Trending December 2023 # Amazon Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant Hacked With Laser In Major Security Flaw # Suggested January 2024 # Top 20 Popular

You are reading the article Amazon Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant Hacked With Laser In Major Security Flaw updated in December 2023 on the website Bellydancehcm.com. We hope that the information we have shared is helpful to you. If you find the content interesting and meaningful, please share it with your friends and continue to follow and support us for the latest updates. Suggested January 2024 Amazon Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant Hacked With Laser In Major Security Flaw

Amazon Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant hacked with laser in major security flaw

Ever since smart speakers started hitting shelves, there’s been no lack of people bringing up certain security concerns, whether those have to do with flaws in hardware and software or just general privacy issues. Today, a team of researchers are detailing a new vulnerability that exists in many smart speakers – along with some phones and tablets – that could potentially allow hackers to issue voice commands from far away.

The team, comprised of researchers from The University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo and the University of Michigan, detailed this vulnerability in a new paper titled “Light Commands: Laser-Based Audio Injection Attacks on Voice-Controllable Systems.” That paper is available through a new website centered on explaining these so-called Light Commands, which essentially use lasers to manipulate smart speakers with bogus commands.

“Light Commands is a vulnerability of MEMS microphones that allows attackers to remotely inject inaudible and invisible commands into voice assistants, such as Google assistant, Amazon Alexa, Facebook Portal, and Apple Siri using light,” the researchers wrote. “In our paper we demonstrate this effect, successfully using light to inject malicious commands into several voice controlled devices such as smart speakers, tablets, and phones across large distances and through glass windows.”

The Light Commands vulnerability seems to be something of a perfect storm: since hackers can use lasers to activate smart speakers, tablets, or phones, they don’t need to be within the typical pick-up range of the device’s microphones. Since the exploit still works even when aiming a laser through a window, hackers don’t even need access to the smart speaker before they carry out this attack, and they could potentially do this without alerting the owner of the device, as commands issued to speakers, phones, or tablets in this way would be inaudible.

Researchers tested a broad range of devices, including smart home speakers from Google, Amazon, and Facebook, along with phones and tablets like the iPhone XR, 6th-gen iPad, Galaxy S9, and Google Pixel 2. They discovered that in some cases, this exploit can still work from as far as 110 meters away – which was the longest hallway they had available to them as they were testing.

Obviously, there are a number of factors that could prevent this exploit from working. At a range as large as 110 meters, hackers would likely need a telescopic lens and tripod to focus the laser. As far as smartphones and tablets are concerned, many of them with only respond specifically to the user’s voice, making this exploit significantly harder to carry out on those devices.

However, on smart speakers that don’t have voice recognition like that active, there’s potential for hackers to do some pretty nasty things with this exploit. Assuming a smart speaker is visible from a window, hackers could use Light Commands to unlock smart doors, garage doors, and car doors. Hackers could also use this exploit to make purchases, or really carry out any command those smart speakers recognize.

The good news is that the researchers say so far there’s been no evidence of these exploits being used in the wild. They also note that there are ways for manufacturers to prevent these attacks, perhaps by adding an extra layer of authentication to voice requests (like asking the user a randomized question before carrying out the action). Manufacturers could also patch smart speakers to ignore commands only coming from a single microphone, as this exploit targets just one microphone at a time.

You're reading Amazon Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant Hacked With Laser In Major Security Flaw

How To Control Your Xbox One With Google Assistant In Google Home App

How To Control Your Xbox One With Google Assistant in Google Home App

Have a look, Xbox one S vs Xbox one X: Which one is the best Xbox Gaming Station?

Let’s see how you can connect Xbox One with Google Assistant and then use to control media:

How to Enable Connection Between Your Xbox One to Google Assistant?

The integration of Xbox and Google Assistant is a Beta level feature. Since it’s not a mainstream feature, there are a few steps that you need to go through and connect and ultimately control Xbox One with Google Assistant, adding one more integration to Assistant features.

