X

Amazon Echo could be interrupting your conversations soon

Spoken push notifications could be on the horizon for Alexa, says a new report.

David Priest Former editor
David Priest is an award-winning writer and editor who formerly covered home security for CNET.
David Priest
fd-amazon-echo-2016-promo-pic.jpg
Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Amazon could be bringing spoken push notifications to Echo, according to a new report from The Information.

Right now Alexa, the voice of Echo, will speak only if users first interact with her. With this update, however, that could change -- giving her the ability to interject anytime.

Spoken push notifications could be a big addition to Echo's oeuvre of skills, making Alexa a more involved personal assistant. Imagine Alexa notifying you while you're getting out of bed if traffic conditions on the way to work are especially bad. Or if an important email arrives in your in-box.

But many people have already noted that the update could quickly become annoying. It remains to be seen whether some sort of system of permissions similar to that on iPhones will be in place to let users personalize which applications can send push notifications.

Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.