amazon Fire TV is a very powerful and capable machine. It has a Quad-core processor, 2GB of memory, 1080p video output and Dolby Digital Plus surround sound. The Fire TV will run applications such as Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu Plus and Youtube. The Set Top Box will also be able to play games such as Minecraft, Asphalt 8 and Sev Zero an Amazon exclusive. The Amazon Fire TV costs $99 and users can get a gaming controller for $39.99. Is the Amazon Fire TV a game changer or just another set top box?

Source: Amazon

-MT

Amazon Prime taking it to the air

Recently, Amazon announced a new way to deliver products. Amazon now has the ability to deliver products to customers via drones. I am really excited about this because it will make delivery time a lot shorter. The new service is called Amazon Prime Air and it is supposed to take 30 minutes or less to deliver a package. This new service seems like something out of a Sci-Fi movie. Amazon Prime Air is supposed to go live in 2015.

-MT

Kindle Fire HDX (7 inch model)

Amazon recently released their new version of the Kindle Fire. It is called the Kindle Fire HDX. This new tablet really improves upon last years model of the Kindle Fire. The Kindle Fire HDX (7inch model) has a quad-core processor with 2.2 GHz. It also has a resolution of 1920×1200 and it has dual stereo speakers with a built in microphone. The resolution is uncommonly high for a seven inch tablet. I believe that the Kindle Fire HDX can really compete with the Nexus Tablet and the iPad Mini. The 16GB version of the Kindle Fire HDX costs $229. The 32GB version costs $269 and the 64GB version costs $309. The Kindle Fire HDX also includes a new feature called the Mayday Button; the Mayday Button allows the user to have instant access to tech support.

-MT