Alexa: What you need to know about Amazon’s virtual assistant
Siri and Google Assistant might be king on mobile, but Amazon’s Alexadominates the smart speaker market in the U.S. The e-commerce giant’s voice assistant launched in 2014 and has taken over the smart home market since then despite the onslaught from Google and Apple. Alexa might not come on your phone, but that doesn’t mean Amazon’s voice assistant is a slouch. Read below to learn about Alexa, its capabilities, the devices it supports, and more.
What is Amazon Alexa?
Alexa is Amazon’s virtual assistant that competes with the likes of Google Assistant and Apple Siri. Its underlyingtechnology was acquired in 2013 from Ivona, a Polish startup. Alexa was officially announced in 2014 — a couple of years ahead ofGoogle Assistant— with the first generation Amazon Echo smart speaker serving as the launch platform.
Alexa is primarily found on smart speakers, smart displays, TVs, and other smart home devices. It isn’t preinstalled on any smartphone, but you can download the companion Alexa app from the Google Play Store or App Store to access it. Since you’re downloading a third-party app, it doesn’t integrate and work with your device the same way Siri does on iPhone or Google Assistant on Android.
That doesn’t mean Alexa is not as capable as its competitors. There’s a reason why Alexa-powered devices dominate the smart speaker market in the U.S. It supports anexpansive list of smart home products, and Amazon sells the hardware for an affordable price. Additionally, developers can create third-party skills to integrate their apps and services with the voice assistant. Alexa’s success, however, may be on the decline, asAmazon reportedly laid off much of its Alexa teamin November 2022.
You need an Amazon account to set up and use Alexa on any compatible device.
Which devices offer Alexa integration?
If you think Google Assistant is available on a lot of devices, you’ll be surprised to see that Alexa is available on even more. Alexa is the highlight of the Echo-branded products from Amazon, including its Echo speaker andsmart display lineup. Additionally, it is available on Fire TV-powered televisions from Amazon and other manufacturers, Fire tablets, select Sony and Bose headphones and speakers, Fitbit trackers, Portal smart displays from Facebook, select Samsung TVs, and more. There are also plenty of third-partyAlexa-powered speakerson the market.
Apart from the devices mentioned above, Alexa is available on security cameras, door locks, Wi-Fi routers, and more. And if that’s not enough, manyautomakers offer built-in Alexa support, including Chevrolet, Jaguar, Ford, Land Rover, and Lamborghini.
Alexa supports English, Arabic, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Hindi, Japanese, and Portuguese. It also has a multilingual mode, where it’s possible to seamlessly switch between two compatible languages while interacting with the virtual assistant.
Multiple devices now come with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa built-in. However, you could’t use both of them simultaneously. You must specify your voice assistant of choice while setting up the device.
How to use Amazon Alexa
Depending on the device you use, there are multiple ways you’re able to call up Alexa. The simplest and fastest one is to say “Alexa.”
If you’re new to Amazon’s virtual assistant and smart home hardware, you’ll want to learn how toset up your Echo for multiple usersand take a few minutes totweak some privacy settings. You may want to take a second toset up an Echo Flash Briefingto keep track of the top news stories.
Once you have the basics covered, it’s time for Alexa and you to get acquainted. Although a simple “Alexa” command followed by the query of your choice will often suit your needs, we created a list ofessential Echo tips for smart speakerowners. If you use one of Amazon’s smart displays, we created anin-depth list of Amazon Echo Show tipsyou’ll want to know.
Alexa is getting better every day
If you’re still thinking about the platform you want to use to power your smart home, one of our reporters documented what it was like toswitch to Alexa after being a long-time Google Assistant user. You’ll also want to learn more about the newMatter smart home standard. It should drastically improve interoperability for smart home hardware and accessories, and Amazon is pushing a Matter update to many of its devices.
This article is sponsored by Total Wireless.
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