Even more ways for Alexa to stay in control
Alexa will now be able to wake up sleeping devices, making it easier to control devices in your home – even older TVs.
If you have smart devices, Alexa can now wake them up from a tech slumber using the new “wake-on LAN” functionality.
The issue is that when some devices enter sleep, they then close the ability to communicate with other things on your network. That means having to physically turn them on before you can start using them, which is absurd.
This new feature means more seamless home automation, and it can be added to most smart devices with relative fuss. That means older smart TVs can take advantage, and wake-on LAN is already heading to Hisense, LG and VIZIO sets.
“We have now delivered an alternative that can help power on devices, without requiring device makers to make hardware changes … Customers who have enabled the skill associated with their TV or other entertainment device will not need to take any additional steps to enable the feature,” said Brian Crum, senior product manager at Amazon.
It’s part of a raft of new features to land on Alexa over the past month, including Blueprints rolling out globally, and the launch of Music APIs. It shows that the company is building new frameworks for improved features – we just can’t wait for them to land.