Read More: Best Free Xbox 360 Games to Play

Step 1: Visit this link to proceed for connecting your Xbox One with Google Assistant ?

Xbox for Google Assistant Beta.

Step 3: Confirm the joining in the next step.

Step 4: Now Turn On your Xbox device. Ensure your sign in Microsoft Account is the same one you want to connect to Google Assistant.

Step 5: In your Xbox, head to System.

Step 6: The follow the path Settings ?Devices and Streaming ? Digital Assistants.

Step 7: Here, select the Enable Digital Assistants button.

Alexa Rank Tracker Built In Google Sheets With Formulas And Apps Script

Update May 2023:

Sadly, the Alexa service, on which this post is based, has been discontinued, so the techniques shown below no longer work. However, the Apps Script to save the data on a daily basis is still a valid technique, and so I leave this post up for that reason.

Original Post:

This tutorial will show you how to create an Alexa Rank tracker in Google Sheets, using a couple of formulas and a few lines of code.

Alexa Rank is a third-party tool that measures how popular a website is. The lower your ranking, the higher your site traffic is.

For example, Google is ranked #1 and Facebook and Wikipedia also have very low rankings (and giant traffic). The full tool has a host of useful features, but I’ll show you how you can get a website’s Alexa Rank number and build an archive in your Google Sheet.

Here’s my website Alexa Rank over time:

I’ve been running this Sheet since December 2023, about 1 year after my website was created. In that period, my Alexa global ranking has dropped from 320,000 to 30,000, and my Alexa US ranking has dropped from 160,000 to 15,000.

Alexa Rank Tracker Import Formulas

The first step is to setup a small settings Sheet with the formulas to import the Alexa Rank tracking data.

There are two columns: one for the global ranking figure and one for the US ranking figure.

Import Formulas

In cell B3, enter this formula to import the global rank:

In cell C3, enter this formula to import the US rank:

These formulas work by importing the content of the Alexa site info for the given website, and them parsing it with a Google Sheets REGEX formula to extract the relevant numbers.

For more information on these formulas, and an alternative Alexa formula, have a look at this post: How to import social media statistics into Google Sheets: The Import Cookbook

Error Handling

On row 4, in cells B4 and C4 are two manually typed values for the ranking, which are just used as backup values in case the import formula fails (which has happened only a handful of times in the past few years).

Periodically, I’ll paste in the latest formula values as text on row 4, to keep the backup as current as possible.

On row 5, use the IFERROR function in Google Sheets to catch errors and use the backup values instead:

=IFERROR(

)

and

=IFERROR(

)

That’s it for the settings Sheet.

Archive Sheet

Add another blank Sheet to your Alexa Rank tracker Sheet, with 3 columns: date, global rank and US rank.

Call it alexa_rank.

Apps Script Code To Save Alexa Rank Data

And add the following code:

function saveAlexaData() { const dataSheet = ss.getSheetByName('alexa_rank'); const settingsSheet = ss.getSheetByName('settings'); const d = new Date(); const global_count = settingsSheet.getRange(5,2).getValue(); const us_count = settingsSheet.getRange(5,3).getValue(); dataSheet.appendRow([d,global_count,us_count]); dataSheet.getRange(dataSheet.getLastRow(),1).setNumberFormat('MMM-YY'); }

Save and Run this script.

(You’ll be prompted to grant the script permission to access your Sheet files the first time you run it.)

It adds a row of data with the date and ranking data to your Sheet.

Run again if you want to see it add new data (but you’ll want to delete this row to avoid duplication).

Trigger To Run Code Automatically

Now let’s set it up to run on a daily basis.

Under the Triggers option in the left hand sidebar menu, create a new trigger.

Set it to time-driven and run it once a day.

The formulas reflect the value of the Alexa Rank at the current time. The script saves a copy of those ranking values at that point in time. Once the script has been running for a while, you’ll have an archive of historic data.

Chart To Display Ranking Trend

Format it as you wish.

Voilà! You can now see your Alexa Rank over time.

