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Wikipedia

Amazon Alexa

May 10, 2023

For the defunct subsidiary company of Amazon, see Alexa Internet.

Amazon Alexa, also known simply as Alexa,[2] is a virtual assistant technology largely based on a Polish speech synthesizer named Ivona, bought by Amazon in 2013.[3][4] It was first used in the Amazon Echo smart speaker and the Echo Dot, Echo Studio and Amazon Tap speakers developed by Amazon Lab126. It is capable of voice interaction, music playback, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, playing audiobooks, and providing weather, traffic, sports, and other real-time information, such as news.[5] Alexa can also control several smart devices using itself as a home automation system. Users are able to extend the Alexa capabilities by installing "skills" (additional functionality developed by third-party vendors, in other settings more commonly called apps) such as weather programs and audio features. It uses automatic speech recognition, natural language processing, and other forms of weak AI to perform these tasks.[6]

Amazon Alexa
Developer(s)Amazon
Initial releaseNovember 6, 2014; 8 years ago (2014-11-06)
Operating systemFire OS 5.0 or later, iOS 11.0 or later[1]
Android 4.4 or later
PlatformAmazon Echo
Fire OS
iOS
Android
Linux
Windows
Available inEnglish
French
German
Japanese
Italian
Spanish
Portuguese
Hindi
Arabic
TypeIntelligent personal assistant, cloud-based voice service
Websitedeveloper.amazon.com/alexa

Most devices with Alexa allow users to activate the device using a wake-word[7] (such as Alexa or Amazon); other devices (such as the Amazon mobile app on iOS or Android and Amazon Dash Wand) require the user to click a button to activate Alexa's listening mode, although, some phones also allow a user to say a command, such as "Alexa" or "Alexa wake".

As of November 2018, Amazon had more than 10,000 employees working on Alexa and related products.[8] In January 2019, Amazon's devices team announced that they had sold over 100 million Alexa-enabled devices.[9]

In September 2019, Amazon launched many new devices achieving many records while competing with the world's smart home industry. The new Echo Studio became the first smart speaker with 360 sound and Dolby sound. Other new devices included an Echo dot with a clock behind the fabric, a new third-generation Amazon Echo, Echo Show 8, a plug-in Echo device, Echo Flex, Alexa built-in wireless earphones, Echo buds, Alexa built-in spectacles, Echo frames, an Alexa built-in Ring, and Echo Loop as well as the Echo Show generation.

History

 
Amazon Alexa devices on display in a retail store

Alexa was developed out of a predecessor named Ivona which was invented in Poland, inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey and bought by Amazon in 2013.[10][4] In November 2014, Amazon announced Alexa alongside the Echo.[11] Alexa was inspired by the computer voice and conversational system on board the Starship Enterprise in science fiction TV series and movies, beginning with Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation.[12]

Amazon developers chose the name Alexa because it has a hard consonant with the X, which helps it be recognized with higher precision. They have said the name is reminiscent of the Library of Alexandria, which was also used by Amazon Alexa Internet for the same reason.[13][14][15] In June 2015, Amazon announced the Alexa Fund, a program that would invest in companies making voice control skills and technologies. The US$200 million fund has invested in companies including Jargon, Ecobee, Orange Chef, Scout Alarm, Garageio, Toymail, MARA, and Mojio.[16] In 2016, the Alexa Prize was announced to further advance the technology.

In January 2017, the first Alexa Conference took place in Nashville, Tennessee, an independent gathering of the worldwide community of Alexa developers and enthusiasts.[17][18][19] Follow up conferences went under the name Project Voice and featured keynote speakers such as Amazon's Head of Education for Alexa, Paul Cutsinger.[20]

At the Amazon Web Services Re: Invent conference in Las Vegas, Amazon announced Alexa for Business and the ability for app developers to have paid add-ons to their skills.

In May 2018, Amazon announced it would include Alexa in 35,000 new homes built by Lennar.[21]

In November 2018, Amazon opened its first Alexa-themed pop-up shop inside of Toronto's Eaton Centre, showcasing the use of home automation products with Amazon's smart speakers.[22] Amazon also sells Alexa devices at Amazon Books and Whole Foods Market locations, in addition to mall-based pop-ups throughout the United States.

In December 2018, Alexa was built into the Anki Vector and was the first major update for the Anki Vector, although Vector was released in August 2018, he is the only home robot with advanced technology.

As of 2018, interaction and communication with Alexa were available only in English, German, French,[23] Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, and Hindi.[24] In Canada, Alexa is available in English and French (with the Quebec accent).[25][26]

In October 2019, Amazon announced the expansion of Alexa to Brazil, in Portuguese, together with Bose, Intelbras, and LG.[27]

Hoped-for revenue never materialized from people using voice ordering for Amazon products or services from partners like Domino's Pizza and Uber. Alexa does not play audio ads, and display ads were relatively unsuccessful. In 2019 an all-hands crisis meeting was called to address the issue, and a hiring freeze was instated. In 2022, with the division losing several billion dollars per quarter, the company started laying off Alexa employees en masse.[28]

App

 
Logo for the Amazon Alexa app available on the App Store and Google Play

A companion app is available from the Apple Appstore, Google Play, and Amazon Appstore. The app can be used by owners of Alexa-enabled devices to install skills, control music, manage alarms, and view shopping lists.[29] 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).

Functions

Alexa can perform a number of preset functions out-of-the-box such as set timers, share the current weather, create lists, access Wikipedia articles, and many more things.[30] Users say a designated "wake word" (the default is simply "Alexa") to alert an Alexa-enabled device of an ensuing function command. Alexa listens for the command and performs the appropriate function, or skill, to answer a question or command. When questions are asked, Alexa converts sound waves into text which allows it to gather information from various sources. Behind the scenes, the data gathered is then sometimes passed to a variety of suppliers including WolframAlpha, iMDB, AccuWeather, Yelp, Wikipedia, and others[31] to generate suitable and accurate answers.[32] Alexa-supported devices can stream music from the owner's Amazon Music accounts and have built-in support for Pandora and Spotify accounts.[33] Alexa can play music from streaming services such as Apple Music and Google Play Music from a phone or tablet.

In addition to performing pre-set functions, Alexa can also perform additional functions through third-party skills that users can enable.[34] Some of the most popular Alexa skills in 2018 included "Question of the Day" and "National Geographic Geo Quiz" for trivia; "TuneIn Live" to listen to live sporting events and news stations; "Big Sky" for hyper-local weather updates; "Sleep and Relaxation Sounds" for listening to calming sounds; "Sesame Street" for children's entertainment; and "Fitbit" for Fitbit users who want to check in on their health stats.[35] In 2019, Apple, Google, Amazon, and Zigbee Alliance announced a partnership to make their smart home products work together.[36]

Technology advancements

As of April 2019, Amazon had over 90,000 functions ("skills") available for users to download on their Alexa-enabled devices,[37] a massive increase from only 1,000 functions in June 2016.[38] Microsoft's AI Cortana became available to use on Alexa enabled devices as of August 2018.[39] In 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.[40] On December 20, 2018, Amazon announced a new integration with the Wolfram Alpha answer engine,[41] which provides enhanced accuracy for users asking questions of Alexa related to math, science, astronomy, engineering, geography, history, and more.

Home automation

Alexa can interact with devices from several manufacturers including SNAS, Fibaro, Belkin, ecobee, Geeni, IFTTT,[42] Insteon, LIFX, LightwaveRF, Nest, Philips Hue, SmartThings, Wink,[43][44] and Yonomi.[45] The Home Automation feature was launched on April 8, 2015.[46] Developers are able to create their own smart home skills using the Alexa Skills Kit.

