Amazon Just Gave Alexa Its Biggest Upgrade in a Decade
Amazon’s recent Devices and Services event showcased the next generation of Alexa, emphasizing how advanced AI will enhance its most popular products.
At the event, Amazon highlighted the future of Alexa, its virtual assistant, now branded as Alexa+. Panos Panay, SVP of Devices and Services, shared that millions of customers use Alexa daily. The company aims to compete with industry leaders like Google and OpenAI by integrating new features and capabilities.
Alexa+ will aim to “understand you, that can actually take action,” according to Panay, will integrate with tens of thousands of services from Amazon partners. Here’s a rundown of the new features and how much they will cost:
1. Multimodal, Agentic Interactions
Powered by large language models, Alexa+ can now process visual information using your device’s cameras to understand and respond to questions. For instance, Alexa can describe the crowd’s enthusiasm at an event by leveraging the Echo Show 15’s front-facing camera. The responses are descriptive and generated in a conversational tone.
The tool’s agentic abilities extend to web browsing, letting Alexa navigate Alexa.com and complete tasks on websites that partner with Amazon. For example, Alexa was asked to schedule a repairman for a broken appliance. It then found a local service and booked an appointment via Thumbtack.
In another demonstration, Alexa was utilized to build a shopping list. The feature supports shopping partners beyond Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods. A dynamic blue animation appears on the device screen as Alexa responds, showing off Amazon’s more expressive user interface.
2. Conversational Chain of Commands
Besides responding more naturally, the company showed Alexa’s ability to perform tasks across daily apps and services, like calendars and email. It can book a dinner and send invitations. Google’s Gemini has demonstrated similar agentic capabilities.
In the showcase, the virtual assistant was asked to recommend local pizzerias, using Yelp to choose the best ones. Another example showed Alexa remembering a user’s preferences. The device remembered Mary’s preference for Greek and Indian food and that she is a vegetarian.
3. Refreshed Home Screen on Echo Show
Amazon also introduced new home screen widgets on the Echo Show. These widgets display content such as recipes, recent apps, weather, shopping lists, and connected smart home devices.
The adaptive display uses screen space to show the user relevant information depending on their distance from the device. The Echo Show can display photos and personalized content when someone is further away and then quickly switch to a different layout when approached.
4. Conducting Music with Voice
For a music demo, Panay asked Alexa, “What’s the song Bradley Cooper sings… it’s like in a duet?” It responded with, “Shallow with Lady Gaga from the movie A Star Is Born.” You can also specify where music plays on multiple Alexa-enabled speakers.
For instance, you can ask Alexa to play music on the left or right speaker. Panay then requested that Alexa skip to the scene in the movie where “Shallow” is sung, and it did, on the second try.
5. Improved Ring Integration
Alexa will now support video search powered by AI. It can assess Ring camera recordings to answer questions. In a live demonstration, Panay asked the assistant if anyone had taken the dog out the day before. It sifted through video libraries to find the answer.
6. Dense Document Processing
“You can now share just about anything with Alexa,” said Mara Segal, Director of Alexa. This includes legal documents, handwritten notes, school schedules, PDFs, and more. The assistant can then process the material and give related answers.
For example, Alexa processed a school schedule to add soccer practice dates to the family calendar and recommend snacks to bring.
7. Explore and Stories with Alexa
Amazon’s commitment to kids-oriented services extends to Alexa+. This includes the Explore and Stories features. The assistant was asked to create a story about funny animals. It generated a story about “Benny the Bearded Dragon,” accompanied by AI-generated artwork.
Alexa+ Pricing and Availability
The upgraded Alexa service will cost $19.99 a month. It will be complimentary for Amazon Prime members. The feature will roll out over the next few weeks and “subsequently in waves in the coming months,” according to Amazon.
Device Compatibility
Alexa+ will be available on all Echo devices, including the Show 8, 10, 15, and 21. However, the version will not be compatible with some earlier generations of Echo devices. These include the Echo Dot 1st Gen, Echo 1st Gen, Echo Plus 1st Gen, Echo Tap, Echo Show 1st Gen, Echo Show 2nd Gen, and Echo Spot 1st Gen. Users of those devices can keep using the original Alexa.
According to the press release, “You’ll also be able to try Alexa+ on your web browser, the Alexa app, compatible Fire TVs and Fire tablets. This experience is not currently supported on Alexa Built-in devices and Amazon Astro, however we look forward to expanding Alexa+ to additional devices in the future.”