Alexa Custom Assistant Gives Car Dash Tech A Unique Voice

Alexa custom assistant gives car dash tech a unique voice – and FCA is first onboard

Amazon is opening up Alexa for automakers to make their own, custom virtual assistants, and Fiat Chrysler is first onboard to include it in future dashboards. While Alexa has already found its way into multiple cars and trucks already, allowing for music playback, remote smart home control, and more, the Alexa Custom Assistant will allow for more unique features as well as a vehicle-specific wake word.

So, while you can access Alexa Skills on the Uconnect 5 infotainment system in many recent vehicles from Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram, currently the experience is much like having an Echo smart speaker in the car. You rouse the assistant with the familiar “Alexa…” wake word, and then have the same features as that standalone Echo might offer at home.

Alexa Custom Assistant goes much further. Built into the infotainment stack, it can have a custom wake word, a unique voice, and special skills unique to the automaker. They’ll work with Amazon’s existing spoken language understanding and intent routing, along with its skills for things like local search, weather, alarms and times, and media streaming.

While new Alexa Skills continue to roll out, there’ll inevitably be some areas where a vehicle’s own assistant is more capable. In particular, if you can ask the car’s assistant to open or close windows, adjust the HVAC settings, or do other car-specific tasks, that may not be something Alexa has access to. As a result, the Alexa Custom Assistant has been designed with seamless handover between the two assistants onboard.

So, if you ask for an audiobook to be played, or music from Amazon Music, Alexa will handle that. If, though, you ask to turn on the massage seats, Alexa will hand that request over automatically to the car’s assistant to take action.

The benefit for automakers, Amazon says, is speed of development. Building a capable virtual assistant – and one which can not only do things like understand natural language speech, but keep pace with the developing cloud and smart home ecosystems that many people are engaging with – takes time and money. By tapping Alexa for that, it leaves the car companies to focus on their own domain of expertise.

It’s a similar argument to that we heard from Google, as it pitched Android Automotive. The Android-based infotainment system is designed to run locally on vehicles’ systems, tapping Google Maps, the Google Assistant, and the Google Play store for navigation, voice control, and third-party apps. In return, automakers can give the OS deeper access to the vehicles’ underlying platform: that way, in the Polestar 2 for example, Android Automotive can know just how much range is left from the EV’s batteries, and factor that into Google Maps’ navigation and charging recommendations.

Alexa Custom Assistant differs in that it’s not trying to offer a visual interface for the car, nor replace the existing software. Instead, automakers will be able to integrate it with their existing infotainment systems as part of the back-end, leaving the front-facing UI tailored to each brand personality and vehicle focus. FCA, for example, is currently working on how it will integrate the assistant into select future models, with the potential for different iterations of Alexa Custom Assistant whether you’re in, say, a Chrysler minivan, or a Jeep SUV, or a Ram pickup.

Cómo Escuchar Música Gratis Con Alexa Y Amazon Echo

Aunque Spotify siempre ha tenido una modalidad de servicio gratuito, eso no era compatible con los altavoces inteligentes de Amazon, de manera que no podías aprovechar la circunstancia con tu dispositivo.

Ahora, las cosas han cambiado y ya puedes escuchar Spotify y el propio servicio de música gratuito con publicidad a través de dispositivos de Amazon. Apple Music permanecerá fuera de estas condiciones de Alexa, ya que los de Redmond afirman que nunca habrá un nivel gratuito de su servicio.

Más allá de los servicios de streaming, existen otras opciones para poder escuchar música gratis como puede ser a través de estaciones de radio o bien mediante podcasts. A continuación, te contamos los trucos para que Alexa reproduzca música gratis sin limitaciones.

Cómo vincular un servicio de música con Alexa

En esencia, es el mismo proceso que deberás utilizar para cualquiera de los servicios mencionados aquí.

Abre la aplicación Alexa y toca en ‘Más’.

Presiona en ‘Configuración’.

Desplázate hacia abajo y toca en ‘Música y podcasts’.