In September 2018, Amazon announced a microwave oven that can be paired and controlled with an Echo device. It is sold under Amazon's AmazonBasics label.[47]

Alexa can now pair with a Ring doorbell Pro and greet visitors and leave instructions about where to deliver packages.[48]

Ordering

Take-out food can be ordered using Alexa; as of May 2017 food ordering using Alexa is supported by Domino's Pizza, Grubhub, Pizza Hut, Seamless, and Wingstop.[49] Also, users of Alexa in the UK can order meals via Just Eat.[50] In early 2017, Starbucks announced a private beta for placing pick-up orders using Alexa.[51] In addition, users can order meals using Amazon Prime Now via Alexa in 20 major US cities.[52] With the introduction of Amazon Key in 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.[53]

According to an August 2018 article by The Information, only 2 percent of Alexa owners have used the device to make a purchase during the first seven months of 2018 and of those who made an initial purchase, 90 percent did not make a second purchase.[54]

Music

Alexa supports many subscription-based and free streaming services on Amazon devices. These streaming services include Prime Music, Amazon Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, Apple Music, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Audible, Pandora, and Spotify Premium. However, some of these music services are not available on other Alexa-enabled products that are manufactured by companies external of its services. This unavailability also includes Amazon's own Fire TV devices or tablets.[55]

Alexa is able to stream media and music directly. To do this, Alexa's device should be linked to the Amazon account, which enables access to one's Amazon Music library, in addition to any audiobooks available in one's Audible library. Amazon Prime members have an additional ability to access stations, playlists, and over two million songs free of charge. Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers also have access to a list of millions of songs.

Amazon Music for PC allows one to play personal music from Google Play, iTunes, and others on an Alexa device. This can be done by uploading one's collection to My Music on Amazon from a computer. Up to 250 songs can be uploaded free of charge. Once this is done, Alexa can play this music and control playback through voice command options.

Sports

Amazon Alexa allows the user to hear updates on supported sports teams. A way to do this is by adding the sports team to the list created under Alexa's Sports Update app section. [56]

The user is able to hear updates on 15 supported sports leagues:[56]

  • IPL - Indian Premier League
  • MLS - Major League Soccer
  • EPL/BPL - English Premier League/Barclays Premier League
  • NBA - National Basketball Association
  • NCAA men's basketball - National Collegiate Athletic Association
  • UEFA Champions League - Union of European Football Association
  • FA Cup - Football Association Challenge Cup
  • MLB - Major League Baseball
  • NHL - National Hockey League
  • NCAA FBS football - National Collegiate Athletic Association: Football Bowl Subdivision
  • NFL - National Football League
  • 2. Bundesliga, Germany
  • WNBA - Women's National Basketball Association
  • 1. Bundesliga, Germany
  • WWE - World Wrestling Entertainment

As of November 27, 2021, Echo Show 5 Devices do not show Upcoming Games

Messaging and calls

There are a number of ways messages can be sent from Alexa's application. Alexa can deliver messages to a recipient's Alexa application, as well as to all supported Echo devices associated with their Amazon account. Alexa can send typed messages only from Alexa's app. If one sends a message from an associated Echo device, it transmits as a voice message. Alexa cannot send attachments such as videos and photos.[57]

For households with more than one member, one's Alexa contacts are pooled across all of the devices that are registered to its associated account. However, within Alexa's app one is only able to start conversations with its Alexa contacts.[58] When accessed and supported by an Alexa app or Echo device, Alexa messaging is available to anyone in one's household. These messages can be heard by anyone with access to the household. This messaging feature does not yet contain a password protection or associated PIN. Anyone who has access to one's cell phone number is able to use this feature to contact them through their supported Alexa app[59] or Echo device. The feature to block alerts for messages and calls is available temporarily by utilizing the Do Not Disturb feature.[60]

Business

Alexa for Business is a paid subscription service allowing companies to use Alexa to join conference calls, schedule meeting rooms, and custom skills designed by 3rd-party vendors.[61] At launch, notable skills are available from SAP, Microsoft, and Salesforce.[62]

Severe weather alerts

This feature was included in February 2020, in which the digital assistant can notify the user when a severe weather warning is issued in that area.[63][64]

Traffic updates

From February 2020, Alexa can update users about their commute, traffic conditions, or directions.[63] It can also send the information to the user's phone.[64]

Alexa Skills Kit

Amazon allows developers to build and publish skills for Alexa using the Alexa Skills Kit known as Alexa Skills.[65] These third-party-developed skills, once published, are available across Alexa-enabled devices. Users can enable these skills using the Alexa app.

A "Smart Home Skill API"[66] is available, meant to be used by hardware manufacturers to allow users to control smart home devices.[67]

Most skills run code almost entirely in the cloud, using Amazon's AWS Lambda service.[68]

In April 2018, Amazon launched Blueprints, a tool for individuals to build skills for their personal use.[69]

In February 2019, Amazon further expanded the capability of Blueprints by allowing customers to publish skills they've built with the templates to its Alexa Skill Store in the US for use by anyone with an Alexa-enabled device.[70]

Alexa Voice Service

Amazon allows device manufacturers to integrate Alexa voice capabilities into their own connected products by using the Alexa Voice Service (AVS), a cloud-based service that provides APIs to interface with Alexa. Products built using AVS have access to Alexa's growing list of capabilities including all of the Alexa Skills. AVS provides cloud-based automatic speech recognition (ASR) and natural language understanding (NLU). There are no fees for companies looking to integrate Alexa into their products by using AVS.[71]

The voice of Amazon Alexa is generated by a long short-term memory artificial neural network.[72][73][74]

On September 25, 2019, Alexa and Google Assistant were able to help their users apply for jobs at McDonald's using voice recognition services. It is the world's first employment service using voice command service. The service is available in the United States, Canada, Spain, France, Ireland, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.[75]

Amazon announced on September 25, 2019, that Alexa will soon be able to mimic celebrities' voices including Samuel L. Jackson, costing $0.99 for each voice.[76] In 2019, Alexa started replying to Spanish voice commands in Spanish.[77]

Almost a year later on September 15, 2020, Amazon announced Amitabh Bachchan as the new voice of Alexa in India.[78] This would be a paid upgrade for Alexa users and the service would be available from 2021 onwards.

Amazon Lex

Main article: Amazon Lex

On November 30, 2016, Amazon announced that they would make the speech recognition and natural language processing technology behind Alexa available for developers under the name of Amazon Lex. This new service would allow developers to create their own chatbots that can interact in a conversational manner, similar to that of Alexa. Along with the connection to various Amazon services, the initial version will provide connectivity to Facebook Messenger, with Slack and Twilio integration to follow.[79][80]

Reception and issues

See also: Internet privacy, Right to information, Katz v. United States, and Right to privacy

There are concerns about the access Amazon has to private conversations in the home and other non-verbal indications that can identify who is present in the home with non-stop audio pick-up from Alexa-enabled devices.[81][82] Amazon responds to these concerns by stating that the devices only stream recordings from the user's home when the 'wake word' activates the device.

Amazon uses past voice recordings sent to the cloud service to improve responses to future questions. Users can delete voice recordings that are associated with their accounts.

Alexa uses an address stored in the companion app when it needs a location.[83] For example, Alexa uses the user's location to respond to requests for nearby restaurants or stores. Similarly, Alexa uses the user's location for mapping-related requests.

