AMAZON

Alexa will be able to open Android and iOS apps using voice commands

Amazon is working on a new feature for its Alexa digital assistant that will allow it to open apps for Android and iOS using voice commands, which should help better position the assistant as an alternative to Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant . The new feature, called ‘Alexa for Apps’ is available as a Preview, which means that Amazon is working with selected developers to learn more about how they’d like to make use of it.
For example, Amazon imagines the user on an iPhone or an Android device asking Alexa to open Twitter and search for a specific hashtag. With that the assistant would be able to apply and insert the search term automatically for the user. The results would appear on the phone instead of being read aloud by the assistant.
Another example given by Amazon is using a voice command to open the TikTok app and start a video recording without the user having to use their hands, which is useful in case you are filming yourself.
It’s a new type of interaction that Amazon hopes to help better position Alexa as a viable competitor for digital assistants from Apple and Google, both deeply integrated into their respective operating systems and therefore have deeper access to applications and resources from system.
Amazon tried and failed to succeed with its own smartphone in 2014 using a customized version of Android. And while its tablets, the Echo family of devices and the Fire TV streaming device line continue to use more advanced versions of this personalized system, Amazon still faces the fact that it cannot directly reach consumers on mobile devices without first going through Apple and Google.
You can now use Siri to order an Uber or ask Google Assistant to play an episode of BoJack Horseman on Netflix. Application developers will now have to adapt these integrations to work with Alexa to support the Alexa for Apps feature. Another option involves reorienting the assistant's existing skills to work with the new method of running applications via voice commands. That's exactly why Amazon is launching the new feature in the form of Preview before making it available as a Beta and to the general public.
Other news announced by Amazon as part of the Alexa Live virtual event includes the Beta version of the new AI-based conversation model for Alexa that will allow users to chat more naturally with the assistant and updates to the technology used to create experiences for Alexa (or APL).

Credits: Amazon