Back in 2014, Amazon invited a select group of Prime members to purchase a new product they had created called the "Amazon Echo." When this unusual speaker debuted, no one was quite sure what to make of it, but just a few years later, it served as the catalyst for one of the world's most popular virtual assistant platforms.
Amazon Alexa was the heart of the original Echo and continues to power all of Amazon's smart devices to this day.
Alexa is a voice-controlled virtual assistant. She can play audio, control your smart home, answer questions, and use your favorite services to keep you organized, informed, safe, connected, and entertained. As an Amazon product, she's also your personal shopping assistant.
Alexa resides in the cloud and is used via a growing number of smart speakers and other Alexa-enabled devices.
Alexa was inspired by science fiction:
According to David Limp, Amazon's senior vice president who led the initiative, Alexa's creators wanted to reinvent the conversational computer aboard the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek. It debuted in 2014 alongside the Echo smart speaker.
In addition to suitable phonetics, the name Alexa is intended to evoke the ancient Library of Alexandria in Egypt.
Alexa is like the software that powers your smartphone, but instead of apps, it uses "skills." Just like your smartphone, Alexa comes with many skills built-in, while others can be activated as needed. Amazon's collection of skills already includes more than 25.000, many from brands you use frequently. This collection is growing daily.
There are countless ways to use Alexa, but here are the most important ones:
From kitchen conversions and celebrity birthdays to sports statistics, Alexa is incredibly handy when it comes to quickly accessing facts. Just ask. She'll also give you a rundown of the day's headlines from your chosen news sources when you say, "Alexa, what's my Flash Briefing?"
Alexa can play songs, artists, albums, playlists, genres, or podcasts on request. You can choose either Amazon Music or Spotify as your default music library and select Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, or Pandora as your default radio station service.
Alexa also supports audiobooks via Kindle Unlimited and Audible, and you can also request live radio broadcasts via TuneIn, including access to premium sporting events and news broadcasts for a monthly fee.
Alexa works with thousands of connected devices – smart lights, thermostats, Wi-Fi-enabled devices, connected cameras, home security systems, robot vacuums, and much more. Connect devices like these to your Echo via the Alexa app, and you can tell Alexa to turn things on and off or control them in other device-specific ways.
Alexa is always happy to set a quick kitchen timer, which is handy when your hands are dirty. She can also set a recurring alarm if you want to use your Echo as an alarm clock. Besides a variety of classic alarm tones, you can also choose to wake up to your favorite song or radio station.
If one of your phone's contacts uses Alexa, you can ask your Echo to call or message them. When you do, your Echo devices will light up green and Alexa will announce that you're calling.
They can answer and start talking to you by saying, "Alexa, answer the call." You can also call landline and mobile numbers in the US, Canada, and Mexico. To make international calls or call 112, you'll need to buy an Echo Connect, which connects Alexa to your existing landline instead of just calling people over Wi-Fi.
It wasn't long before Amazon offered software support for external developers who wanted to create new ways to use Alexa. Now, after only a few years on the market, Alexa has tens of thousands of "skills," which are essentially just voice apps.
Each skill teaches Alexa a new trick (ordering pizza, hosting a trivia night, making fart noises – yes, it's true). To activate one, simply go to the "Skills" section of the Alexa app or ask Alexa if she can activate it herself.
To make Alexa your digital assistant, you need an Alexa-enabled device on which you can give commands. For most current users, this is a smart speaker like Amazon's own Echo devices.
You configure, personalize, and manage Alexa in the companion app, which is available in the Apple, Google Play, and Amazon app stores. It is also available as a web app at alexa.amazon.com.
Digital assistants are poised to become the next major technological phenomenon, following in the footsteps of the smartphone. Alexa was the first significant entry into the market, and its lead remains advantageous as Google (Google Assistant), Apple (Siri), Microsoft (Cortana), and Samsung (Bixby) catch up.
Given the rapid spread of digital assistants, smart speakers are now found in more than 7% of American households. Analysts expect this number to increase tenfold by 2020—just two years away. Meanwhile, Alexa's share of this market remains above 70%.
And their presence is globalizing:
In December 2017, Amazon announced a significant international expansion, launching Echo devices in 80 new countries. Following the 2017 holiday season, Amazon had sold ten million Alexa-enabled devices from the Echo family.
Despite their nascent age, digital assistants are already influencing behavioral changes. In a Dashbot survey, almost 75% of respondents said they use a voice assistant at least once a day, with almost 60% doing so more than once. Only 20% said their assistant had no impact on their behavior or daily routines.
These increasing behavioral changes present both threats and opportunities for companies across various industries. Already, 40% of millennials make purchases via voice assistants, and more than half will do so by 2020.
As Alexa's adoption accelerates, so will its technological advancement. More companies will strive to develop capabilities to enhance the Alexa experience and drive its development.
In a recent survey, more than 65% of users stated that their smart speaker has changed their behavior or daily routines with voice commands to Alexa. Nearly 75% of these users reported using it at least once a day, while 57% said they use it several times a day. According to another survey, almost 70% of all smart speaker owners are Amazon Echo users.
In other words, the transition to normality with voice assistance has already taken place; the majority of Alexa users seem to be satisfied with their purchase decision.
In previous years, buying an Amazon Echo would have cost you significantly more. Now, with several affordable models available, the barrier to entry is much lower. This makes it worthwhile for those who don't want to spend a fortune to try it out. We'll discuss pricing in detail later in this article.
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