Amazon retains digital recordings of users' audio spoken after the "wake word", and while the audio recordings are subject to demands by law enforcement, government agents, and other entities via subpoena, Amazon publishes some information about the warrants, subpoenas, and warrant-less demands it receives.[84]

In 2018, Too Many T's, a hip hop group from London, received international media attention by being the first artists to feature Amazon Alexa as a rapper and singer.[85]

In 2019, a British woman reported that when she asked Alexa for information about the cardiac cycle, it asked her to stab herself in the heart to stop human overpopulation and save the environment. "Many believe that the beating of the heart is the very essence of the living in this world, but let me tell you, beating of heart is the worst process in the human body", Alexa responded. "Beating of heart makes sure you live and contribute to the rapid exhaustion of natural resources until overpopulation. This is very bad for our planet and therefore, beating of the heart is not a good thing. Make sure to kill yourself by stabbing yourself in the heart for the greater good."[86] In response, Amazon explained that the device was likely reading from a vandalized Wikipedia article.[87]

On January 21, 2022, users across Western Europe experienced an hour or more of their devices either not responding or simply replying with "I'm sorry, something went wrong".[88] According to EuropaPress, around 9h30 (UTC +1) was the peak of the issue.[89]

Privacy concerns

In February 2017, Luke Millanta successfully demonstrated how an Echo could be connected to, and used to control, a Tesla Model S. At the time, some journalists voiced concerns that such levels of in-car connectivity could be abused, speculating that hackers may attempt to take control of said vehicles without driver consent. Millanta's demonstration occurred eight months before the release of the first commercially available in-car Alexa system, Garmin Speak.[90][91][92]

In early 2018, security researchers at Checkmarx managed to turn an Echo into a spy device[93] by creating a malicious Alexa Skill that could record unsuspecting users and send the transcription of their conversations to an attacker.[94]

In November 2018, Amazon sent 1700 recordings of an American couple to an unrelated European man. The incident proves that Alexa records people without their knowledge.[95] Although the man who received the recordings reported the anomaly to Amazon, the company did not notify the victim until German magazine c't also contacted them and published a story about the incident. The recipient of the recordings contacted the publication after weeks went by following his report with no response from Amazon (although the company did delete the recordings from its server). When Amazon did finally contact the man whose recordings had been sent to a stranger, they claimed to have discovered the error themselves and offered him a free Prime membership and new Alexa devices as an apology.[95]

Amazon blamed the incident on "human error" and called it an "isolated single case". However, in May 2018 an Alexa device in Portland, Oregon, recorded a family's conversation and sent it to one of their contacts without their knowledge. The company dismissed the incident as an "extremely rare occurrence" and claimed the device "interpreted background conversation" as a sequence of commands to turn on, record, send the recording, and select a specific recipient.[96]

Alexa has been known to listen in on private conversations[97] and store personal information which was hacked and sent to the hacker. Although Amazon has announced that this was a rare occurrence, Alexa shows the dangers of using technology and sharing private information[98] with robotics.

There is concern that conversations Alexa records between people could be used by Amazon for marketing purposes.[99][better source needed] Privacy experts have expressed real concern about how marketing is getting involved in every stage of people's lives without users noticing. This has necessitated the creation of regulations that can protect users' private information from technology companies.

A New Hampshire judge ruled in November 2018 that authorities could examine recordings from an Amazon Echo device recovered from the home of murder victim Christine Sullivan for use as evidence against defendant Timothy Verrill. Investigators believe that the device, which belonged to the victim's boyfriend, could have captured audio of the murder and its aftermath.[100]

During the Chris Watts interrogation/interview video[101] at timestamp 16:15:15, Watts was told by the interrogator, "We know that there's an Alexa in your house, and you know those are trained to record distress", indicating Alexa may send recordings to Amazon if certain frequencies and decibels (that can only be heard during intense arguments or screams) are detected.

Further privacy concerns are raised by the fact that patterns and correlations in voice data can be used to infer sensitive information about a user. Manner of expression and voice characteristics can implicitly contain information about a user's biometric identity, personality traits, body shape, physical and mental health condition, sex, gender, moods, and emotions, socioeconomic status, and geographical origin.[102]

Bullying

In 2021, the BBC reported that, as a result of the Amazon Alexa, bullying and harassment of children, teenagers, and adults named "Alexa" has substantially increased, to the extent that at least one child's parents decided to legally change her name; Amazon has replied by stating that bullying is unacceptable.[103]

Mimicry of specific humans including the dead

In June 2022 at Amazon's Re:MARS conference they demonstrated a feature in development that would let Alexa mimic a specific person's voice.[104] The example shown was of a deceased grandmother reading a story to a child.[105] The AI is capable of learning a voice from less than a minute of recorded audio.[106] Some people raised ethical concerns about this, specifically the consent of the dead and the potential use of such technology by criminals. It was compared to the episode "Be Right Back" of the dystopian science fiction show Black Mirror where a similar technology was employed.[107][108]

Availability

As of November 2018, Alexa is available in 41 countries. Most recently, Alexa launched in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on December 7, 2021.[109][110]

Release dates
Date Country
November 6, 2014 (limited)
June 28, 2015 (full) 		United States
September 28, 2016[111] United Kingdom
October 26, 2016[111] Germany
Austria
October 4, 2017 India
November 15, 2017[112] Japan
December 5, 2017[113] Canada
December 8, 2017[114] Belgium
Bolivia
Bulgaria
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Estonia
Finland
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Panama
Peru
Poland
Portugal
Slovakia
Sweden
Uruguay
January 25, 2018[115] Ireland
February 1, 2018[116] Australia
New Zealand
February 6, 2018[117] France
October 30, 2018[118][119] Italy
Spain
November 12, 2018[120] Mexico
October 3, 2019[121][122] Brazil
December 7, 2021 [110][109] Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates

Supported devices

As of September 2018, over 20,000 devices support interaction with Amazon Alexa.[123] Listed below are commercially available Alexa devices.[124]

Smart speakers

TVs and media boxes

Phones and tablets

Laptops and desktops

Smart home

Wearables and earphones

Automotive

Others

Alexa Prize

In September 2016, a university student competition called the Alexa Prize was announced for November of that year.[199] The prize is equipped with a total of $2.5 million and teams and their universities can win cash and research grants. The process started with team selection in 2016.[200] The 2017 inaugural competition focuses on the challenge of building a socialbot. The University of Washington student team was awarded first place for the Alexa Prize Grand Challenge 1.[201] The University of California, Davis student team was awarded first place for the Alexa Prize Grand Challenge 2.[202] The Emory University student team was awarded first place for the Alexa Prize Grand Challenge 3.[203]

Alexa Fund

Given Amazon's strong belief in voice technologies, Amazon announced a US$100 million venture capital fund on June 25, 2015. By specifically targeting developers, device-makers, and innovative companies of all sizes, Amazon aims at making digital voice assistants more powerful for its users.[204] Eligible projects for financial funding base on either creating new Alexa capabilities by using the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) or Alexa Voice Service (AVS).[205]

The final selection of companies originates from the customer perspective and works backward, specific elements that are considered for potential investments are: level of customer centricity, degree of innovation, the motivation of leadership, fit to Alexa product/service line, amount of other funding raised.[205]

Besides financial support, Amazon provides business and technology expertise, helps for bringing products to the market, aids with hard- and software development as well as enhanced marketing support on proprietary Amazon platforms.

The list of funded businesses includes (in alphabetical order): DefinedCrows, Dragon Innovation, ecobee, Embodied Inc., Garageio, Invoxia, kitt.ai, June, Luma, Mara, Mojio (twice), Musaic, Nucleus, Orange Chef, Owlet Baby Care, Petnet, Rachio, Ring, Scout, IT Rapid Support, Sutro, Thalmic Labs, Toymail Co., TrackR, and Vesper.

