If your home is kitted out with Amazon Echo devices, you can now use the "drop in" feature to talk to all of them at the same time. This essentially brings a quick and easy intercom to your home. Up until now, you could use Amazon's "drop in" feature to send a voice message to only one other Alexa-powered device. Let's say from the Amazon Echo in your living room to the Amazon Echo Dot in your kitchen. You could "drop in" then start a conversation that works both ways.

Today, the NFL announced a new partnership with Amazon Web Services to develop a set of software tools to try and predict what causes player injuries. Called'Digital Athlete,' the program will insert a computer created player into millions of simulated games to generate recommendations about changing player equipment, altering the game's rules, and minimizing injuries in certain scenarios. The program will use Amazon's Regoknition system to break down video feeds from current NFL games and record information about everything from play selection, weather, playing surface, and player position. Amazon and the NFL will partner on a new program called'Digital Athlete,' and AI-driven simulation of millions of games using a computer-created player to learn more about player injuries Amazon's SageMaker software will also be used to build machine learning models to apply that data as the basis to simulate new variations on individual plays and entire games. 'When we apply next-generation technology to advance player health and safety, everyone wins – from players to clubs to fans,' NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.

The Orlando Police Department said it would not immediately renew a pilot program with Amazon.com for controversial facial-recognition technology, a decision that civil rights advocates claimed as a victory. Orlando had deployed software, known as Rekognition, in five cameras at police headquarters and three cameras downtown during a six-month trial period. "The City of Orlando is always looking for new solutions to further our ability to keep our residents and visitors safe," the city of Orlando and the Orlando Police Department said in a joint statement Monday. "Partnering with innovative companies to test new technology -- while also ensuring we uphold privacy laws and in no way violate the rights of others -- is critical to us as we work to further keep our community safe." The existence of the pilot program was first revealed last month, when the American Civil Liberties Union published documents detailing Amazon's sale of powerful facial-recognition tools to several law enforcement agencies, including in Orlando and Washington County, Ore.

Amazon wants to make it easier than ever for users to donate to charity. Users simply ask Alexa, the voice of Amazon Echo smart speakers, to donate money to one of dozens of philanthropic organizations to give to them, Amazon announced on Monday. Among these organizations are the American Cancer Society, March of Dimes Foundation and PETA. 'This is just the beginning -- the list will continue to grow,' an Amazon spokesperson told CNET. When users donate money, it will come out of the bank account linked to the user's Amazon account, Amazon said.

Amazon has upgraded its smart assistant - and answered the prayers of Star Trek fans around the world. Traditionally, owners of Amazon's Echo speakers can simply say'Alexa' to trigger it. Now, the firm has added a new feature letting them say'computer' instead, in a nod to the sci fi series. Users can now choose between Alexa, Echo, Amazon and Computer to wake up their smart speaker - letting the smart assistant operate in the same way as Star Trek's computers. Open the left navigation panel, and then select Settings.

Amazon doesn't have an official presence at the CES gadget show in Las Vegas but its Alexa voice control software seems to be everywhere. From trash cans you can tell to reorder food to cars you can talk to, the smart assistant seems destined to appear everywhere. Dozens of firms revealed they are adding Alexa capabilities to their gadget, as amazon itself revealed the smart speaker now has over 7,000 'skills'. Amazon also today added a new one - the ability to order takeaway food. LG revealed its new Asmart fridge will use Amazon's Alexa, and is one of dozens of firms that has added the smart tech as the CES show in Las Vegas Prime members can ask Alexa to reorder from Amazon Restaurants by saying a restaurant name or cuisine type, for example, 'Alexa, order sushi from Amazon Restaurants.'

Chinese firm Lenovo has created its own version of Amazon's Echo home assistant. The company announced its new Smart Assistant today at the CES technology conference in Las Vegas. The gadget, which is a similar shape to the Amazon Echo but comes in a variety of colours, uses Amazon's Alexa Voice Services and works in the same way as Amazon's own smart assistant. Chinese tech firm Lenovo has created its own version of Amazon's Echo home assistant. Lenovo says 65 per cent of people around the world already use voice recognition technology on their phone, PC or tablet.

The Amazon Echo doesn't have a screen, but because the Fire HD 8 tablet does it can show relevant information upon receiving a query. Ask Alexa to play a song on Spotify, for example, and options to pause, skip forward or skip back present themselves. Ask it for the scores from yesterday's game and it will give you a detailed scorecard. Using an actual Echo device under the same Amazon account will still invoke the appearances of info cards on your tablet devices using the new update. Amazon's update comes at a time when Google is anxious to take over the virtual assistant space.