Future Amazon Echo could mimic Nest Hub’s sleep tracking

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Future Amazon Repeat could mimic Nest Hub's sleep tracking

(Paradigm credit: Amazon)

Amazon may be planning to accept a leafage out of Google's book with a future Echo or Repeat Testify device, in the form of new sleep-tracking capabilities.

As spotted by Bloomberg, the retail giant has successfully applied to the Federal Communications Commission for permission to use radar to "enable contactless sleep tracing functionalities." The ability to use radar would as well allow users to control a device with elementary hand gestures and movements, aiding those "with mobility, spoken communication, or tactical impairments" according to the list.

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It's slumber tracking that'southward the primary footing on Amazon's pitch, however. "The use of Radar Sensors in slumber tracking could improve awareness and management of sleep hygiene, which in turn could produce significant health benefits for many Americans," the visitor wrote in its filing. "Radar Sensors will permit consumers to recognize potential sleep issues."

If this all sounds a little familiar, it's because it's the same engineering that Google has been gradually introducing over the last few years, almost successfully in the second-generation Nest Hub, where it also tracks sleep patterns.

Originally known as Projection Soli, the radar chip was introduced to the Google Pixel 4, before going missing in last year's Pixel 5. The company was very articulate the technology wasn't dead though, with Google's hardware pb Rick Osteloh saying that it would "exist used in the hereafter," but that it wasn't appropriate for the Pixel 5 on pricing grounds.

Sure enough, it emerged this yr in Google's smart screen. In our second-generation Google Nest Hub review, our senior author Kate Kozuch was quite impressed with the implementation, once she got past the creepy gene of having a screen watching over her sleep.

"The Nest Hub does not provide specific sleep cycle information similar some fitness trackers exercise, merely the actionable sleep tracking data is among the most comprehensive I've seen for a consumer-facing device," she wrote.

That said, she did annotation that the sensor could prove a little fickle, and was defeated past her accidentally placing a glass of water in front of it overnight. Still, the sleep duration readings proved to be inside 10 minutes of her Apple Picket, with a articulate advantage for Google in that the Nest Hub tracks contactlessly without the need for charging.

Amazon already has a method of slumber tracking for owners of the Halo band, but information technology's safe to say that, in terms of sales, the Echo has proved a more successful product overall. And given the company already has a couple of smaller Echo devices designed for the chamber, for instance the Echo Dot with Clock, it wouldn't be surprising if Alexa had a brand new skill prepare very before long.

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Freelance correspondent Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, roofing phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are establish all over the web and in the occasional magazine as well. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/future-amazon-echo-could-mimic-nest-hubs-sleep-tracking

Posted by: wolfesuieckled.blogspot.com

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