So, it is finally there – a little more than 10 years since the Alexa voice assistant from Amazon sparked a new era of vocal assistants (and finally disappointing), he has just received a major transplant on the brain of AI.
The new Alexa Plus soon takes place in the United States, with an international availability still unknown. But what can the new Amazon vocal assistant do exactly, and is it worth the monthly subscription (or registration at Amazon Prime) to obtain early access?
We have broken down everything you need to know about Alexa more below, from its prices to new features and what all this means for Classic Alexa. Strangely, Amazon has not announced new Echo speakers to its great revelation today, but there were more than instead of Alexa so that we could erase me – so dive into Alexa’s biggest update since he landed a decade ago …
1. It is the biggest upgrade of Alexa never
Since Alexa landed in 2014, we saw the vocal assistant obtain dozens of upgrades – improvements to her listening powers to an ability to recognize individual votes. But it is not an overestimation of saying that Alexa more is by far her greatest overhaul – it is really a reinvention of the vocal assistant.
Propelled by anthropic models (the creator of Claude) and the own Nova of Amazon, Alexa Plus has the ability to remember personal information and context. In general, Amazon said that we should consider the new Alexa as a conductor for our favorite services and devices – well, who can play an average melody using our private data, at least.
As Amazon please say Panos Panay devices and services: “The new Alexa knows almost all the instruments of your life, your schedule, your smart home, your devices and the people to whom you are connected, and brings them together in what is an incredible symphony.”
We will be the judges of this when we can try it in the real world, but it will not be too long (in the United States, at least) …
2. It works on (almost) all echo peripherals
Judging by the first Demos Alexa Plus, the best experience for the AI assistant will be on Amazon’s latest smart screens. This is why early access will arrive at Echo Show 8, 10, 15 or 21 (whether you already have one or buy one now).
But fortunately it is also compatible with most echoes of the last decade, except the very first. The only devices on which Alexa Plus do not work are the dowry echo dot 1st gen, echo 1st gen, echo plus 1st gen, echo tap, echo show 1st gen, echo show 2nd ge and echo spot 1st gen.
You can also test Alexa Plus in a web browser, the Alexa application and the compatible Fire TV devices and the Fire tablets. Unfortunately, Alexa Plus is not available on the devices that are brand “integrated Alexa” (like headphones and smart watches), but Amazon said that he hoped to bring the assistant to more aircraft “in the future”.
3. Alexa Plus is expensive, unless you are on the PMI
Alexa plus will obtain an initial deployment in the United States in the “next few weeks” and will cost $ 19.99 per month – or will be free if you have a premium subscription. Considering that Prime currently costs $ 14.99 per month (or $ 139 per year) in the United States, this means that there is no reason not to obtain first order. Which is clearly Amazon’s plan.
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While Alexa Plus will apparently work on almost all Alexa devices so far, the initial deployment will be on the Echo 8, 10, 15 and 21 show compared to next month. If you buy one of these smart screens now, you will have early access to Alexa Plus. Amazon certainly knows how to trigger our pulse purchase finger.
Unfortunately, there are not yet any news on an international deployment for Alexa Plus, but we will update this page as soon as we hear something civil servant.
4. It works with ring cameras – and could upgrade your smart home
Amazon wants Alexa Plus to be the glue that allows you to use more of its devices – especially those built for your smart home.
If you have a ring bell or a security camera (plus a subscription), Alexa Plus can provide summaries of detected camera events and show you images (for example, a delivered package) on compatible echo displays.
He is also integrated into the smart video research of Ring, allowing you to ask natural questions like “Did anyone take out the trash?” Or “when will the dog go back for a walk”? Hopefully the answer will not be “last week”.
But even if you only have an echo show or an intelligent speaker, Alexa Plus promises to be a useful (and much more conversational) vocal assistant. You can move music from room to room (for example, “play music upstairs”) or create new smart house routines by voice without diving into an application.
If you have a Fire TV device, Alexa Plus will also play well with Prime Video – for example, allowing you to quickly jump to a particular scene that you have described.
5. Alexa Plus wants to manage your family life
If you are ready to share private information with Alexa Plus, such as calendars and documents, it can also act a bit like a family assistant.
The calendar functionality certainly seems useful – in a demo (below), Alexa was invited to recall the dates of football practices of the presenter’s daughter (from a previously shared document) and to add the events to her calendar.
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There is apparently no limit to the types of things you can download, although it is not yet clear which is the ceiling on the amount of downloads (or information on where it is stored). Amazon says you can share emails, textbooks, family recipes, study equipment and more.
Obviously, the more you share, the more Alexa you will get out – and it will be a personal decision for many. Some examples included asking how much oil you need for your grandmother’s favorite zucchini bread, or simply “should I bring anything to school fundraising?” Based on certain emails that you have shared.
6. It is also an upgrade for children’s subscribers and
Amazon Echo speakers have become family favorites for many, so Alexa more Amazon occasion to upgrade its Kids Plus subscription offers – the latter costs $ 5.99 / £ 4.99 per month separately, but you will get a free one -month trial with Alexa Plus Access.
Two features entitled “Stories with Alexa” and “Explore With Alexa” are designed to entertain your young people and trigger their creativity. A video showed a child chatting with Alexa and asking him questions – this was already possible about Alexa old -fashioned, but the version plus takes things with generative AI visuals and more.
Naturally, this will help you if you have an Echo show device with a screen, something that Amazon uses Alexa Plus to push us – if you buy a new Echo 8, 10, 15 or 21 show, you will have early access to its new voice assistant.
7. Alexa Plus remembers your preferences
One of the biggest upgrades of Alexa Plus – and something that could push more people to a Prime subscription – is his ability to remember information and personalize her answers.
For example, he will be able to offer personalized press briefings according to your specific interests (gadgets, of course). Its ability to understand and remember your family’s preferences and food allergies also seems particularly practical if you like to use it for recipe suggestions and purchases.
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Not everything is built around vocal interactions. If you have a Smart Show Echo screen, you can also follow subjects such as transaction alerts or a new drop of tickets for your favorite artists.
Inevitably, the more you share, the more you will unlock features – so it could be a question of finding this Sweet Spot between useful features and confidentiality.
8. He will soon connect to many more services
It is clearly only the start of Alexa’s ambitions more from Amazon – and the demos have shown how the technology giant wants it to connect to third -party services to make it your one and conversational counter.
To start, connectivity will be quite simple, like connecting to openness to make a dinner reservation or reserve an Uber for you while sending an SMS to your friend to let them know your ETA.
But in the future, Amazon wants Alexa Plus to allow you to create and modify the grocery lists on the fly with a natural conversation, to ensure that these lists have automatically published according to your food needs and integrate closely with Grubhub and Whole Foods.
In the not too distant future, Alexa Plus will also work with specialized AI agents to help you go smoothly in the background. We will see how it all works in practice, but Alexa Plus could clearly become a big actor in the world of Vocal Assistants of AI.
9. He will not yet replace Alexa Classic (again)
Not everyone wants their vocal assistant getting an AI brain transplant – and if all this sounds a little, then the previous version of Alexa will always be available on your older devices (for the moment, at least).
Amazon prefers that you have upgraded to Alexa Plus, of course. He says “we are positive that you will like everything that Alexa + has to offer”, but that “if you prefer to use the original Alexa, it will remain available on your devices”.
This is good news if you prefer the simpler features of the current version, but we would say that the clock now runs on this old -fashioned version of Alexa …
