Amazon.com, Inc. on Wednesday unveiled a series of new and updated devices, in addition to updating its voice assistant Alexawith generative artificial intelligence to attract users to the product as competition grows chatbots, like the Bard do Google.
Alexa will talk more naturally, losing its robotic tone from almost a decade ago, and answer questions such as football game start times and recipe ideas. Also being able to compose and recite poems, she showed the Amazon at the company’s annual product launch in Arlington, Virginia.
Amazon launched Alexa in 2014 but hasn’t found a consistent way to make it profitable, instead driving shoppers to the company’s website to make more purchases. Typically accessed through enabled speakers or televisions, the service provides spoken answers to users’ questions, such as local weather, and can serve as a hub to control household appliances.
The Seattle-based company has been working to liven up Alexa, especially after the ChatGPT and OpenAI burst onto the scene in November, with long-form written answers to complex questions. Chatbots Similar ones have sparked a stir among investors in generative AI startups.
Now you can have near-human conversations with Alexa, said Dave Limp, head of Amazon Hardware, at the event.
Limp, who is leaving the company before the end of the year, showed how you can ask a series of questions without repeatedly using the Alexa wake word, a new feature for at least some Alexa devices, like the updated Echo Show 8.
At the event, Amazon also introduced updated versions of children’s Fire tablets, a soundbar for televisions, and new search capabilities within the FireTV service to find free content.
Among the new devices Amazon announced is the $180 wall-mounted ‘Echo Hub’ touchscreen for controlling devices throughout the home. The company also showed off a new feature for its Alexa app that can map internet-connected devices throughout a user’s home for easier control.
Additional announcements included updates to its ‘Echo Frames’ glasses, with built-in Alexa, and updated versions of its Blink outdoor security cameras and Eero Wi-Fi extenders.
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