![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.amt.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Inside-Blog-Alexa-300x300.png\")
<\/p>\nAlexa\u00c2\u00a0is a\u00c2\u00a0virtual assistant\u00c2\u00a0developed by\u00c2\u00a0Amazon, first used in the\u00c2\u00a0Amazon Echo\u00c2\u00a0and the Amazon Echo Dot\u00c2\u00a0smart speakers\u00c2\u00a0developed by\u00c2\u00a0Amazon Lab126. It is capable of voice interaction, music playback, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, playing audio-books, and providing weather, traffic, and other real-time information, such as news.\u00c2\u00a0Alexa can also control several\u00c2\u00a0smart devices\u00c2\u00a0using itself as a\u00c2\u00a0home automation\u00c2\u00a0system. Users can extend the Alexa capabilities by installing “skills” (additional functionality developed by third-party vendors, in other settings more commonly called\u00c2\u00a0apps).<\/p>\n
Most devices with Alexa allow users to activate the device using a wake-word (such as\u00c2\u00a0Echo<\/i>); other devices (such as the Amazon\u00c2\u00a0mobile app\u00c2\u00a0on\u00c2\u00a0iOS\u00c2\u00a0or\u00c2\u00a0Android) require the user to push a button to activate Alexa’s listening mode. Currently, interaction and communication with Alexa are only available in English, German and Japanese. In November 2017, Alexa became available in the Canadian market in English only.<\/p>\n
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A companion\u00c2\u00a0app\u00c2\u00a0is available from the\u00c2\u00a0Apple App Store,\u00c2\u00a0Google Play, and\u00c2\u00a0Amazon App-store. The app can be used by owners of Alexa-enabled devices to install skills, control music, manage alarms, and view shopping lists. It also allows users to review the recognized text on the app screen and to send feedback to Amazon concerning whether the recognition was good or bad. A web interface is also available to set up compatible devices (e.g., Amazon Echo, Amazon Dot, Amazon Echo Show).<\/p>\n
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Alexa offers weather reports provided by\u00c2\u00a0Accu-Weather\u00c2\u00a0and news provided by\u00c2\u00a0Tune-In\u00c2\u00a0from a variety of sources including local radio stations,\u00c2\u00a0NPR, and\u00c2\u00a0ESPN.\u00c2\u00a0Additionally, Alexa-supported devices stream music from the owner’s\u00c2\u00a0Amazon Music\u00c2\u00a0accounts and have built-in support for\u00c2\u00a0Pandora\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0Spotify\u00c2\u00a0accounts.<\/p>\n
Alexa can play music from streaming services such as\u00c2\u00a0Apple Music\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0Google Play Music\u00c2\u00a0from a phone or tablet. Alexa can manage voice-controlled alarms, timers, and shopping and to-do lists, and can access\u00c2\u00a0Wikipedia\u00c2\u00a0articles.\u00c2\u00a0Alexa devices will respond to questions about items in the user’s\u00c2\u00a0Google Calendar. As of November 2016, the Alexa App-store had over 5,000 functions (“skills”) available for users to download,\u00c2\u00a0up from 1,000 functions in June 2016.\u00c2\u00a0As of a partnership with fellow technology company,\u00c2\u00a0Microsoft, Alexa will be available via its competing virtual personal assistant,\u00c2\u00a0Cortana. This functionality was said to come later in 2017;\u00c2\u00a0although as of January 2018, is still not available. In March 2018, Amazon rolled out a new “Brief Mode,” wherein Alexa would begin responding with a beep sound rather than saying, “Okay,” to confirm receipt of a command.<\/p>\n
Home automation:<\/span><\/p>\n In the home automation space, Alexa can interact with devices from several manufacturers including\u00c2\u00a0Belkin,\u00c2\u00a0ecobee, Geeni,\u00c2\u00a0IFTTT,\u00c2\u00a0Insteon,\u00c2\u00a0LIFX,\u00c2\u00a0LightwaveRF,\u00c2\u00a0Nest\u00c2\u00a0,\u00c2\u00a0Philips Hue,\u00c2\u00a0Smart-Things,\u00c2\u00a0Wink,and Yonomi.<\/p>\n Ordering:<\/span><\/p>\n Take-out food can be ordered using Alexa. As of May 2017 food ordering using Alexa is supported by\u00c2\u00a0Domino’s Pizza,\u00c2\u00a0Grubhub,\u00c2\u00a0Pizza Hut,\u00c2\u00a0Seamless, and\u00c2\u00a0Wingstop.\u00c2\u00a0Also, users of Alexa in the UK can order meals via\u00c2\u00a0Just Eat. In early 2017,\u00c2\u00a0Starbucks\u00c2\u00a0announced a private beta for placing pick-up orders using Alexa.\u00c2\u00a0In addition, users can order meals using\u00c2\u00a0Amazon Prime Now\u00c2\u00a0via Alexa in 20 major US cities.\u00c2\u00a0With the introduction of\u00c2\u00a0Amazon Key\u00c2\u00a0in November 2017, Alexa also works together with the smart lock and the Alexa Cloud Cam included in the service to allow Amazon couriers to unlock customers’ front doors and deliver packages inside.<\/p>\n Alexa is also used in various other platforms such as Music, Sports, Messaging and Calls, Business etc.<\/p>\n The above mentioned is a brief. Watch this space for more updates on latest trends in Technology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Alexa\u00c2\u00a0is a\u00c2\u00a0virtual assistant\u00c2\u00a0developed by\u00c2\u00a0Amazon, first<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[113,112,7],"tags":[115,114,18],"class_list":["post-326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alexa","category-amazon","category-techtrends","tag-alexa","tag-amazon","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.amt.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.amt.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.amt.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.amt.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.amt.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.amt.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":330,"href":"https:\/\/blog.amt.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326\/revisions\/330"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.amt.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.amt.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.amt.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.amt.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}