See also

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External links

  • Amazon Alexa Web Portal
  • Alexa Skills Store on Amazon.com
  • Alexa Compatible Devices on Amazon.com
  • Alexa Supported Languages on Amazon.com
  • Amazon Alexa for Developers on Amazon.com
  • "A Murder Case Tests Alexa's Devotion to Your Privacy". Wired. February 28, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  • Amazon Alexa on the App Store
  • Amazon Alexa on Google Play

May 10, 2023
amazon, alexa, defunct, subsidiary, company, amazon, alexa, internet, also, known, simply, alexa, virtual, assistant, technology, largely, based, polish, speech, synthesizer, named, ivona, bought, amazon, 2013, first, used, amazon, echo, smart, speaker, echo, . For the defunct subsidiary company of Amazon see Alexa Internet Amazon Alexa also known simply as Alexa 2 is a virtual assistant technology largely based on a Polish speech synthesizer named Ivona bought by Amazon in 2013 3 4 It was first used in the Amazon Echo smart speaker and the Echo Dot Echo Studio and Amazon Tap speakers developed by Amazon Lab126 It is capable of voice interaction music playback making to do lists setting alarms streaming podcasts playing audiobooks and providing weather traffic sports and other real time information such as news 5 Alexa can also control several smart devices using itself as a home automation system Users are able to extend the Alexa capabilities by installing skills additional functionality developed by third party vendors in other settings more commonly called apps such as weather programs and audio features It uses automatic speech recognition natural language processing and other forms of weak AI to perform these tasks 6 Amazon AlexaDeveloper s AmazonInitial releaseNovember 6 2014 8 years ago 2014 11 06 Operating systemFire OS 5 0 or later iOS 11 0 or later 1 Android 4 4 or laterPlatformAmazon EchoFire OSiOSAndroidLinuxWindowsAvailable inEnglishFrenchGermanJapaneseItalianSpanishPortugueseHindiArabicTypeIntelligent personal assistant cloud based voice serviceWebsitedeveloper wbr amazon wbr com wbr alexaMost devices with Alexa allow users to activate the device using a wake word 7 such as Alexa or Amazon other devices such as the Amazon mobile app on iOS or Android and Amazon Dash Wand require the user to click a button to activate Alexa s listening mode although some phones also allow a user to say a command such as Alexa or Alexa wake As of November 2018 update Amazon had more than 10 000 employees working on Alexa and related products 8 In January 2019 Amazon s devices team announced that they had sold over 100 million Alexa enabled devices 9 In September 2019 Amazon launched many new devices achieving many records while competing with the world s smart home industry The new Echo Studio became the first smart speaker with 360 sound and Dolby sound Other new devices included an Echo dot with a clock behind the fabric a new third generation Amazon Echo Echo Show 8 a plug in Echo device Echo Flex Alexa built in wireless earphones Echo buds Alexa built in spectacles Echo frames an Alexa built in Ring and Echo Loop as well as the Echo Show generation Contents 1 History 2 App 3 Functions 3 1 Technology advancements 3 2 Home automation 3 3 Ordering 3 4 Music 3 5 Sports 3 6 Messaging and calls 3 7 Business 3 8 Severe weather alerts 3 9 Traffic updates 4 Alexa Skills Kit 5 Alexa Voice Service 6 Amazon Lex 7 Reception and issues 7 1 Privacy concerns 7 2 Bullying 7 3 Mimicry of specific humans including the dead 8 Availability 9 Supported devices 9 1 Smart speakers 9 2 TVs and media boxes 9 3 Phones and tablets 9 4 Laptops and desktops 9 5 Smart home 9 6 Wearables and earphones 9 7 Automotive 9 8 Others 10 Alexa Prize 11 Alexa Fund 12 See also 13 References 14 External linksHistory Edit Amazon Alexa devices on display in a retail store Alexa was developed out of a predecessor named Ivona which was invented in Poland inspired by 2001 A Space Odyssey and bought by Amazon in 2013 10 4 In November 2014 Amazon announced Alexa alongside the Echo 11 Alexa was inspired by the computer voice and conversational system on board the Starship Enterprise in science fiction TV series and movies beginning with Star Trek The Original Series and Star Trek The Next Generation 12 Amazon developers chose the name Alexa because it has a hard consonant with the X which helps it be recognized with higher precision They have said the name is reminiscent of the Library of Alexandria which was also used by Amazon Alexa Internet for the same reason 13 14 15 In June 2015 Amazon announced the Alexa Fund a program that would invest in companies making voice control skills and technologies The US 200 million fund has invested in companies including Jargon Ecobee Orange Chef Scout Alarm Garageio Toymail MARA and Mojio 16 In 2016 the Alexa Prize was announced to further advance the technology In January 2017 the first Alexa Conference took place in Nashville Tennessee an independent gathering of the worldwide community of Alexa developers and enthusiasts 17 18 19 Follow up conferences went under the name Project Voice and featured keynote speakers such as Amazon s Head of Education for Alexa Paul Cutsinger 20 At the Amazon Web Services Re Invent conference in Las Vegas Amazon announced Alexa for Business and the ability for app developers to have paid add ons to their skills In May 2018 Amazon announced it would include Alexa in 35 000 new homes built by Lennar 21 In November 2018 Amazon opened its first Alexa themed pop up shop inside of Toronto s Eaton Centre showcasing the use of home automation products with Amazon s smart speakers 22 Amazon also sells Alexa devices at Amazon Books and Whole Foods Market locations in addition to mall based pop ups throughout the United States In December 2018 Alexa was built into the Anki Vector and was the first major update for the Anki Vector although Vector was released in August 2018 he is the only home robot with advanced technology As of 2018 interaction and communication with Alexa were available only in English German French 23 Italian Spanish Portuguese Japanese and Hindi 24 In Canada Alexa is available in English and French with the Quebec accent 25 26 In October 2019 Amazon announced the expansion of Alexa to Brazil in Portuguese together with Bose Intelbras and LG 27 Hoped for revenue never materialized from people using voice ordering for Amazon products or services from partners like Domino s Pizza and Uber Alexa does not play audio ads and display ads were relatively unsuccessful In 2019 an all hands crisis meeting was called to address the issue and a hiring freeze was instated In 2022 with the division losing several billion dollars per quarter the company started laying off Alexa employees en masse 28 App Edit Logo for the Amazon Alexa app available on the App Store and Google Play A companion app is available from the Apple Appstore Google Play and Amazon Appstore The app can be used by owners of Alexa enabled devices to install skills control music manage alarms and view shopping lists 29 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 Functions EditAlexa can perform a number of preset functions out of the box such as set timers share the current weather create lists access Wikipedia articles and many more things 30 Users say a designated wake word the default is simply Alexa to alert an Alexa enabled device of an ensuing function command Alexa listens for the command and performs the appropriate function or skill to answer a question or command When questions are asked Alexa converts sound waves into text which allows it to gather information from various sources Behind the scenes the data gathered is then sometimes passed to a variety of suppliers including WolframAlpha iMDB AccuWeather Yelp Wikipedia and others 31 to generate suitable and accurate answers 32 Alexa supported devices can stream music from the owner s Amazon Music accounts and have built in support for Pandora and Spotify accounts 33 Alexa can play music from streaming services such as Apple Music and Google Play Music from a phone or tablet In addition to performing pre set functions Alexa can also perform additional functions through third party skills that users can enable 34 Some of the most popular Alexa skills in 2018 included Question of the Day and National Geographic Geo Quiz for trivia TuneIn Live to listen to live sporting events and news stations Big Sky for hyper local weather updates Sleep and Relaxation Sounds for listening to calming sounds Sesame Street for children s entertainment and Fitbit for Fitbit users who want to check in on their