It looks like Amazon’s Alexa voice-activated virtual assistant, the same technology that powers the company’s Echo device, is set to come to Canada inside Pebble’s recently announced Core fitness-focused wearable.
Amazon’s voice-activated assistant is set to be fully integrated with the Core, giving the Narrative Clip-sized device the ability to play songs from music streaming platforms such as Spotify, read the latest news headlines, review Pebble Health’s daily fitness summary and shop for products on Amazon. In terms of Spotify functionality, the Core will also be able to play locally stored playlists, as well as stream music from the platform’s servers.
Other voice-activated Alexa-powered functionality includes weather and traffic updates, timers, pizza ordering and controlling the same smart home devices the Echo is already capable of managing like the Ecobee and Philips’ Hue Lights.
Pebble says that the Core is the first fully-mobile wearable capable of Alexa integration and that the company intends to ensure the fitness focused wearable evolves alongside Amazon’s voice assistant.
Alexa will be available on the Pebble Core as soon as the device launches at some point in 2017 (a specific release date still hasn’t been revealed). While we don’t have confirmation yet, this could be yet another indication that Amazon’s Echo is also headed to Canada early next year. Last week we reported that Amazon posted job listings for a number of Alexa-related positions at its Canadian office.
The Pebble Core features a hardware expansion port, 2 programmable buttons, GPS tracking functionality and 3G/Bluetooth/WiFi connectivity. It’s currently priced at $69 USD on Kickstarter (approximately $90 CAD).
Pebble’s Time 2, Pebble 2 and Pebble Core Kickstarter has raised almost $10 million USD with still 27 days left to go in its campaign. The Kickstarter also earned more than $1 million USD in less than 24 hours.
The CoWatch, a smartwatch recently launched on Indiegogo, will also feature Alexa integration, and is poised to come to Canada at some point in the future. The CoWatch is expected to ship towards the end of June 2016.
[source]Pebble[/source]
Related reading: A new Amazon Alexa integrated smartwatch is coming to Canada
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