Amazon announced Alexa+, the overhauled, feature-packed new version of Alexa powered by generative AI.
Alexa+ will be free for Prime members or $19.99 per month for non-Prime members (you'd be better off just buying a Prime subscription for $14.99, though). It's slated to start rolling out within the next few weeks, starting with Echo Show 8, 10, 15, and 21 devices. If you don't have one of those, don't worry. Alexa+ is coming to more Amazon devices down the line and will have a dedicated app, as well.
Alexa+ includes a mountain of new capabilities, but there are a handful of features that are particularly fun and useful that you won't want to miss out on.
1. Voice commands on Prime Video
Have you ever been watching a movie and wanted to jump to your favorite scene? Alexa+ can do that for you using voice commands, i.e. "Alexa, skip to the scene where Matthew McConaughey says goodbye to his daughter" in Interstellar. Commands can reference actors, characters, and quotes.
You can also use this feature to identify a movie without knowing its name, i.e. "Alexa, what's the movie where Matt Damon is stranded on Mars?" This is a unique feature, but it could come in handy if it works as advertised, and it's pretty cool that Alexa is capable of identifying actors and their lines across Prime Video's huge library of content.
2. Smart home announcements and reminders
Parents will rejoice at the announcements and reminders features on Alexa+. You can ask Alexa+ to set an automated reminder referencing members of your household. For instance, a parent could say, "Alexa, when you see Timmy, remind him to take the trash out." Alexa can visually recognize "Timmy" and trigger the reminder the next time it sees him.
Similarly, you can use Alexa+ to add a little spice to household announcements. Personalized Alexa announcements will add humor to announcements to other Echo devices throughout the house, such as announcing dinner is ready. This might not be ideal for announcing Timmy has once again forgotten to take out the trash, but it could be fun to joke around with now and then.
3. Create personalized smart home routines through voice commands
Routines are already a feature on Alexa, but Alexa+ takes things up a notch by allowing you to make complex, personalized routines using only voice commands. Previously, you could only make routines through the Alexa app. Now, you can simply say "Alexa, slowly dim the bedroom lights at 10 pm every night" and create a routine.
You can also make routines specific to different members of your household and make routines that activate by recognizing each person's voice. So, for instance, different routines could activate when each of your kids announces they are home from school.
4. Get summaries of activity around your smart home
The activity summary feature in Alexa+ is a boon for anyone who uses smart home security cameras or has a busy household. When connected to compatible smart home camera, Alexa+ can remember detected camera events, summarize them for you, and show you the related camera footage.
For instance, when you get home from work, you can ask Alexa to summarize the activity at the front door from the day and Alexa+ can show you your other family members leaving and returning home, packages and mail being delivered, and your dog walker stopping by.
5. Get conversational music, book, and movie recommendations
Prime Video and Prime Music can already suggest content for you based on your viewing and listening habits, but with Alexa+ you can find new recommendations just through chatting with Alexa. For instance, you could ask Alexa what style of music a favorite song is and ask about other artists with a similar style.
Similarly, you can ask Alexa about music you hear in shows and movies, saving you from pesky Google searches for the lyrics. You can even tell Alexa what kind of movie or book you're in the mood for and it will give you recommendations for what to watch or read. All this is possible just through natural language conversations with Alexa, which is pretty cool.
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