Amazon is a gigantic commerce company, but another of the great services that it also offers and that many may not know about is cloud computing, this lately is becoming his real deal.
Thanks to this, other derivative services arise that are based on storage systems, Among them is the technology that we are going to be evaluating in this article..
So if you want to know a little about Amazon Alexa and how to get the most out of it to this excellent virtual assistant, stay with us until the end.
What is Amazon Alexa and what is this virtual voice assistant for?
Alexa is an intelligent electronic voice assistant, that allows its users to control several external devices or make multiple queries through voice commands. These orders are received by a small device called “Echo”, which is a speaker that perfectly implements Alexa technology.
This device tracks the user’s voice until it is activated by saying the word “AleXa”. The letter “X” forms very strong and therefore unusual consonants, which allows this speaker to immediately recognize that the user is addressing it.
This technology works by communicating directly with Amazon’s cloud servers, which guarantees us an excellent service. Some of the functions of said intelligent assistant:
- You can make purchases online at Amazon.
- Make queries on the Internet and get an immediate and narrated response.
- Make inquiries about the weather and forecast.
- Order fast food from the nearest food franchises that provide this service.
- Quickly find directions on the road while on the move.
- Communicate with your contacts through calls and messages.
- Consult the latest news on any specific topic.
- Sync your calendar to receive notifications about alarms, reminders, and events.
- Home devices can be controlled.
On which devices can we use the Alexa assistant?
As we already mentioned, this technology is capable of connecting with other devices in the house that are connected to a smart home network, which connect directly with Amazon Echo smart speakers. therefore you can turn light bulbs on and off; turn security cameras on and off, as well as activate the display on the computer, television or mobile; open and close doors; and even turn on appliances.
It generally works well with Amazonbasics line appliances:
- Microwave
- Wall Clock
- surveillance cameras
- Smart plugs.
- thermostats
Amazon has reached various agreements with multiple companies for home appliances, automobiles, televisions, smartphones, and even with Windows to reach many computers. There are also some variants of the Echo device that are compatible with this virtual assistant.
- Plus Echo: It allows you to better control your home devices.
- Spot Echo: This model is adaptable to all rooms in your home.
- Dot Echo: Allows you to enjoy smart assistant services in a more elegant design.
- echo link: It is a device that makes it easy for you to manage music anywhere in your home.
What features make Alexa a unique voice assistant?
Now we will see some of the aspects that allow Alexa to be among the best virtual assistants.
- One of the unique features of this technology is the ability to adapt to new functions with just the installation of a Skill.
- We can also add the controllability that this assistant has on the other devices with which it is synchronized.
- And one last and unique of Alexa is the ability to make purchases Internet, specifically in the gigantic Amazon store.
Alexa Skills What are they and what are the best ones that we can install?
A Skill is simply an application that can be installed on Alexa to expand the possibilities of things that can be done. This term refers to the abilities that can be added to this assistant by simply downloading and installing them.
Usually, a Skill is a package of functions that all work together towards something specific, where each one obeys the requirements of certain external companies that are the ones that create them.
For example, if you buy a new smart appliance like a fridge, it tells you what items you have in stock. When you are in the supermarket, you ask Alexa from your mobile what is left in the fridge to find out what you need.
The only way that you can receive a correct answer is if the assistant has the Skill of said appliance installed. To get hold of any of these Skills, just enter the Amazon store, from the application of said assistant and find the one that meets our needs.
Let’s see which are the best we can get for Amazon’s smart assistant:
If you browse through the 23 categories of Amazon Skills you will realize that the ones preferred by users are those of food recipes, Well, who doesn’t want to improve their culinary art from their kitchen just by making small inquiries?
Cookpad
With this Skill you can consult any recipe and receive instructions narrated from beginning to end, and with the possibility of pausing while you perform a step.
Track By Nutritionix
This Skill allows you to record everything you consume during the day for later do a calorie calculation and take care of your figure.
My Chef
This allows you to receive all the necessary instructions to make delicious dishes In your home.
Now among the highlights we have others of varied themes let’s see:
escape room
basically it is a game that makes a very good replica of the movie Escape Room, where you must follow certain clues to escape from a room.
Bamboo
This guides you at all times when it comes to do your meditation of the day, and is excellent at setting the right mood for this activity.
TP-Link Kasa
With this ability you will have in your Echo the total control over security cameras, lights and switches that are part of this network.
Time
Apart from receiving weather forecasts successful with this ability, we can also know the news of the moment.
protect my house
This ability allows Amazon’s virtual assistant to start produce realistic sounds inside your home, with the intention of appearing that there are people and thus scare away ill-intentioned people.
Clan Tales
Enjoy more than 100 entertaining stories For your spare time or to de-stress.
Comparison between Alexa vs Ok Google vs Siri, which is better and how are they different?
The companies Apple and Google have also opened up to the possibility of reaching many places with their virtual assistants, launching devices similar to the Echo. These are Google Home and Apple Homepod. But, in this case we are not going to evaluate them in this comparison. Although we must use their physical characteristics to identify strong points between one and the other.
Among the most basic differences we can find that its activation mode It’s with different words.
While in one you must pronounce “Hey Siri” in another you must say “OK Google”, and in Alexa it is enough to just say “Alexa, Amazon or Echo”
But, let’s see in the following comparative table what are the more noticeable differences in each of them.
Characteristic
siri
ok google
alexa
device access
As it is an Apple product, the equipment with which you can work is of a smaller number. In the case of Google, it does not have so many agreements, so the number of devices with which this assistant is compatible is more limited to mobile phones. Thanks to the Alexa Skills, you have a greater field of devices with which to synchronize.
Voice Recognition
The Apple device has 6 microphones for tracking, so we can say that its service is excellent in any room. The Google device comes out less favored in this comparison, since it only has 2 microphones for the recognition of our orders and questions. On the standard Echo device the minimum number of microphones is 7, thus far exceeding the attention span the customer receives.
audio quality
In the case of Siri, it is the one with the best sound component integrated into the Homepod. The quality of Google is relatively good, but at the moment lower than that of Amazon. The Amazon device has a 100mm Woofer audio system with 7 tweeters, which puts it in second place in this measurement.
satisfactory answers
The ecosystem in which Apple operates on the spot is usually smaller, because its responsiveness is limited by the many devices it can control. Since Google has the most gigantic database of all regarding this topic, Ok Google is able to answer more complex questions and commands, so it is in the best position in this evaluation. Meanwhile, Echo at this point can only respond according to the Skills it has installed, having this point a little more limited at first.
To reach a conclusion, we can also add that Echo is much cheaper than Google Home or Apple Homepod, and seeing the large number of Skills it has that exceeds 20,000, in addition to the thousands of companies that support Amazon with their devices , we decided to lean heavily on Echo and Alexa.
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