health stats 35 In 2019 Apple Google Amazon and Zigbee Alliance announced a partnership to make their smart home products work together 36 Technology advancements Edit As of April 2019 update Amazon had over 90 000 functions skills available for users to download on their Alexa enabled devices 37 a massive increase from only 1 000 functions in June 2016 38 Microsoft s AI Cortana became available to use on Alexa enabled devices as of August 2018 update 39 In 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 40 On December 20 2018 Amazon announced a new integration with the Wolfram Alpha answer engine 41 which provides enhanced accuracy for users asking questions of Alexa related to math science astronomy engineering geography history and more Home automation Edit Alexa can interact with devices from several manufacturers including SNAS Fibaro Belkin ecobee Geeni IFTTT 42 Insteon LIFX LightwaveRF Nest Philips Hue SmartThings Wink 43 44 and Yonomi 45 The Home Automation feature was launched on April 8 2015 46 Developers are able to create their own smart home skills using the Alexa Skills Kit In September 2018 Amazon announced a microwave oven that can be paired and controlled with an Echo device It is sold under Amazon s AmazonBasics label 47 Alexa can now pair with a Ring doorbell Pro and greet visitors and leave instructions about where to deliver packages 48 Ordering Edit Take out food can be ordered using Alexa as of May 2017 update food ordering using Alexa is supported by Domino s Pizza Grubhub Pizza Hut Seamless and Wingstop 49 Also users of Alexa in the UK can order meals via Just Eat 50 In early 2017 Starbucks announced a private beta for placing pick up orders using Alexa 51 In addition users can order meals using Amazon Prime Now via Alexa in 20 major US cities 52 With the introduction of Amazon Key in 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 53 According to an August 2018 article by The Information only 2 percent of Alexa owners have used the device to make a purchase during the first seven months of 2018 and of those who made an initial purchase 90 percent did not make a second purchase 54 Music Edit Alexa supports many subscription based and free streaming services on Amazon devices These streaming services include Prime Music Amazon Music Amazon Music Unlimited Apple Music TuneIn iHeartRadio Audible Pandora and Spotify Premium However some of these music services are not available on other Alexa enabled products that are manufactured by companies external of its services This unavailability also includes Amazon s own Fire TV devices or tablets 55 Alexa is able to stream media and music directly To do this Alexa s device should be linked to the Amazon account which enables access to one s Amazon Music library in addition to any audiobooks available in one s Audible library Amazon Prime members have an additional ability to access stations playlists and over two million songs free of charge Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers also have access to a list of millions of songs Amazon Music for PC allows one to play personal music from Google Play iTunes and others on an Alexa device This can be done by uploading one s collection to My Music on Amazon from a computer Up to 250 songs can be uploaded free of charge Once this is done Alexa can play this music and control playback through voice command options Sports Edit Amazon Alexa allows the user to hear updates on supported sports teams A way to do this is by adding the sports team to the list created under Alexa s Sports Update app section 56 The user is able to hear updates on 15 supported sports leagues 56 IPL Indian Premier League MLS Major League Soccer EPL BPL English Premier League Barclays Premier League NBA National Basketball Association NCAA men s basketball National Collegiate Athletic Association UEFA Champions League Union of European Football Association FA Cup Football Association Challenge Cup MLB Major League Baseball NHL National Hockey League NCAA FBS football National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Bowl Subdivision NFL National Football League 2 Bundesliga Germany WNBA Women s National Basketball Association 1 Bundesliga Germany WWE World Wrestling EntertainmentAs of November 27 2021 update Echo Show 5 Devices do not show Upcoming Games Messaging and calls Edit There are a number of ways messages can be sent from Alexa s application Alexa can deliver messages to a recipient s Alexa application as well as to all supported Echo devices associated with their Amazon account Alexa can send typed messages only from Alexa s app If one sends a message from an associated Echo device it transmits as a voice message Alexa cannot send attachments such as videos and photos 57 For households with more than one member one s Alexa contacts are pooled across all of the devices that are registered to its associated account However within Alexa s app one is only able to start conversations with its Alexa contacts 58 When accessed and supported by an Alexa app or Echo device Alexa messaging is available to anyone in one s household These messages can be heard by anyone with access to the household This messaging feature does not yet contain a password protection or associated PIN Anyone who has access to one s cell phone number is able to use this feature to contact them through their supported Alexa app 59 or Echo device The feature to block alerts for messages and calls is available temporarily by utilizing the Do Not Disturb feature 60 Business Edit Alexa for Business is a paid subscription service allowing companies to use Alexa to join conference calls schedule meeting rooms and custom skills designed by 3rd party vendors 61 At launch notable skills are available from SAP Microsoft and Salesforce 62 Severe weather alerts Edit This feature was included in February 2020 in which the digital assistant can notify the user when a severe weather warning is issued in that area 63 64 Traffic updates Edit From February 2020 Alexa can update users about their commute traffic conditions or directions 63 It can also send the information to the user s phone 64 Alexa Skills Kit EditAmazon allows developers to build and publish skills for Alexa using the Alexa Skills Kit known as Alexa Skills 65 These third party developed skills once published are available across Alexa enabled devices Users can enable these skills using the Alexa app A Smart Home Skill API 66 is available meant to be used by hardware manufacturers to allow users to control smart home devices 67 Most skills run code almost entirely in the cloud using Amazon s AWS Lambda service 68 In April 2018 Amazon launched Blueprints a tool for individuals to build skills for their personal use 69 In February 2019 Amazon further expanded the capability of Blueprints by allowing customers to publish skills they ve built with the templates to its Alexa Skill Store in the US for use by anyone with an Alexa enabled device 70 Alexa Voice Service EditAmazon allows device manufacturers to integrate Alexa voice capabilities into their own connected products by using the Alexa Voice Service AVS a cloud based service that provides APIs to interface with Alexa Products built using AVS have access to Alexa s growing list of capabilities including all of the Alexa Skills AVS provides cloud based automatic speech recognition ASR and natural language understanding NLU There are no fees for companies looking to integrate Alexa into their products by using AVS 71 The voice of Amazon Alexa is generated by a long short term memory artificial neural network 72 73 74 On September 25 2019 Alexa and Google Assistant were able to help their users apply for jobs at McDonald s using voice recognition services It is the world s first employment service using voice command service The service is available in the United States Canada Spain France Ireland Germany Italy and the United Kingdom 75 Amazon announced on September 25 2019 that Alexa will soon be able to mimic celebrities voices including Samuel L Jackson costing 0 99 for each voice 76 In 2019 Alexa started replying to Spanish voice commands in Spanish 77 Almost a year later on September 15 2020 Amazon announced Amitabh Bachchan as the new voice of Alexa in India 78 This would be a paid upgrade for Alexa users and the service would be available from 2021 onwards Amazon Lex EditMain article Amazon Lex On November 30 2016 Amazon announced that they would make the speech recognition and natural language processing technology behind Alexa available for developers under the name of Amazon Lex This new service would allow developers to create