Technology is a beautiful thing, but there will always be the naysayers who are concerned that we are one smartphone feature away from 1984.
That's probably a tad extreme, but if the Snowden documents and countless data breaches are any indication, nothing stays private on the Internet. It probably seems like your every tap, swipe, like, and scroll is monitored and mined for custom ads, location-based deals, and follow suggestions.
But the conversations you have in person, in your living room or your car; they're private, right? Maybe not. Just this morning, it was revealed that Samsung's smart TV privacy policy says plainly that the sets might capture snippets of your conversations in its quest to provide you with better voice-recognition technology.
Samsung was likely just covering itself with that piece of information; a request from its lawyers like those doomsday warnings on pharmaceutical commercials. But it's still a little unnerving. How much snooping are we talking about here?
In Samsung's case, you can turn off the voice-recognition features if you're concerned. But it's not the only gadget with always-on features. As more and more gadgets integrate voice features, expect always on or always listening to be a bigger part of the tech equation.
Check out the slideshow for gadgets that are patiently waiting for your command.
Moto X
You need to activate the option on your phone by sitting with it in a quiet room for a bit so it learns your voice. Moto Voice also works on the Droid Maxx, Droid Mini, and Droid Ultra. On the second-gen Moto X, you can create your own launch phrase, like "Hello Moto X."
According to Motorola, "Moto Voice is not recording everything it hears, it's simply matching the sound to your tuned launch phrase. The recognition of your launch phrase is done entirely on the phone. Motorola is not saving anything heard by the phone or the command either on the phone or in the cloud."
Nexus 6, Nexus 9, Galaxy Note 4
Chrome
Amazon Echo
Xbox One
It's a handy feature, though make sure you don't confuse your console. Some Xbox One owners reported that a mid-2014 commercial for their console featuring actor Aaron Paul saying the "Xbox on" command turned their devices on, too.
Where Can I Drive You?
The systems still need some work. PCMag's Jamie Lendino says his car has a maddening tendency to launch into a 30-second-long voice command tutorial when it doesn't understand—which cannot be silenced.
With the launch of Sync 3, Ford said it had improved voice recognition to be more conversational, though PCMag's Doug Newcomb said he'll believe it when he sees/hears it.
Facebook Is Listening (for 15 Seconds)
Facebook said that nothing the microphone listens to is recorded or stored, and the app cannot identify background noise or conversation. If you'd rather not have the social network scan your surroundings, navigate to Status, tap the smiley face icon, and tap the audio icon to silence it.
After some users expressed concern, Facebook said that the feature "will only use your microphone (for 15 seconds) when you’re actually writing a status update to try and match music and TV."