Alexa Plus, Amazon’s highly anticipated voice assistant upgrade, was just unveiled. While AI-powered assistants are nothing new, Alexa Plus promises something different—a voice assistant that genuinely feels natural to chat to. The business held a significant event in New York City on Wednesday.
What’s New With Alexa Plus?
The major upgrades? A conversational style that is more human. You may now speak with Alexa Plus more naturally, just like you would with a personal assistant, rather than giving robotic commands. No need to set specific phrases or commands to memory.
Additionally, Amazon showed a brand-new image analysis tool that enables you to take pictures with the Alexa app and receive immediate feedback. One more awesome moment? More helpful than simply asking for the weather, Alexa looked at a smart home camera to see if the family dog had been walked.
Amazon’s VP of devices, Panos Panay, summed it up best:
“Until right this moment, we have been limited by the technology. An AI chatbot on its own doesn’t get us to our vision of Alexa.”
Amazon is almost late to the AI assistant race, let’s face it. With their promises of assistants that can actually perform tasks, Apple, Google, and OpenAI have been making major advances. Here’s the catch, though:
- Amazon already has millions of Alexa devices in homes. Unlike its competitors, Alexa is already everywhere, from smart speakers to Fire TVs.
- Amazon has deep integrations with major services, including Uber Eats, Sonos, Zoom, Xbox, Plex, Grubhub, and Ticketmaster. That means real-world convenience, not just fancy AI-generated responses.
- The power of Amazon’s ecosystem. With Alexa Plus, you can shop on Amazon, control your Prime Video, or even check your Whole Foods orders—all with your voice.
The Pricing Puzzle
- This is when the exciting part begins. Alexa Plus is a premium subscription; it is not free.
- The monthly cost of Alexa Plus, if you are currently a Prime Member, is $14.99.
- monthly cost increases to $19.99 if you do not have Prime.
That price is a little weird. It is really less expensive to simply get Prime and Alexa Plus together, as Prime Membership is $14.99 per month. Who is getting less for more money?
Is Apple in Trouble?
Apple’s big AI moment came when it announced Apple Intelligence last summer, promising a smarter Siri that understands you on a deeper level. That sounded amazing—but it still hasn’t fully arrived. Features like App Intents, which would let Siri control your apps more seamlessly, are still MIA.
Amazon, meanwhile, isn’t waiting around. With Alexa Plus launching this spring, Apple has to move fast if it wants to stay in the game.
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