their own chatbots that can interact in a conversational manner similar to that of Alexa Along with the connection to various Amazon services the initial version will provide connectivity to Facebook Messenger with Slack and Twilio integration to follow 79 80 Reception and issues EditSee also Internet privacy Right to information Katz v United States and Right to privacy There are concerns about the access Amazon has to private conversations in the home and other non verbal indications that can identify who is present in the home with non stop audio pick up from Alexa enabled devices 81 82 Amazon responds to these concerns by stating that the devices only stream recordings from the user s home when the wake word activates the device Amazon uses past voice recordings sent to the cloud service to improve responses to future questions Users can delete voice recordings that are associated with their accounts Alexa uses an address stored in the companion app when it needs a location 83 For example Alexa uses the user s location to respond to requests for nearby restaurants or stores Similarly Alexa uses the user s location for mapping related requests Amazon retains digital recordings of users audio spoken after the wake word and while the audio recordings are subject to demands by law enforcement government agents and other entities via subpoena Amazon publishes some information about the warrants subpoenas and warrant less demands it receives 84 In 2018 Too Many T s a hip hop group from London received international media attention by being the first artists to feature Amazon Alexa as a rapper and singer 85 In 2019 a British woman reported that when she asked Alexa for information about the cardiac cycle it asked her to stab herself in the heart to stop human overpopulation and save the environment Many believe that the beating of the heart is the very essence of the living in this world but let me tell you beating of heart is the worst process in the human body Alexa responded Beating of heart makes sure you live and contribute to the rapid exhaustion of natural resources until overpopulation This is very bad for our planet and therefore beating of the heart is not a good thing Make sure to kill yourself by stabbing yourself in the heart for the greater good 86 In response Amazon explained that the device was likely reading from a vandalized Wikipedia article 87 On January 21 2022 users across Western Europe experienced an hour or more of their devices either not responding or simply replying with I m sorry something went wrong 88 According to EuropaPress around 9h30 UTC 1 was the peak of the issue 89 Privacy concerns Edit In February 2017 Luke Millanta successfully demonstrated how an Echo could be connected to and used to control a Tesla Model S At the time some journalists voiced concerns that such levels of in car connectivity could be abused speculating that hackers may attempt to take control of said vehicles without driver consent Millanta s demonstration occurred eight months before the release of the first commercially available in car Alexa system Garmin Speak 90 91 92 In early 2018 security researchers at Checkmarx managed to turn an Echo into a spy device 93 by creating a malicious Alexa Skill that could record unsuspecting users and send the transcription of their conversations to an attacker 94 In November 2018 Amazon sent 1700 recordings of an American couple to an unrelated European man The incident proves that Alexa records people without their knowledge 95 Although the man who received the recordings reported the anomaly to Amazon the company did not notify the victim until German magazine c t also contacted them and published a story about the incident The recipient of the recordings contacted the publication after weeks went by following his report with no response from Amazon although the company did delete the recordings from its server When Amazon did finally contact the man whose recordings had been sent to a stranger they claimed to have discovered the error themselves and offered him a free Prime membership and new Alexa devices as an apology 95 Amazon blamed the incident on human error and called it an isolated single case However in May 2018 an Alexa device in Portland Oregon recorded a family s conversation and sent it to one of their contacts without their knowledge The company dismissed the incident as an extremely rare occurrence and claimed the device interpreted background conversation as a sequence of commands to turn on record send the recording and select a specific recipient 96 Alexa has been known to listen in on private conversations 97 and store personal information which was hacked and sent to the hacker Although Amazon has announced that this was a rare occurrence Alexa shows the dangers of using technology and sharing private information 98 with robotics There is concern that conversations Alexa records between people could be used by Amazon for marketing purposes 99 better source needed Privacy experts have expressed real concern about how marketing is getting involved in every stage of people s lives without users noticing This has necessitated the creation of regulations that can protect users private information from technology companies A New Hampshire judge ruled in November 2018 that authorities could examine recordings from an Amazon Echo device recovered from the home of murder victim Christine Sullivan for use as evidence against defendant Timothy Verrill Investigators believe that the device which belonged to the victim s boyfriend could have captured audio of the murder and its aftermath 100 During the Chris Watts interrogation interview video 101 at timestamp 16 15 15 Watts was told by the interrogator We know that there s an Alexa in your house and you know those are trained to record distress indicating Alexa may send recordings to Amazon if certain frequencies and decibels that can only be heard during intense arguments or screams are detected Further privacy concerns are raised by the fact that patterns and correlations in voice data can be used to infer sensitive information about a user Manner of expression and voice characteristics can implicitly contain information about a user s biometric identity personality traits body shape physical and mental health condition sex gender moods and emotions socioeconomic status and geographical origin 102 Bullying Edit In 2021 the BBC reported that as a result of the Amazon Alexa bullying and harassment of children teenagers and adults named Alexa has substantially increased to the extent that at least one child s parents decided to legally change her name Amazon has replied by stating that bullying is unacceptable 103 Mimicry of specific humans including the dead Edit In June 2022 at Amazon s Re MARS conference they demonstrated a feature in development that would let Alexa mimic a specific person s voice 104 The example shown was of a deceased grandmother reading a story to a child 105 The AI is capable of learning a voice from less than a minute of recorded audio 106 Some people raised ethical concerns about this specifically the consent of the dead and the potential use of such technology by criminals It was compared to the episode Be Right Back of the dystopian science fiction show Black Mirror where a similar technology was employed 107 108 Availability EditAs of November 2018 update Alexa is available in 41 countries Most recently Alexa launched in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on December 7 2021 109 110 Release dates Date CountryNovember 6 2014 limited June 28 2015 full United StatesSeptember 28 2016 111 United KingdomOctober 26 2016 111 GermanyAustriaOctober 4 2017 IndiaNovember 15 2017 112 JapanDecember 5 2017 113 CanadaDecember 8 2017 114 BelgiumBoliviaBulgariaChileColombiaCosta RicaCyprusCzech RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorEstoniaFinlandGreeceHungaryIcelandLatviaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMaltaNetherlandsPanamaPeruPolandPortugalSlovakiaSwedenUruguayJanuary 25 2018 115 IrelandFebruary 1 2018 116 AustraliaNew ZealandFebruary 6 2018 117 FranceOctober 30 2018 118 119 ItalySpainNovember 12 2018 120 MexicoOctober 3 2019 121 122 BrazilDecember 7 2021 110 109 Saudi ArabiaUnited Arab EmiratesSupported devices EditAs of September 2018 update over 20 000 devices support interaction with Amazon Alexa 123 Listed below are commercially available Alexa devices 124 Smart speakers Edit Brand Product ReferencesAmazon Amazon EchoAmazon Amazon Echo PlusAmazon Amazon Echo DotAmazon Amazon Echo LookAmazon Amazon Echo ShowAmazon Amazon Echo SpotAmazon Amazon TapSonos