Disneyland to get the Alexa-based 'Hey, Disney' voice assistant in 2022

If you find yourself at a Disneyland Hotel in 2022, you'll be able to use the "Hey, Disney" prompt in your hotel room as the voice assistant will work alongside Alexa, courtesy of the in-room Echo speakers. It can handle requests involving amenities or tell stories or jokes.

The theme park is also getting the MagicBand+ next year. These smart wristbands will allow you to enter the park, make purchases, and, basically, go touch-free in many areas in the park. You can even use it to improve the experience in specific areas through lights, gesture controls, and haptic feedback.

Source: Engadget

Some 4th-gen Echo speakers can detect motion

Amazon has started rolling out a new feature to the fourth-generation Echo and Echo Dot to detect if someone is in the room. It now emits an "inaudible ultrasound wave," so you can enable features like turning connected devices on and off when you enter a room. 

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Alexa lets you share songs with friends via Echo devices

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It's possible to use your Echo smart speaker to send song recommendations to friends. Amazon announced a music sharing feature that lets you share tracks with your Alexa contacts using Echo devices or the Alexa app. Tell Alexa to "share this song with" and state the contact. The recipient can listen to the song on whatever streaming service they have and send a reaction to it your way. 

The voice assistant will try and look for the song on services available to you and your recipient. If it doesn't find it, it'll get a station based on the artist's name and song title. The feature requires you and your contact to have Alexa Communications enabled. Amazon said this is "just the beginning" for the sharing feature, so other sharing capabilities might soon be heading our way.

Source: Engadget

Amazon Echo devices add group video and audio calling support

Source: Amazon

If you'd rather not use Zoom, Amazon is rolling out a new group video or audio calling for Echo devices. Amazon originally announced the feature in September, but it's rolling it out just in time for the holidays. It will allow up to seven participants to join the audio or video call on supported devices, including the Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Show. Canada is one of the 14 countries to get the feature. Other countries getting the support include Austria, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, the US, and the UK.

You can create and name groups for these calls through the Alexa app. The app will soon get support for group calls, too. You will be able to add adult contacts into groups, with friends and family having the option to opt into group calling. If you're wondering if it works with Alexa, it does. You can say commands like "Alexa, call my family" to connect to a group you've created. There are currently no limits to the call's duration.

Source: The Verge