If you're thinking of buying the Amazon Fire TV Cube because you're delighted by the idea of having an Amazon Echo and a Fire TV device mashed into one device, let me stop you right there. Alexa on a TV interface demands a level of conversation like no other streaming TV product I've used before. After a few nights of using the Cube, I began to hate the sound of my own voice. Maybe you'll still be delighted by the Cube at first if you buy one. Maybe if you have kids, they'll love shouting at the TV to get their cartoon fix. But there's a good chance you'll end up doing what I did: going back to the fuddy-duddy Fire TV remote, because that's the easiest way to scroll through multiple media options.

As good as devices like the Amazon Echo have become at relaying information verbally, there are still some tasks that are better accomplished using a touchscreen. That's perhaps why Amazon in June released the $229.99 Echo Show, which includes a 7-inch touchscreen placed above a speaker. But the convenience of having a tablet-sized screen also introduced trade-offs -- the Echo Show is bulkier, pricier, and generally less attractive compared to the $99.99 cylindrical Echo. Echo Spot, Amazon hopes to solve some of those issues.

People used to dream about robot secretaries. Futurists imagined a world where computers obeyed our every command. When the Amazon Echo hit the market, that dream became a reality: Alexa was obedient, personable and all-knowing. She could carry out a myriad of basic tasks, with a personality as professional and unflappable as a human assistant. This year, Echo is more popular than ever, and despite competition from Google, Amazon still dominates 75 percent of the virtual assistant market.

But I encountered a significant difference using Google Home devices to control my Vivint Smart Home system compared to Amazon's Echo. When I say "OK Google, turn on my kitchen lights," the Google Assistant responds "OK, here's Vivint." He said if Vivint were to choose the other method, which would allow the Google Assistant to control the home more directly, Vivint would need to allow Google to access the state of the home on a full-time basis. I was told it explains how Google's smart home API works for third parties that integrate directly.

Google's forthcoming home device is reportedly similar to the Echo Show, in screen size and capability. SEE ALSO: Amazon's new Echo Spot is here to replace your alarm clock According to TechCrunch's sources, the Google home gadget will offer Google's version of similar features, such as Google Assistant and video calling. One important difference, however, is that Google's "Manhattan" would be able to play YouTube videos, a feature that Google just pulled access to from the Amazon's Echo Show. Similar to the other Amazon Echo devices, Google's current home assistant, Google Home, lacks a screen.

In the battle of household robots that people talk to instead of using their phones, at least we can all still be friends. There's an arms race going on between Google and Amazon to have the best personal assistant. Amazon has the Echo, and Google has the Home. Each of the slightly creepy robots have their own pros and cons, but Google just one-upped Amazon on cute Easter eggs. A YouTuber noticed that if you ask Google Home to "say hi to Alexa," it actually plays off one of the Echo's automatic responses.

By now, many of us have heard about or might even own one of the popular, sleek multi-functional voice-first devices, such as the Amazon Echo, also known as "Alexa", the name used when waking the device to give a verbal command. Quick joke: How do you make Alexa laugh? This joke is terrible for many reasons, not the least of which is that I ended up anthropomorphized a digital device, which may be one of the biggest issues with this devices. Related: There's No Doubt That Amazon Alexa Is the Next Big Thing First, according to Voice Labs Voice Report for 2017, 6.5 million voice-first devices -- defined as an always-on piece of hardware utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) with primarily a voice interface, both for input and output -- were shipped in 2016. In 2017, that number is estimated to grow to 24.5 million devices shipped, thanks in large part to its appearance during the Super Bowl commercials.

Amazon has been updating its line of voice-assistant devices to make them more user-friendly for a while. The Tap no longer needs a physical touch to activate it and your Echo devices can make calls and leave messages. Better yet, they'll will soon be able to whisper and have better wake word accuracy. According to a post on Amazon's developer site, Echo devices are getting another upgrade here, too: visual notifications for skills. When one of your notification-enabled skills get new information, you'll get a chime and a pulsing green light on your Echo, Dot, or Show device when there's new information.

NEW YORK--You've been able to ask Amazon's Alexa to help you search for movies and TV shows and deliver other Alexa "skills" through your television set. But only if you connected Amazon's Fire TV external streaming media player or Fire TV Stick to the TV. On Tuesday, Amazon begins taking preorders on Element Electronics Ultra HD 4K smart TVs, the first televisions with the Fire TV Edition built in. Amazon had announced way back during the CES industry confab in January that TVs with the company's Fire TV platform would be coming later in the year. With the supplied voice remote control, you can summon Alexa and bark out various commands: to have Alexa change channels, access more than 300,000 TV episodes and movies from Netflix, Amazon Video, HBO NOW, Showtime, Hulu, Sling TV and other content providers. You can also tap into what Amazon says are 15,000 channels, apps and Alexa skills.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning have become a "horizontal enabling layer" influencing many of Amazon's endeavors beyond the e-commerce giant's Alexa virtual assistant, including its sire search and product recommendation capabilities and even its Prime Air drone delivery effort, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said at the Internet Association's Gala2017 event, Geekwire reported on Saturday. "It is things like improved search results. Literally hundreds of other things beneath the surface," Bezos said, adding that Amazon is "determined" to make AI and machine learning capabilities accessible through its Amazon Web Services cloud unit to other companies that might not have the resources and expertise to develop those capabilities. Aside from Bezos' comments, AFTVnews published leaked images of the upcoming touchscreen-equipped Amazon Echo. The publication said the new device is code-named "Knight" and is expected to be made available sometime later this month.