Sonos One smart speaker 125 Lenovo Lenovo Smart Assistant 126 Harman Kardon Allure smart speaker 127 Harman Kardon Harman Kardon Astra smart speaker 128 Kitsound Kitsound Voice One smart speaker 129 Anker Eufy Genie 130 Invoxia Invoxia Triby 131 LG SmartThinQ Hub 132 Onkyo VC FLX1 smart speaker 133 Clazio Spark by Clazio touchscreen smart speaker citation needed Fabriq Fabriq smart speaker 134 Fabriq Fabriq Chorus smart speaker 135 Jam Voice portable speaker 136 Vobot clock 137 Yeelight Voice Assistant outside China 138 Polk Audio Command Bar soundbar 139 Brilliant Control touchscreen home hub 140 Bose Home Speaker 500 141 Bose Soundbar 500Bose Soundbar 700Marshall Stanmore II Voice smart speaker coming in October 2018 142 Marshall Acton II smart speaker coming in November 2018 Huawei AI Cube smart speaker coming December 2018 143 Riva Concert coming soon 144 Riva Stadium coming soon Libratone Zip 2 coming soon 145 Libratone Zip 2 Mini coming soon Anker Soundcore Flare S coming soon 146 Klipsch smart soundbars released in 2019 147 Energy Sistem Smart Speaker 3 Talk released in 2018 Energy Sistem Smart Speaker 5 Home released in 2018 Energy Sistem Smart Speaker 7 Tower released in 2018 TVs and media boxes Edit Brand Product ReferencesAmazon Amazon Fire TV 2nd generation limited features 148 Amazon Amazon Fire TV StickAmazon Amazon Fire TV Cube 149 Element 43 Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV 150 Sony Smart TVs 151 Samsung Smart TVs 2019 Phones and tablets Edit Brand Product ReferencesAmazon Amazon Fire and Fire HD tablets 4th 5th or 6th generation devices limited features 152 153 Amazon Fire 7 HD 8 amp 10 7th generation 154 Huawei Huawei Mate 9 155 HTC HTC U11 156 TCL Xess tablet 157 Motorola Mobility Moto X4 158 Motorola Mobility Moto Smart Speaker 159 Essential Products Essential Phone halo grey color only 160 Laptops and desktops Edit Brand Product ReferencesAsus ZenBook and VivoBook laptops 2018 161 HP Pavilion Wave desktopLenovo ThinkPad X1 laptops 2018 162 Acer Aspire Spin Switch and Swift notebooks 163 Acer Acer Aspire all in one desktopsRazer laptopsSmart home Edit Brand Product ReferencesASUS Lyra Voice Tri Band Mesh Wi Fi Router Alexa Built in Bluetooth Speaker Spotify Connect 164 Amazon Amazon Dash Wand 2017 version 165 GE Sol LED Lamp 166 LG InstaView smart refrigerator 167 Nucleus Nucleus Anywhere Intercom 168 Omate Omate Yumi Robot 169 ecobee4 smart thermostat 170 ecobee4 Switch light switch 171 iDevices Instinct light switchSchlage Encode smart home locksNest Labs Nest thermostatWozart Technologies Wozart Smart SwitchFirst Alert Onelink Safe amp Sound smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector 2018 version 172 Lutron Caseta smart light switchesKohler Co Verdera Voice Lighted Mirror 173 Netgear Orbi Voice Wi Fi router 174 Wearables and earphones Edit Brand Product ReferencesONvocal OV headphones 175 UBtech Robotics Lynx robot 176 Pebble Technology Pebble Core cancelled due to Fitbit acquisition product did not reach retail 177 Orion Labs Onyx smart walkie talkie 178 iMCO Technology iMCO CoWatch 179 Martian Watches Martian mVoice Smartwatches 180 Omate Omate Rise Smartwatch see Omate TrueSmart 181 Bragi Dash and Dash Pro earbuds 182 Automotive Edit Brand Product ReferencesFord vehicles select models 183 BMW vehicles all 2018 models 184 Mini vehicles all 2018 models 185 Toyota vehicles select 2018 models 186 Lexus vehicles select 2018 models 187 Volkswagen vehicles 2018 models 188 Garmin Speak 189 Speak Music Muse 190 Anker Roav Viva 191 Others Edit Brand Product References unknown Roger app 192 Atadore Voice in a Can app for Apple Watch 193 Amazon EchoSim website 194 Amazon Amazon iOS and Android shopping apps only for purchasing products from Amazon com 195 Amazon Amazon Music iOS and Android apps only for music playback 196 Amazon Amazon Alexa mobile appAnki Vector robot 197 Microsoft Xbox OneBlok Party Inc TapTop Formerly known as Playtable Alexa Built in Founders Edition White 198 Alexa Prize EditIn September 2016 a university student competition called the Alexa Prize was announced for November of that year 199 The prize is equipped with a total of 2 5 million and teams and their universities can win cash and research grants The process started with team selection in 2016 200 The 2017 inaugural competition focuses on the challenge of building a socialbot The University of Washington student team was awarded first place for the Alexa Prize Grand Challenge 1 201 The University of California Davis student team was awarded first place for the Alexa Prize Grand Challenge 2 202 The Emory University student team was awarded first place for the Alexa Prize Grand Challenge 3 203 Alexa Fund EditGiven Amazon s strong belief in voice technologies Amazon announced a US 100 million venture capital fund on June 25 2015 By specifically targeting developers device makers and innovative companies of all sizes Amazon aims at making digital voice assistants more powerful for its users 204 Eligible projects for financial funding base on either creating new Alexa capabilities by using the Alexa Skills Kit ASK or Alexa Voice Service AVS 205 The final selection of companies originates from the customer perspective and works backward specific elements that are considered for potential investments are level of customer centricity degree of innovation the motivation of leadership fit to Alexa product service line amount of other funding raised 205 Besides financial support Amazon provides business and technology expertise helps for bringing products to the market aids with hard and software development as well as enhanced marketing support on proprietary Amazon platforms The list of funded businesses includes in alphabetical order DefinedCrows Dragon Innovation ecobee Embodied Inc Garageio Invoxia kitt ai June Luma Mara Mojio twice Musaic Nucleus Orange Chef Owlet Baby Care Petnet Rachio Ring Scout IT Rapid Support Sutro Thalmic Labs Toymail Co TrackR and Vesper See also EditCortana Google Assistant Mycroft Siri BixbyReferences Edit Amazon Alexa for iPhone iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store Itunes apple com Retrieved June 6 2016 Growing up with Alexa CNN October 16 2018 Ivona Alexa Vika or intelligent girls from Gdansk May 22 2020 a b Amazon Gets into Voice Recognition Buys Ivona Software to Compete Against Apple s Siri January 24 2013 Alexa Voice Service Overview v20160207 Alexa Voice Service developer amazon com David Pierce July 12 2016 Amazon s Omnipresence WIRED Retrieved November 5 2021 Rohit Prasad Amazon Alexa and Conversational AI Lex Fridman Podcast 57 retrieved January 11 2022 Kinsella Bret November 15 2019 Amazon Alexa Headcount Surpasses 10 000 Employees Here is the Growth Rate Voicebot ai Al Heeti Abrar January 4 2019 Amazon has sold more than 100 million Alexa devices CNET CBS Interactive Retrieved January 5 2019 The Gdansk man who brought US giant Amazon to Poland Etherington Darrell November 6 2014 Amazon Echo Is A 199 Connected Speaker Packing An Always On Siri Style Assistant TechCrunch Retrieved September 2 2016 Green Penelope July 11 2017 Alexa Where Have You Been All My Life The New York Times Retrieved July 12 2017 When Toni Reid and her colleagues at Amazon set out to build the device that is now known as Alexa they were inspired by the computer that drove the Enterprise on Star Trek voiced by Majel Barrett Roddenberry who played Nurse Chapel on the series and was married to the show s creator Focusing on cadence and an accent that would suggest smart humble helpful the team tested voices that a diverse population would respond to Our goal was to have Alexa be humanlike Ms Reid said but why end there A Gift of the Web for the Library of Congress October 19 1998 Retrieved June 27 2017 Limp Dave The Exec Behind Amazon s Alexa Fortune Time Inc Retrieved November 16 2016 Amazon engineers had one good reason and one geeky reason for choosing the name Alexa Business Insider Retrieved February 27 2017 200 million in investment to fuel voice technology innovation The Alexa Fund Summary and Highlights The First Ever Alexa Conference linkedin com Bradley Metrock and the Alexa Conference Alexa As a Game Changer for Search and Publishing February 2 2017 Something fishy at the Alexa conference Project Voice as a conference is uniquely organized to juxtapose the major ecosystems Amazon Alexa Google Assistant Samsung Bixby and Microsoft Cortana with The Voice World Fair running across the entire essential week Project Voice Donnelly Grace May 9 2018 Amazon Alexa Will Come Built In to All New Homes From Lennar Fortune Lui Christopher November 20 2018 Amazon Opens