Acer to Move Alexa onto PCs
Computer manufacturer Acer will be incorporating Amazon's Alexa voice assistant into select Aspire, Spin, Switch, and Swift notebooks, as well as Aspire all-in-one PCs. Amazon Alexa will initially be available in the United States via an update through Acer Care Center, while wider support is expected to be rolled out mid-2018.
"Acer is excited to be among the first brands to bring Alexa to PCs," said Jerry Kao, president of IT products business at Acer, in a statement. "With industry-leading audio technology across our portfolio, we're providing consumers the possibility to interact with multiple voice services on their notebooks or desktops. Alexa lets users do thousands of things, and we're now bringing those capabilities natively to PCs."
"We're delighted that Acer will bring Alexa to PC customers," said Steve Rabuchin, vice president of Amazon Alexa, in a statement. "Hands-free access to Alexa on PCs can be helpful to customers in many ways, like making it simple to interact with your smart home, get news or weather, set timers, and more. This is a big step toward making Alexa available wherever customers might need her."
Acer's latest notebooks and desktops are enabled by Intel Smart Sound Technology and an integrated audio digital signal processor built to handle audio, voice, and speech interactions and respond to voice commands.
With Amazon Alexa, owners of compatible Acer notebooks and desktops can ask Alexa to check their calendars; create lists; answer questions; play their favorite music, podcasts or audiobooks; and manage smart home devices through voice commands.
"The PC is the ultimate device to bring all your digital experiences together," said Anand Srivatsa, general manager of Intel's Desktop, Channel, and Systems Group, in a statement. "By introducing voice services like Alexa paired with Intel Smart Sound Technology, we anticipate that the PC will serve an even more important role in maximizing your productivity, getting the most from your entertainment, and managing the smart home or office."
In addition to the computers, and the Acer Air Monitor, which already works with Alexa, Acer will also be adding Alexa support ot its V6820M and V6820i 4K UHD projectors. Now part of the smart home, consumers will be able to control the projector after enabling the Acer Projector Smart Home skill by asking Alexa on a device like the Echo or compatible Acer PC.