Toca sobre el servicio que deseas usar (variará según el país) y luego sigue las instrucciones para habilitar o iniciar el servicio.

Vincular un servicio generalmente implica tener que introducir tu nombre de usuario y contraseña, lo que significa que deberás tener una cuenta configurada previamente. Sin embargo, no todos los servicios requieren de una cuenta, como pasa con los reproductores de radio.

Spotify gratis en Alexa

Si usas el nivel gratuito de Spotify, puedes vincularlo con tu cuenta de Amazon en la aplicación Alexa como hemos descrito anteriormente.

A diferencia de los clientes que pagan, los que tienen el plan gratuito no pueden solicitar ninguna canción que quieran. En su lugar, pueden pedirle a Alexa que reproduzca cualquier lista de reproducción que hayan creado previamente, así como las propias listas de reproducción de Spotify.

También puedes solicitar la lista de reproducción ‘Descubrimiento semanal’, que está personalizada para ti, según tus gustos musicales. Obviamente, su escucha se verá interrumpida por anuncios como si usaras la aplicación Spotify en el móvil, pero funciona.

Amazon Music gratis en Alexa

Amazon, que no es especialmente conocido, tiene un nivel gratuito con publicidad de su servicio de música. Te da acceso a los 2 millones de canciones que tienen los suscriptores de Amazon Prime, pero al igual que Spotify, no puedes solicitar que Alexa reproduzca canciones concretas.

En su lugar, puedes escuchar listas de reproducción y estaciones con acceso ilimitado. Por ejemplo, podrías decir: “Alexa, reproduce la estación Alejandro Sanz”, “Alexa, reproduce la estación Top Pop” o “Alexa, reproduce la estación de los años 80”.

Si pagas por el servicio de Amazon Music Unlimited, obtendrás acceso al catálogo de 90 millones de canciones.

Amazon Music es el servicio de música predeterminado para Amazon Echo, por lo que no deberías necesitar usar la aplicación. Una vez que hayas configurado tu dispositivo Echo, Alexa debería cumplir con tus ordenes de reproducción.

De lo contrario, sigue los pasos anteriores y verifica en la sección ‘Servicios de Música y podcasts’ que Amazon Music esté configurado como el servicio predeterminado de música.

Consulta qué servicios de música en streaming ofrecen calidad Hifi hoy en día.

Podcasts de Apple gratis en Alexa

Como mencionamos anteriormente, no hay un nivel gratuito de Apple Music, pero puedes escuchar Apple Podcasts en un Amazon Echo usando Alexa.

El proceso para configurarlo es el mismo que para un servicio de música, pero una vez que hayas vinculado tu cuenta, toca en ‘Servicios predeterminados’ en el menú ‘Música y podcast’ y toca en ‘Cambiar’. Ahora elige ‘Apple Podcasts’ de la lista.

En adelante, podrás decir: “Alexa, reproduce [nombre del podcast]” o “Alexa, reanuda mi podcast”. Ten en cuenta que Amazon Music también incluye podcasts y hay otras opciones como TuneIn.

Esta es la mejor relación de apps para escuchar podcasts.

Escuchar la radio en Alexa

Aunque la disponibilidad puede variar según el país en el que te encuentres, es probable que puedas escuchar la mayoría de las estaciones de radio que realizan una emisión por Internet.

En España, por ejemplo, encontrarás algunas de renombre como TuneIn, Global Player y Planet Radio. Estos se configuran de la misma manera que un servicio de transmisión de música, con la ventaja de que algunos no requieren de una cuenta para poder usarlos.

Reproduce música en tu Amazon Echo a través de Bluetooth

La última opción para escuchar música gratis es usar tu altavoz Amazon Echo como altavoz Bluetooth.

Simplemente tendrás que decir “Alexa, empareja” e ir a la configuración de Bluetooth de tu teléfono y buscar tu altavoz Echo en la lista de dispositivos disponibles. Toca sobre él y aprueba la solicitud de emparejamiento.

