Imagine if you could easily add voice recognition to your app or service even if you have no experience with voice-based sevices. Amazon hopes you'll do just that with the new Alexa Skills Kit, a collection of self-service APIs, tools, and code samples that make it a snap to add skills to Alexa. Alexa is the voice service that powers Amazon's Echo device. The Echo is a small, internet-connected speaker that responds to voice requests and can do things like manage calendar appointments and shopping lists. The Echo had been available in limited fashion to Amazon Prime subscribers until this week, when the online retailer made Echo available to anyone for 179.

Amazon launches the Amazon Echo, which is an artificially intelligent Bluetooth speaker and it is based on Amazon's cloud-based voice service, Alexa - this can make your house a whole lot smarter.

We have grown up with poor voice recognition and error prone requests on our mobile devices but Amazon started a full 12 months before Google on developing a high-precision microphone and voice recognition system that is built into its marketplace ecosystem. You can order pizza, pay a credit card bill, order books, check your diary, as well as listen to music and news. You can also ask and use the IFTTT integration function to also link to many home smart appliances across many brands such as switch lights on, set and check home security, switch hot water and heating on or off and control fridges, cookers, TVs and many other things all by simple voice commands.

Echo has seven microphones and beam-forming technology so it can hear you from across the room--even in noisy environments or while playing music. Echo is also an expertly tuned speaker that can fill any room with 360 immersive sound. When you want to use Echo, just say the wake word "Alexa" and Echo responds. If you have more than one Echo or Echo Dot, Alexa responds intelligently from the device you're closest to with ESP (Echo Spatial Perception). ESP works best when Echo devices are at least 6 metres apart.

The techniques Microsoft Research used to achieve a new world-best error rate will eventually enhance the Cortana Windows 10 personal assistant. Microsoft claims to have achieved the world's lowest error rate for speech recognition, as the company jostles with Amazon, Apple, Google, and IBM to develop products that understand speech as well as humans can. According to Microsoft, its speech scientists at Microsoft Research have achieved a word error rate (WER) of just 6.3 percent under an industry-standard evaluation, using techniques that will eventually enhance Cortana. The previous lowest error rate was 6.9 percent, achieved by IBM's Watson team, which beat their own record of eight percent set last year. Both Microsoft and IBM presented papers detailing their work on speech recognition at the Interspeech conference in San Francisco this week, where papers were also presented by Google's speech researchers.

If you're using an iPhone, WhatsApp just got a lot more useful. The company has pushed out its update for iOS 10, meaning that it's now compatible with the variety of useful features that the new iPhones update includes. And many of those are most important for things like WhatsApp. The new iOS update brings huge improvements to Siri, which is now much smarter. Those changes are central to apps like WhatsApp, because the two can now be integrated.

Gun lovers now have a dating website dedicated to them. Concealed Carry Match allows its users to meet other members who have similar views on Second Amendment rights. The development is potentially controversial, considering the anti-gun rhetoric that has been doing the rounds following the spate of shootings in the United States in the recent past. Working on a similar platform as other niche dating sites, Traverse City, Michigan-based ConcealedCarryMatch.com offers a paid membership, ranging from 10 weekly to 150 for a year. The site launched last month and reportedly registered opening-day traffic of 10,000 interested visitors, signaling at an increased intensification of the debate on gun control ahead of the presidential election in November.

Have you noticed that your friends are getting more dates on Tinder than you? If so, it could be down to your career. A new survey has found that male lawyers have the most success on the dating app than any other profession, with actors and creative directors coming close behind. While for women, teachers come out top closely followed by dentists and, interestingly, speech pathologists. A right swipe on Tinder is a "yes".

Tech experts explain how Amazon's products are evolving. A link has been sent to your friend's email address. Tech experts explain how Amazon's products are evolving.

GE unveiled a new integration that allows you to communicate with and control select kitchen appliances with Amazon Alexa. A link has been sent to your friend's email address. GE unveiled a new integration that allows you to communicate with and control select kitchen appliances with Amazon Alexa.