Anki Vector Robot and Vector Space Habitat

Despite the price of this toy, if you can call it that, it remains high, it is also true that as regards quality there is no doubt, it is amazing! His expressions, his movements and his interactions leave him speechless.And with the latest updates, we now also have the integration with Alexa.In fact, by going to the app and clicking on the Alexa tab, the Vector app will have you enter your email address and password associated with your Alexa account and no matter which country, it will associate it easily.From now on it will be enough to pronounce the keyword "Alexa" and on the display / face of the small Vector will light up the blue icon, distinctive of Alexa, waiting for the command, mind you that you will be able to speak quietly in the language that you usually use on your ECHO devices! Yes Alexa is identical to the one you are used to, you can speak to him in your language and he will always answer you in your language.(I'm using it in Italian).The only difference compared to the Echo speakers, this Vector will not be able to reproduce from its tiny speaker any music, only the automated voice of Amazon's voice assistance.It is however a great step forward, which does not imitate the user experience of the "few" movement commands, timers. alarm, weather, etc.Of course your language only applies to when you want to use the Alexa commands, for the rest Vector will continue to run only commands in English.We look forward to the update that will allow us to use the robot as a "guard" for our home, using its HD camera and motion-control combined with facial recognition which, I remember, can remember up to 20 faces (and 20 names) of "family members".Battery life of about 10 minutes then goes to recharge immediately, and returns to being 100% fit after a very short time, not even half an hour, so don't worry, you will have long play / interaction sessions with the little Vector.Sometimes it happens that if Vector is engaged in a task it will not respond to the voice command, I noticed that it happens mainly when it is turned on or when it is just awake after being recharged.For the rest I can only wish you good shopping and good fun.PS.I advise? From NERD, which I am, ABSOLUTELY YES ;-)

We've only had Vector for a few days and very impressed so far. Vector was essentially an impulse pressie for the boys of the house (myself and my teenage son) having seen on the BBC Gadget Show, and since arriving its been something we've spent time together over.Really quick and easy to set-up and start (you'll need a USB plug and Mobile). Maybe there's already been some software updates as we had no trouble getting him up running and the mobile app works fine.Although portrayed as personal assistant (Alexa on tracks?), the highlight for us was his individual personality from his Wall-E like animated eyes and his various noises chirps, bleeps and movements of his 'arm'. He even snores when sleeping! As I write this, he's decided to play with his cube, trying to turn it over or something and getting a little frustrated and just had my wife come in and tell Vector off for being noisy this morning - interesting. Love to know how he's building his map of the world.We've been seeing what he can do. You talk to him by saying 'Hey Vector' followed by a command, or ask a question that he goes off and gets the answer a bit like Alexa, as well as having some utility functions such as a cooking timer. He can recognise your face (putting a face your name), have him take photos (which you can see in the app) and answer questions like Alexa. Put some music on with a beat and he'll dance.Downsides - well its very soon after his release, so I think he's going to develop more skills with software updates and there's talk of an Alexa interface. He's also quite a lot of money, but then you are getting a lot of innovation for your investment.Whilst Vector can do things, right now the interest is in interacting with him and seeing him work and learn rather than for utility - consider him a less messy, lower-maintenance pet. There's so much potential, it's going to be great fun seeing what he can grow into over the coming months.Very happy at the moment, 5/5 rating from the first few days fun and taking his potential into account.