Si esto no funciona por algún motivo, puedes usar la aplicación Alexa. Dirígete a dispositivos, toca en ‘Echo y Alexa’ de la parte superior, selecciona el Echo que deseas emparejar de la lista y, en la sección ‘Conexiones Bluetooth’, toca en ‘Conectar un dispositivo’.

El procedimiento varía si usas tu teléfono con el Bluetooth de tu automóvil, pero puedes decir “Alexa, desconecta” para detener la reproducción de audio desde tu teléfono. Verás que la conexión se restablece automáticamente cuando tu teléfono está dentro del alcance del Echo.

Si todavía no tienes un altavoz Echo en tu hogar, echa un vistazo a nuestro ranking de los mejores altavoces Amazon Echo del año. Verás lo mejor y más destacado de cada modelo y en qué caso debes comprarlo.

Amazon Echo Show Gives Alexa A Screen And Free Video Calls

Amazon Echo Show gives Alexa a screen and free video calls

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

The new Amazon Echo Show, the latest way for Jeff Bezos & Co. to sneak Alexa into your home, has been officially revealed, complete with both voice and touch. The first Echo device to include a display, the Echo Show has a 7-inch touchscreen and a 5-megapixel camera for video calls. There’s also a total of eight microphones packed into its fairly blocky housing.

They’re used for Amazon’s speech recognition array, the system which allows Echo to hear you from across the room and pinpoint your speech while ignoring other ambient sounds around the room. A microphone mute button stops the Echo Show from listening out for your wake-word trigger. [Update: Echo Show has eight microphones, not nine as reported earlier; the front microphone shown in Amazon’s diagram is in fact one of the eight in the main array, not an extra]

Alexa’s functionality remains the same as from the audio-only Echo devices. You’ll be able to ask questions and for specific tracks or genres, across not only Amazon Music but Pandora, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, and other providers. Dual 2-inch stereo speakers are built-in under the touchscreen for playback.

As with other Echo devices, there’s broad integration with various services and smart home kit. Through Echo Show you’ll be able to command your WeMo, SmartThings, Hue, Insteon, Ring, Arlo, Wink, and Ecobee IoT devices, for instance. You’ll be able to ask for a daily briefing of news and updates from your Google Calendar, too.

Where Echo Show sets itself apart from its siblings is the extra functionality having a display enables. As well as requesting music, you’ll be able to ask for YouTube videos, along with flash briefings in video format. Echo Show will be able to display music lyrics for impromptu karaoke sessions, together with your photos and text versions of your to-do and shopping lists.

There’s also the ability to see connected camera feeds on the screen, such as from your smart doorbell or what’s going on in a kid’s nursery. New with Echo Show, however, is the ability to make video calls: again, you ask for a contact, and they’re called, either through their own Echo Show or via the free Alexa app for their smartphone. A feature called Drop In will allow for instant video connections; you’ll be able to whitelist who gets to instantly appear on your display.

Voice messaging is also supported. That works across all Echo devices, too, so if you’ve got an Echo Dot, Echo, or the Alexa app, you’ll be able to make and receive voice calls and leave messages through that, too. Amazon says all calls, audio and video, are free.

For connectivity, there’s dual-band WiFi a/b/g/n/a (2.4/5GHz), along with Bluetooth with A2DP stereo streaming. The Echo Show can play music back via external Bluetooth speakers, too, though only if those speakers don’t require a PIN code to pair them. Without batteries, you’ll need to keep the Echo Show plugged in via the included 6 foot adapter.

Preorders for the Echo Show begin today, priced at $229.99. It’ll begin shipping on June 28, Amazon says, and be available in both black and white. If you buy two, meanwhile – useful if you want to make two-way video calls – Amazon will cut $100 off the combined price.

MORE Amazon

Update the detailed information about Amazon Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant Hacked With Laser In Major Security Flaw on the Bellydancehcm.com website. We hope the article's content will meet your needs, and we will regularly update the information to provide you with the fastest and most accurate information. Have a great day!