An Amazon robot with Alexa could be in homes by 2019

Alexa may be getting some legs.

A domestic robot powered by Amazon's digital assistant looks to be in the cards now that Bloomberg is reporting the e-commerce giant is developing some kind of automated servant for the home. Amazon is well on its way to creating prototypes of the robot, according to the report, with the aim to have it in consumers' homes as early as next year.

The exact goal of the project, said to be codenamed "Vesta," is unclear, but smart money is on some kind of mobile Alexa speaker that can move from room to room, extending the digital assistant's presence in a home. The idea is it would be equipped with sophisticated computer-vision capabilities so it could navigate a home like a Roomba robot vacuum. Read more...