Summary
- Alexa+ is Amazon's upgraded assistant with generative AI for better natural language understanding.
- New features include a desktop experience for sharing information to enhance Alexa's knowledge.
- Web interface for Alexa+ was delayed, now expected no sooner than July 31st.
Earlier this year, Amazon announced a revamped and upgraded assistant experience called "Alexa+." This "smarter, more conversation, more capable" assistant is free for Prime subscribers, but you'll need to wait a bit longer for one of its best features.
Amazon Reveals Alexa+ with Better Language Processing, Desktop Chatbot, and More
Alexa+ is a new upgraded version of Alexa supercharged by generative AI, which should be significantly better at understanding natural language, in much the same way Google recently overhauled its Assistant with Gemini AI. Amazon says it should become personalized over time as it learns your schedule and preferences, perform actions on your behalf, and provide information. Alexa is supposed to be able to do all those things already, but hey, better late than never.
One of the features that Amazon showed off alongside Alexa+ was a new desktop expirience. This is where you can share information with Alexa to build up its knowledge base. A few examples Amazon gave were sending a picture of a live music schedule to have Alexa add the details to your calendar, and uploading study materials to have Alexa build a quiz for you. Alexa+ will also be available on the desktop in a similar format as ChatGPT, where you can enter prompts.
Now, these features will also be present in the mobile apps, but there previously wasn't a great way to do any of this on the desktop. Amazon's web apps are notoriously not very good. Originally, the web interface was supposed to launch by the end of June—which we've obviously already passed. The new target is "no sooner than July 31," according to documents seen by The Washington Post.
Amazon says "around 90 percent of the features announced in February are already available" for Alexa+, but the web interface is not one of them. You can still sign up to be notified when Alexa+ is available for you, or skip the line and buy an Echo Show 8, 15, or 21 to get early access. For non-Prime subscribers, Alexa+ is $15 per month or $139 per year.
Amazon Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen, 2023)
The Echo Show 8 offers an 8-inch touch screen, easy integration with Ring cameras and accessories, and an improved 13MP camera for video calling. It's big, offers spatial audio, and works with an array of devices.
Via: AFTVnews
A Smarter Alexa Won't Solve These 9 Smart Home Problems
After more than ten years, Alexa is finally getting a much-needed upgrade. Alexa+ promises to make Alexa much smarter, thanks to the power of AI. However, even with Alexa getting smarter, there are many issues with the original that a smarter version won't fix.