The Amazon Echo (aka Alexa) is Amazon’s version of the now omnipresent digital, voice-only assistant. Its a cylinder-shaped speaker tower that “listens” to your command. The digital assistant was launched in the latter part of 2014.
The prominent online retailer has gradually incorporated features to Alexa. In fact, it has been receiving favorable reviews both from experts who sell electronics and consumers. Just recently, the Alexa team introduced its most significant feature yet: Spotify support.
To date, the Amazon Echo had digital support for iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and NPR and BBC News flash news briefings. Naturally, Amazon Prime members can access their tunes saved in Amazon Music.
With Spotify support, Amazon Echo has finally entered the arena of the big leagues. Songs and playlists can now be quickly summoned just by saying the name of the artists and songs. As of the moment, Amazon Echo only works for Spotify Premium subscribers.
The Significance of Alexa’s Newest Feature
A system like Echo is special in a way that it doesn’t have direct competition, but competes with other brands. While a handful of companies offer a speaker specialized in delivering users with a VA, all smartphone users already have electronic helpers in their pockets. The features given by Siri and Google Voice services surpass what Amazon brings with Alexa, such as the ability to deliver text messages, set up reminders and start calls. However, Amazon Echo is not without its strong features.
As opposed to when a smartphone must be near you when summoning Siri or Cortana, the Amazon Echo has seven internal microphones. The tower can pinpoint the users voice and pay attention to the command word “Alexa”. This means the system is always attentive and listening. But for those who are freaked out or paranoid over this feature, a mute button exists.
Amazon’s primary VA product is the Echo. However, the company has also allowed third-party developers to work with Alexa. Brands like Triby use Amazon’s virtual assistant and incorporated several in-house capabilities. In Triby’s case, it’s the ability to magnetically stick to a fridge door and provide communications using the company’s app. Experts say that it’s likely that we’ll see more hardware makers include Alexa now that Amazon made it available to developers.
But if the Amazon Echo team continues to produce various features in ways like providing support for popular apps, it can create a better voice experience for everyone.
The Best is Yet to Come
When the Amazon Echo was first introduced, its function was unclear. It was essentially a Bluetooth speaker you could have a one-sided conversation with. Most experts called it a weird device. Mostly, the voice-only virtual assistant lured in several developers who tweak the system to come up with some quirky trivia apps and a few smart home features. But, with its support to Spotify – arguably the most popular streaming music app – the Amazon Echo has finally landed some whales.
The Amazon Echo, particularly Alexa, is now a full-fledged system, and one that Apple and Google must take seriously.
