Table of Contents 64q43
At an event held in New York, the Amazon has finally updated its AI present in devices located in many people's homes. Under the name of Alexa+, the new service comes with interesting features to make our daily lives more dynamic and eliminate the need to send robotic commands to receive what we want. See all the details right now. 41j4u
The new Alexa n6b2c
panos panay, vice president and director of services and devices at Amazon, took to the stage at the event to present the Alexa+. The company's idea is to allow s to stop using commands in a robotic way when talking to the company's personal assistant. Amazon.
In addition, the company brings memory and context interpretation capabilities to AI, allowing it to a previous conversation. This will make it possible to deliver a response based on what was previously said by the , such as a favorite food or place.
Products Call — the camera company acquired by Amazon in 2018 — will also have great integration. During the event, Panos Panay asked how many times the residents of her house went out to walk the dog. Information about deliveries and even what was delivered this week was told by the new Alexa.
Despite the devices Call not be officially sold in Brazil, the showmetech has a full list of products for the connected home sold here, with everything you need to know about the subject. Be sure to check it out.
Use in practice 5r544d
The promotional video for the new Alexa confirms a new app, interface and new website for the personal assistant of Amazon. During today's event, we also noticed that it gained several new ways of use. Let's go through each of them now.
More natural conversation 615726
Like Crab and Google Gemini already allow, the new Alexa arrives to finally put an end to that method of giving more robotic commands so that the AI can understand. During the presentation, Panos Panay managed to talk to the Alexa in a natural way, as if you were asking a friend for something.
Now it will be possible to call the Alexa without the need to say “Hey Alexa”, indicated by the Amazon. If you are using a Echo Show, small blue swirls will be shown on the screen and a chat window (which resembles the ChatGPT) will appear.
A new Alexa was developed with the artificial intelligence company anthropic, fruit of the investment of 4 billion dollars made by Amazon in March of last year. Almost a year later, we are seeing the results of this partnership.
This time, you can share “almost anything” with Alexa, from emails to PDFs and photos to handwritten note cards. Mara Segal, director of Alexa, asked the AI if she can use solar power on her home based on an HOA document she shared earlier. The Alexa then replied that he could, recalling some details from that document (presumably) along the way.
Music identification 2k175h
One of the coolest features is the new music search Alexa. Instead of having to say all the information about a song, it will be possible to give just a few pieces of information so that the AI can reach the result. Panos Panay did the following test: “play that song from Lady Gaga, in duet with Bradley cooper, for a movie”. Alexa+ managed to identify Shallow in a few seconds.
An open question is whether this integration will only work with the AmazonMusic, in a world that is dominated by Spotify e Apple Music in music streaming. The Spotify was mentioned as an option for Alexa+ to play music in the press release, so let's wait for the launch of new Alexa to find out how this will happen in practice.
Video streaming control 3k4172
With Shallow playing in the room, Panos Panay made a bold move: he asked his personal assistant to put the scene in the film A Star Is Born wherein Lady Gaga e Bradley Cooper sing the duet. The scene was shown directly on the smart TV connected to the same Wi-Fi network, without the need to press any buttons.
The same doubt as music is in video streaming: it is not clear whether this action will only work with Prime Video or whether other services will this — which would work if the movie is not available on Prime Video. Let's wait for the first tests.
Control connected devices q2f38
If you have more than one Echo Dot in your home, you will also be able to choose where the sound will be emitted from. For example: if you have a smart speaker from Amazon on each side of the house, you can choose which place the sound will come from.
The same goes for controlling lights: you no longer need to say the exact name of the room to make a change. In the US, there is integration with several apps and services. Among them: GrubHub, OpenTable, Ticketmaster, Yelp, Thumbtack, Vagaro, Fodor's, TripAdvisor, Amazon, Whole Foods Market, Uber, Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Max, smart devices from companies like Philips Hue, Roborock, and Lutron; and much more.
Use by children 1q252d
The following were announced: Explore with Alexa e Stories with Alexa. They are designed to “inspire a child’s curiosity and creativity.” Additionally, when used by a child, the feature will generate complete stories from scratch through voice commands. One example given was creating “a story about a bearded dragon who plays the saxophone.”
The feature will be available to subscribers of Amazon Kids +, which in the US can be subscribed to for $5,99 for subscribers Amazon Prime and $7,99 per month for non- Prime. The service guarantees access to books, videos, games and applications and is available for children aged 3 to 12.
Alexa isn’t just answering a question or telling a story, she’s unlocking their imagination. She’s engaging with them in new ways, through natural conversations and rich visuals.
Mara Segal, director of Alexa.
Booking 3q2q7
This is one of the most complete uses of Alexa+. When searching for restaurants through the Echo Show, several options will be displayed on the screen. The most interesting thing is that the personal assistant will previous conversations and mention your children's favorite flavors or even yours. When you decide on one of the options given by the new Alexa, you can choose to have your personal assistant make a reservation, order something for delivery, or even place a direct order for takeout.
Another good use of reservations is in the app Uber: when requesting that the turbocharged assistant Amazon order a travel car, you can check the options to get the best price and, after choosing, just give the command Book It, Alexa (Alexa, make reservation).
Music creation l4f1l
Finally, the Alexa More was integrated with artificial intelligence Suno, which can create music through various text commands and was even the subject of a matter here in showmetech. Daniel Rausch, vice president of Alexa e Echo, went up on stage to ask that a song about the love he feels for his cat be created on the spot.
An audio, which could be edited in real time, was delivered in a few seconds, without any additional payment. Rausch also mentioned that the new Alexa has several partners — from several companies that are experts in the subject — as a source.
During the event, logos of companies such as Samsung, Xbox, Wall Street Journal and more and he stated that the new system is “agnostic” in relation to LLMs, always consulting these specialist agents according to the ’s current need.
Availability 5t444n
A new Alexa will begin testing in the US from March 2025, with the launch being made “in the coming months”, but a specific date and arrival in Brazil has not been disclosed. It will be possible to have free access to Alexa+ if you are a subscriber Amazon Prime or, if you are not a subscriber Prime, you will need to pay US$19,99 per month.
What did you think of new Alexa? How do you intend to use it in your daily life? Write to us at Comment!
See also other features
With information: The Verge l Tech Crunch l Engadget (1 e 2)l Amazon
Text review done by Jaime Ninece in 26 / 02 / 2025