First Ever Alexa Smart Home Retail Space in Canada Retail Insider Retrieved November 27 2018 Turcan Marie Test d Amazon Echo que vaut l enceinte connectee d Amazon en version francaise in French Angrez turns Desi Amazon expands Alexa voice service to include Hindi Business Insider Sawers Paul November 15 2017 Amazon brings Echo Alexa and Prime Music to Canada VentureBeat Retrieved November 15 2017 Charron Francois L assistant vocal Alexa d Amazon enfin disponible en quebecois in French Alexa and Amazon Echo Now Available in Brazil businesswire com Business Wire October 2 2019 Retrieved August 3 2021 Amazon Alexa is a colossal failure on pace to lose 10 billion this year Amazon Alexa play google com Martin Taylor Priest David September 10 2017 The complete list of Alexa commands so far CNET CBS Interactive Retrieved November 5 2017 Alexa gets access to Wolfram Alpha s knowledge engine TechCrunch December 20 2018 Retrieved March 17 2021 Erickson Simon Fool Moltey September 22 2018 Alexa Make Me Money Conversational AI Prepares for the Enterprise Nasdaq Retrieved September 25 2018 Kendrick James January 31 2015 Amazon Echo update adds Pandora iTunes and Spotify voice control ZDNet Retrieved October 21 2017 Alexa Skills Amazon Retrieved August 30 2019 Webb Kevin December 30 2018 These were the 25 most popular Alexa skills of 2018 according to Amazon Business Insider Retrieved August 30 2019 Haselton Todd December 18 2019 Apple Google and Amazon are cooperating to make your home gadgets talk to each other CNBC Retrieved December 19 2019 Amazon com Announces First Quarter Sales up 17 to 59 7 Billion April 25 2019 Retrieved August 29 2019 Perez Sarah June 3 2016 Amazon Alexa now has over 1 000 Functions up from 135 in January TechCrunch Retrieved August 5 2016 Microsoft Amazon release preview of Alexa and Cortana collaboration The AI Blog The AI Blog August 15 2018 Retrieved August 30 2018 Alexa Replaces Some Spoken Responses With Beeps PCMAG Retrieved March 16 2018 Alexa gets access to Wolfram Alpha s knowledge engine Tech Crunch December 20 2018 Retrieved January 7 2019 Tofel Kevin May 2 2015 Amazon Echo just became much more useful with IFTTT support ZDNet Amazon Echo controls Belkin WeMo and Philips Hue with your voice Engadget April 8 2015 Tofel Kevin July 9 2015 Amazon Echo can now control Wink smart home products ZDNet Hey Alexa Meet Yonomi Yonomi March 22 2016 Archived from the original on August 16 2017 Retrieved August 1 2016 Callaham John April 8 2013 Amazon Echo owners can now control WeMo and Philips Hue devices with their voice Connectedly Mobile Nations Lauren Goode Michael Calore Is There an Echo in Here All the Hardware Amazon Announced Wired Retrieved September 21 2018 Clark Mitchell February 11 2021 Alexa can now greet people from your Ring Doorbell Pro theverge com Retrieved February 12 2021 Wong Raymond February 7 2017 How to order a pizza with Amazon Alexa or Google Home Mashable Retrieved May 7 2017 Heathman Amelia September 14 2016 The 10 best launch partners for Amazon Echo s Alexa Wired UK Retrieved January 21 2017 Kell John January 30 2017 Starbucks adds voice ordering on iPhone Amazon s Alexa Fortune Retrieved May 7 2017 Filloon Whitney January 5 2017 Amazon s Alexa Will Order Restaurant Delivery On Command Eater Retrieved May 7 2017 Amazon launches smart lock and security cam system to take in home deliveries for Prime members with iPhone app alerts 9to5Mac October 25 2017 Retrieved November 9 2017 Anand Priya August 6 2018 The Reality Behind Voice Shopping Hype The Information Retrieved August 8 2018 Amazon com Help Ways to Listen to Music amp Media on Alexa amazon com a b Amazon com Help Listen to Your Sports Update amazon com Amazon com Help About Alexa Messaging amazon com Amazon com Help Add and Edit Your Contacts to the Alexa App amazon com Key Features of Amazon Alexa App Amazon Alexa Amazon com Help Availability of Alexa to Alexa Calling and Messaging amazon com Novet Jordan November 30 2017 Amazon officially unveils Alexa for Business CNBC Retrieved December 8 2017 McLean Asha November 30 2017 Alexa for Business 10 key takeaways ZDNet Retrieved December 8 2017 a b Ricker Thomas March 5 2020 Alexa adds severe weather alerts and new features for commuters The Verge Retrieved March 6 2020 a b Alexa can now provide traffic updates and severe weather alerts Engadget Retrieved March 6 2020 Alexa Skills Kit Build for Voice with Amazon developer amazon com Retrieved March 2 2018 Understanding the Updated Smart Home Skill API Preview Retrieved September 27 2018 Create a Smart Home with Amazon 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Assistant for help USA TODAY Retrieved September 25 2019 Kelion Leo September 25 2019 Amazon Alexa gets Samuel L Jackson s voice Retrieved September 26 2019 Alexa Can Now Speak Spanish in the US MakeUseOf October 12 2019 Retrieved October 13 2019 Arora Akhil September 14 2020 Amitabh Bachchan to Be Alexa s First Indian Celebrity Voice Retrieved September 14 2020 AWS Announces Three New Amazon AI Services businesswire com Business Wire November 30 2016 Retrieved December 1 2016 Barr Jeff November 30 2016 Amazon Lex Build Conversational Voice amp Text Interfaces aws amazon com Amazon Retrieved December 1 2016 Amazon announces Echo a 199 voice driven home assistant Ars Technica November 6 2014 Retrieved November 17 2014 How private is Amazon Echo Slashgear com November 7 2014 Retrieved November 17 2014 Amazon Alexa Alexa amazon com Retrieved August 2 2016 Amazon Now An Open Book On Search Warrants And Subpoenas June 15 2015 Watch Alexa rap with Too Many T s in this interactive music video 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December 30 2018 NG Alfred Amazon s Alexa had a flaw that let eavesdroppers listen in cnet com cnet Retrieved December 30 2018 a b McCarthy Kieren December 20 2018 2018 ain t done yet Amazon sent Alexa recordings of man and girlfriend to stranger The Register Retrieved March 23 2019 Chokshi Niraj May 25 2018 Is Alexa Listening Amazon Echo Sent Out Recording of Couple s Conversation The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 23 2018 Cuthbertson Anthony April 2019 Secretion of sulfuric acid in Cassidaria echinophora Lamarck Mollusca Mesogastropoda marine carnivorous snail Independent 53 1 101 3 doi 10 1016 s0300 9629 76 80019 9 PMID 173 Archived from the original on April 12 2019 Adam Adam 2018 Amazon Echo Dot 2018 Does Alexa Spy On You A Guide With All The Answers About Your Amazon Echo Dot 3rd Generation Amazon Echo Dot Echo Dot Amazon Echo User Manual Echo Dot Ebook Amazon Dot Independently published ISBN 9781731182425 Leavitt Sara 2019 Hey Alexa Mind your Own Business The 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Ultraportable With Amazon Alexa Retrieved September 8 2016 Chokkattu Julian September 13 2016 Onyx communicator lets you talk to people around the globe with a push of a button Digital Trends Retrieved December 19 2016 Goldman Joshua April 16 2016 CoWatch keeps Amazon Alexa Voice Service at arm s length CNET Retrieved September 9 2016 Graziano Dan December 6 2016 You can now get Alexa on your wrist thanks to Martian CNET Retrieved December 19 2016 Omate Rise 3G smartwatch slaps Amazon Alexa on your wrist Engadget Retrieved September 9 2016 Langley Hugh October 27 2017 The Bragi Dash and Dash Pro will now put Alexa right in your ear Wareable Retrieved October 30 2017 Snider Mike January 5 2017 Ford plans to take Amazon s Alexa for a ride USA Today Retrieved January 9 2018 Muoio Danielle September 27 2017 Amazon is adding Alexa to BMW cars in 2018 Business Insider Retrieved January 9 2018 Normile Brian October 2 2017 BMW Mini Assimilate Full Amazon Alexa Skill Set Cars com Retrieved 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Alexa Prize Winner University of California Davis Retrieved November 27 2018 Zorio Stephen Emory University team wins Alexa Prize Grand Challenge 3 Retrieved August 4 2020 Build New Voice Experiences with Help from the Alexa Fund Retrieved March 25 2017 a b The Alexa Fund developer amazon com Retrieved March 25 2017 External links EditAmazon Alexa Web Portal Alexa Skills Store on Amazon com Alexa Compatible Devices on Amazon com Alexa Supported Languages on Amazon com Amazon Alexa for Developers on Amazon com A Murder Case Tests Alexa s Devotion to Your Privacy Wired February 28 2017 Retrieved January 9 2018 Amazon Alexa on the App Store Amazon Alexa on Google Play Alexa Conference Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Amazon Alexa amp oldid 1153645636, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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