As a part of the annual Alexa conference, Amazon has recently unveiled Alexa-focused developer features. And some of the features Amazon has launched can substantially change how you interact with the smart home device.
Meet the Echo Dot – the most popular smart speaker with Alexa. Sleek, compact design delivers crisp vocals and balanced bass for full sound.
The real-world usability features of Alexa-powered products such as the Echo Dot and Echo Show lineup is already great. However, the developer features that Amazon has recently released will enhance it further.
The features upgrades a lot of the factors on these Alexa-powered smart home devices. For example, the features will improve the ability to implement multiple voice services on select devices.
They will also make the users capable of seamlessly purchasing products using the voice assistant. Besides, the upgrade will make the device setup process much more seamless and frictionless.
Now, regarding the shopping features, the virtual assistant can handle many different shopping-focused questions. That includes further questions regarding the products. Such as “how much does the product cost,” “what are the Amazon reviews saying about the product,” and “when will the product arrive.”
But the question is, why would developers work on these features? For starters, it would be possible to earn commissions on the products customers buy from Amazon through the system. And these features can surely enhance the overall user experience of the devices.
Additionally, Amazon has announced a new software developer kit. It goes by the name of Alexa Connect Kit SDK for Matter. This SDK will simplify the process of development for the device makers.
Developers will also be capable of leveraging the Frustration-Free Setup feature that Amazon talked about in the conference through the SDK.
On that note, Frustration-Free Setup for Matter will enable customers to add Matter-compliant smart home devices to the voice assistant without going through any hassles. Through this, devices will automatically connect to the same network, and the setup will begin right after they turn on.
During the conference, Amazon also announced that they are collaborating with the audio maker Skullcandy. This collab will let the owners of the upcoming Grind Series and Push Active devices use both Alexa and “Hey Skullcandy” commands.
And this partnership is laying all the work that is required for the availability of multi-assistant devices in the future.
That said, these are not the only upgrades that Amazon has announced in 2022. In the annual re:Mars conference, Amazon has unveiled a decidedly creepy feature that makes the virtual assistant capable of mimicking the voice of other people.
And a couple of months ago, the voice assistant got the ability to respond to commands and perform actions without the user needing to say the triggering command.
Slava is a man of mystery and no-one seems to know exactly where he is at any point in time. When he isn't enjoying writing about all things audio and technical he can be found researching his next project of interest. The man never rests.
This post was last updated on 2025-02-09 / Some images from Amazon Product API & some links may be affiliate links which may earn us a commission from purchases.