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Amazon just introduced a new feature for Alexa+ called Greetings. This lets Alexa+ answer the doorbell and converse with visitors, which certainly sounds futuristic in a "gated community as dystopia" kind of way. There are several caveats here. First of all, it only works with certain newer Ring video doorbell models. Customers also have to pony up for a Ring Premium Plan and have access to the Alexa+ early access build. It's available in the US and Canada and only in English. If you meet those criteria, this could be a fairly useful little feature. Amazon says it "transforms your Ring doorbell into an intelligent assistant capable of determining who's at your door, understanding what they need and responding conversationally." The company promises that the tool operates whether people or home or out doing errands. How does this work? It's an AI algorithm that "determines who's there based on what they're wearing, holding or their actions." It will use "visual context, any information the visitor shares and the instructions it's been given to help manage interactions on your behalf." Amazon says that it can, for instance, distinguish if a person is wearing a delivery uniform and tell them to leave the package at the back door. Most of my delivery drivers don't come to the door in full uniforms because it's winter and that would be ridiculous. I don't even expect that during the summer. In other words, this is modern AI and mistakes will happen. The company gives other examples of how this could be used, like gathering messages from friends who stop by and telling door-to-door salespeople to (politely) bug off. Amazon also says Alexa+ will be able to direct visitors to water and snacks that have previously been laid out. Finally, there's a way to avoid those pesky cute kids on Halloween while still providing them with treats. Everything can be reviewed later on via the Ring app, which should provide context as to who has been hanging around the porch. Alexa+ Greetings are rolling out today. For the uninitiated, Alexa+ is Amazon's updated chatbot. It's more conversational than the old Alexa, which could be useful or annoying depending on what you use it for. I use Alexa primarily as an alarm, so I don't necessarily want a gabfest.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/alexa-can-now-answer-your-ring-doorbell-and-talk-to-people-162712774.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
If you're like me, it's probably been a hot minute since youve used or even thought of Meetup. Predating both Facebook and Twitter, the website, which was designed to help people organize in-person events, has changed hands a handful of times in recent years. In 2017, founder Scott Heiferman sold it to WeWork, which offloaded it a few years later before declaring bankruptcy in 2023. As of 2024, Bending Spoons, the Italian tech company that's probably best known for buying Evernote in 2022, has been running Meetup. In the aftermath of the pandemic, the platform has seen something of resurgence. As of late 2025, Gen Z and young Millennials make up 40 percent of Meetup's active user base and represent its most engaged group of users. This year, the app has also seen a 20 percent year-over-year increase in new registrations. Going into 2026, Bending Spoons is hoping to build on that momentum with a redesign of Meetup's mobile app. The new interface, which starts rolling out today, brings the Android and iOS app inline with Meetup's recently redesigned website. Across the application, users can expect updated fonts, new more colorful icons and better spacing. The goal of the redesign is to make the app "vibrant, fun and more modern than before," says Chiara Vivaldi, Meetup's product lead. She adds the redesigned app retains all the key features found in the previous version, while making those easier to find. For instance, users can access their profile and groups directly from the homepage of the app. Beyond making Meetup feel more modern, Bending Spoon is using the redesign to cement the groundwork for a series of improvements it plans to roll out in the coming months. Soon, Meetup users will be able to see a breakdown of the people who have signed up for an event.Bending SpoonsAccording to Vivaldi, one major priority is to give people, particularly women, more confidence to attend the events that are listed on Meetup. When you navigate to an event page in the new app, you'll see a broad gender and age breakdown of the users who have signed up to be there. Additionally, new and richer user profiles allow people to get a better sense of who exactly they might meet if they decide to go. Bending Spoons is also introducing a new Super Organizer badge it plans to award to the platform's top event planners. It's designed to signal to users that the person who put together the event takes community building seriously. Taken together, Vivaldi says these features are designed to reduce the friction of attending events where you might not know anyone, and they're something the company plans to build on in the future. At the same time, Bending Spoons plans to make it easier for organizers to use Meetup. Starting early next year, the company will unify Meetup's two disparate apps right now, the company maintains separate ones for members and organizers. Vivaldi says organizers can expect the unified app to include all of the features they depend on, alongside a handful of enhancements. For instance, Vivaldis team is working to make QR-based ticketing the norm for check-ins and attendance tracking. She says the move to a single app is informed by the fact that 75 percent of Meetup's organizers got their start as a member. "[Organizers] are part of the community. They want to be in the action, and so having them within the same app is conducive to that. They can jump into conversations, look at other events, making it all feel a bit more organic," Vivaldi said. In the meantime, if its been since youve used Meetup, you can download the redesigned app from the App and Google Play stores. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/meetups-new-mobile-app-is-designed-to-make-it-easier-to-meet-people-irl-150000920.html?src=rss
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
Did you know that 48% of emails are currently spam? Or how about that 77% of B2B buyers say they prefer to receive communication via email? Those are some of the stats uncovered by researchers when they reviewed third-party data sources. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
Category:
Marketing and Advertising
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