After months of rumors and speculation, Amazon has taken the covers off of the next-gen Alexa.
Dubbed Alexa+ / Alexa Plus (an absolute SEO nightmare, thanks Amazon), the new version of Amazon’s digital assistant was revealed during a big launch event over in New York City.
Guide: What is Alexa Plus?
There have been rumors for years that Amazon may put Alexa behind some sort of paywall, and back in June last year there were reports that there was an ongoing big internal project to turn the Alexa money tap on.
The report is based on information from sources who spilled the beans on the so-called ‘Banyan’ project… AKA ‘Remarkable Alexa.’
Alexa+ seems to be the result of that project and, as you’d imagine, it has generative AI smarts at its core.
The bad news… it’s pricier than was rumored at $19.99 a month. The good news… it’s free if you’re already paying for Amazon Prime.
Amazon execs demoed the next-gen Alexa giving personalized results, recommendations and the like, based on a wide range of inputs.
Alexa Plus looks to be significantly more proactive. It boasts features such as automated tasks-management for things like grocery ordering and event invitation sending, as well as personalized memory for preferences like dietary restrictions and movie tastes.
Beyond simple commands, Alexa Plus can maintain continuous conversations without the need for additional wake words and use visual recognition for image analysis, and offer advanced assistance.
It can do things like search for the latest information on concert tickets, recommend local businesses, and even help you book dinner reservations.
It’s also designed to function as a study aid, diary manager and a whole lot more. The obvious disclaimer here is that you’ll have to give Amazon access to whatever tools, information and apps you want Alexa+’s help with.
Amazon showed a feature that lets you upload documents – think emails, recipes, manuals, letters and more – and then ask Alexa+ for specific details. You can also use information from these documents to create reminders and the like.
Alexa+ also wants to help you tackling email overload. For example, forward it those never-ending school newsletters, and it will summarize the key points, and be able to answer questions like “What days do the kids need their swimming kit?”
On the smart home front Alexa+ is designed to make everything more intuitive and seamless. You’ll be able to use your voice to create complex routines, eliminating the need for creating Alexa Routines in the app.
Music discovery and control is also getting a boost, with Alexa+ able to help you find obscure songs, and also moving playback between rooms with simple spoken requests.
If you have a Ring system, Alexa + can provide a comprehensive overview of your home security, with summarized camera events, reviews of relevant footage, and you’ll be able to tap into Ring’s Smart Video Search with conversational queries.
Alexa+ is also giving the digital assistant a visual makeover, starting with a revamped Echo Show interface.
The largest Echo Show screens will now feature an adaptive display, showcasing photos and personalized content from a distance, then transforming into a tailored Home screen upon approach.
This personalized hub will offer easy access to family calendars, music suggestions, a curated ‘For You’ panel with relevant updates, and advanced smart home controls.
There are also new Alexa Plus features purpose-built for kids: “Stories with Alexa” and “Explore with Alexa.”
Amazon tells us that Alexa+ will be accessible across your devices, from Echo devices and the mobile app to a new web browser experience, maintaining conversational context as you move between them.
Alexa+ is powered by Amazon’s Bedrock large language models (LLM) to access its advanced AI programs, including Amazon’s own ‘Nova’ models and those from Anthropic.
It’s designed to choose the best AI program for each task.
Alexa+’s knowledge comes from partnerships with news organizations like Associated Press, Reuters, Time, USA Today, and Politico, meaning it should be up to date with the latest information.
Alexa Plus will launch for “early access” next month in the US and we’re informed it will go live in waves across the latest Echo Show 8, 10, 15, and 21.
