The Amazon Echo is one of the most popular in-home assistants, and that comes with good reason. Amazon's Alexa AI is extremely fleshed out and supports a ridiculously wide array of various commands and actions. The Echo and Echo Dot are Amazon's two flagship products that allow you to interact with Alexa, and as great as the hardware and software is, there's one big limitation that it's been facing ever since it launched - the minimal amount of hot-words that are available for getting Alexa's attention.
Prior to this recent update, the only three options you had at your disposal to trigger Alexa for a voice command were that of "Alexa", "Amazon", and "Echo." Although we'd still like to see Amazon one day introduce the ability to change the hot-word to whatever we'd like, the new addition of "Computer" as a hot-word is one that we're sure a lot of Star Trek fans will greatly appreciate. And, even if you aren't a Trekkie, being able to say "Computer" to address your in-home AI is something that ever nerd nerd secretly wants deep down in their heart.
If you'd like to change your hot-word to "Computer", the process itself is actually incredibly easy. To do so, all you need to do is open the Alexa app on your Android or iOS device, go to the settings page, choose the device you want to interact with, and then choose the option that's titled as "Wake Word." From here, you'll be able to change your Echo's hot-word to "Computer" or the other three options that have been available for some time.
There's currently no word from Amazon as to whether or not you'll ever be able to change your Alexa hot-word to whatever you want, but we'd be surprised if this feature wasn't introduced over the next year or so. It's something that's certainly possible (as we first saw this feature introduced with the 2014 Moto X), but it's up to Amazon to decide when they're ready to offer this additional functionality. Until then though, "Computer" sounds a whole lot cooler than "Echo" or "Amazon."
Joe Maring, a reviewer and tech news writer at PhoneArena, specializes in thorough analyses and updates on cutting-edge mobile technology, helping readers stay informed about the latest trends and product features in the rapidly evolving smartphone market.
Recommended Stories
Loading Comments...
COMMENT
All comments need to comply with our
Community Guidelines
Phonearena comments rules
A discussion is a place, where people can voice their opinion, no matter if it
is positive, neutral or negative. However, when posting, one must stay true to the topic, and not just share some
random thoughts, which are not directly related to the matter.
Things that are NOT allowed:
Off-topic talk - you must stick to the subject of discussion
Offensive, hate speech - if you want to say something, say it politely
Spam/Advertisements - these posts are deleted
Multiple accounts - one person can have only one account
Impersonations and offensive nicknames - these accounts get banned
Moderation is done by humans. We try to be as objective as possible and moderate with zero bias. If you think a
post should be moderated - please, report it.
Have a question about the rules or why you have been moderated/limited/banned? Please,
contact us.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: