Amazon is launching early access to the new, souped-up Alexa+ in the UK today.
Alexa+ is a new agentic AI that you can talk to conversationally, using UK English and local words and phrases. Like the Alexa you may already know, it can answer questions, start timers, tell you the weather forecast and interact with your smart home devices.
But now it understands context and will remember your taste and preferences, so it’ll know whether to commiserate or celebrate when it delivers the football scores.
And it can do so much more. Alexa+ can suggest a restaurant, book a table and email your dining companion to let them know that lunch is on.
That sort of functionality will be familiar to anyone who uses Google Gemini, but where Alexa may have the edge is in its integration with other devices and services. Perhaps taking aim at the competition, Daniel Rausch, Vice President, Alexa and Echo, says: “Life doesn’t happen in a chat window.”
Amazon has partnerships with over a thousand local radio stations, integration with publications such as The Guardian, and services including Just Eat, Tripadvisor, Treatwell, Fresha and Spotify.
Gemini will be able to do things like call you a taxi or order a takeaway meal, but it’s not available yet and may well launch in the US first.
Amazon
Ambient AI
Use Alexa+ on your TV and not only can it answer questions about an actor you spotted in a show, but it can find other films they star in, discuss them and play the one you choose.
If there’s a song you want to listen to, it can find and play it, even if you only have limited information like “Raye’s new song” or remembering a scene from a film in which it was used.
If you have a Ring doorbell or cameras, you can ask it if your dog went outside today, if the bins were collected or if a package was delivered and it’ll know what you mean and be able to find you the answer.
Amazon is calling it ‘ambient AI’ – in that it’s wherever you need it to be. You’ll be able to use it on your phone, your Echo speaker, your Fire TV, in your car – and there’s a browser interface that’s coming soon.
But will it be as good as all this suggests? Amazon has worked on Alexa’s understanding of local dialects in the UK and Ireland, acknowledging that the agent’s prior error rate for mishearing or misunderstanding varied hugely depending on region.
Plus, while the version of Alexa+ that was demonstrated to journalists erred on the side of over-enthusiasm (like many AI chatbots, it can be overly positive and complimentary), later rollouts will allow you to tone down its personality.
Amazon
How to get access
If you buy a new, eligible device, including the Echo Show 8, Echo Show 11, Echo Dot Max, and Echo Studio, you’ll be able to start using it right away. If you already own one of the devices, you can sign up at Amazon.
Once the trial period is up, Alexa+ will cost £19.99, unless you have Prime, in which case it’ll be free as part of the service.
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