Developed by Amazon, Alexa is a virtual assistant that operates through voice control. Originating from the purchase of Ivona in 2013, Alexa was officially launched alongside the Amazon Echo in 2014. Alexa’s functionalities encompass setting timers, playing music streams, and managing an array of smart devices. It can also execute voice-issued commands for a variety of tasks, such as placing food orders or transmitting messages. Amazon has broadened Alexa’s accessibility, making it available in numerous languages and in smart homes globally. Despite its widespread use, there have been issues raised regarding privacy and security, especially concerning voice recordings. Amazon has responded to these issues, providing users with control over their recordings and ensuring that devices only transmit recordings when activated. Developers have the ability to develop skills for Alexa using the Alexa Skills Kit and can incorporate Alexa into their devices with the Amazon Voice Service.
Amazon Alexa or Alexa is a virtual assistant technology largely based on a Polish speech synthesizer named Ivona, bought by Amazon in 2013. It was first used in the Amazon Echo smart speaker and the Echo Dot, Echo Studio and Amazon Tap speakers developed by Amazon Lab126. It is capable of natural language processing (NLP) for tasks such as voice interaction, music playback, creating to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, playing audiobooks, providing weather, traffic, sports, other real-time information and news. Alexa can also control several smart devices as a home automation system. Alexa capabilities may be extended by installing "skills" (additional functionality developed by third-party vendors, in other settings more commonly called apps) such as weather programs and audio features. It performs these tasks using automatic speech recognition, NLP, and other forms of weak AI.
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| Developer(s) | Amazon |
|---|---|
| Initial release | November 6, 2014 |
| Operating system | Fire OS 5.0 or later, iOS 11.0 or later Android 4.4 or later |
| Platform | Fire OS, iOS, Android, Linux, Windows, Wear OS[citation needed] |
| Available in | English, French, German, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, Arabic |
| Type | Intelligent personal assistant, cloud-based voice service |
| Website | developer |
Most devices with Alexa allow users to activate the device using a wake-word (such as Alexa or Amazon); other devices (such as the Amazon mobile app on iOS or Android and Amazon Dash Wand) require the user to click a button to activate Alexa's listening mode, although, some phones also allow a user to say a command, such as "Alexa, or Alexa go to bed" or "Alexa wake".
As of November 2018[update], more than 10,000 Amazon employees worked on Alexa and related products. In January 2019, Amazon's devices team announced that they had sold over 100 million Alexa-enabled devices.
In September 2019, Amazon launched many new devices achieving many records while competing with the world's smart home industry. The new Echo Studio became the first smart speaker with 360 sound and Dolby sound. Other new devices included an Echo dot with a clock behind the fabric, a new third-generation Amazon Echo, Echo Show 8, a plug-in Echo device, Echo Flex, Alexa built-in wireless earphones, Echo buds, Alexa built-in spectacles, Echo frames, an Alexa built-in Ring, and Echo Loop as well as the Echo Show generation.
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