“Alexa,” I requested the Echo show in my kitchen, “what was that music from The Hills? You know, that MTV present? Can you play it on the Echo Show within the workplace?”
The outdated Alexa wouldn’t have had a prayer of answering such a poorly worded question. (“I’m sorry, I don’t know that,” would have been the seemingly reply.) But the new Alexa+, now packing AI-enhanced smarts, dealt with it simply.
“Playing ‘Unwritten’ by Natasha Bedingfield,” Alexa mentioned after a beat of thought—and sure, proper reply! Let the MTV nostalgia journey start.
Well, nearly—as a substitute of “Unwritten,” Alexa teed up Natasha Bedingfield’s “Strip Me,” and it did so on Deezer quite than Apple Music, which is my default music streamer on Alexa.
“Uh, wrong one,” I mentioned. “Can you play that tune from The Hills on Apple Music?” Another beat, and this time, success: positive sufficient, there was the acquainted theme from a present I wasted too many hours watching.
No, the brand new Alexa isn’t excellent, but it surely’s nonetheless fairly dang good, and a good bit higher than I used to be anticipating. In truth, Alexa+’s Natasha Bedingfield mishap was one of many few I skilled throughout my brief time with the brand new, AI-enhanced voice assistant.
Still in an invite-only “early access” preview and free for everybody (it’ll ultimately be free for Prime members and $19.99 a month for everybody else), Alexa+ seems to be rather more succesful and clever than earlier than, controlling my good residence units, queuing up music, fielding my climate questions, and usually doing my bidding with solely a handful of flubbed responses.
I acquired my Alexa+ invite barely a day in the past, and the revamped assistant continues to be basically in beta, so what follows isn’t a proper evaluation; as a substitute, it’s a smattering of hands-on impressions gleaned from a number of hours of testing.
Many of Alexa+’s promised options and integrations nonetheless aren’t prepared for prime time; for instance, you’ll be able to’t order groceries together with your voice or takeout from Grubhub, nor are you able to schedule spa visits or soar to a favourite scene on a Fire TV. There are additionally a number of third-party expertise that don’t work with Alexa+ but.
That mentioned, you can name an Uber with Alexa+ (I haven’t tried that but), in addition to make dinner reservations that don’t require a bank card (Amazon is engaged on that bank card subject, I’m instructed). Alexa+ can also be surprisingly adept at taking cost of good residence units, regardless of her still-shaky assist for expertise.
“Alexa,” I mentioned, “the lounge carpet downstairs is dirty. Can you clean it?” Boom! Here comes my Roomba, dutifully vacuuming up the designated rug. “Actually, you can send it back to its charging station,” I added, and the Roomba stopped and made a beeline again to its charging dock.
How about good lights? “Alexa, can you make it darker in here,” I requested, directing my query to the Echo Dot in my workplace. Bum-bum! With a easy pair of tones, Alexa+ dimmed the lights in my workplace, with out my having to specify the room. “Alexa, turn the filament bulb in the office on,” I added, and Alexa+ did, all with out reprimanding me for not calling it the “Hue filament bulb,” because it’s listed within the Alexa app. Finally, “Alexa, make it brighter in here” put the workplace lights again on their initially brightness setting. Nice.
The new Alexa isn’t excellent, but it surely’s nonetheless fairly dang good, and a good bit higher than I used to be anticipating.
Ben Patterson/Foundry
Next, I attempted some random questions. “Can you give me a rundown of key plays in the last Yankees game,” I requested. The reply? “The Cubs won 4-1, with key plays including Shota Imanaga’s seven-inning performance striking out Aaron Judge twice. Dansby Swanson hit a two-run homer in the 6th, and Seiya Suzuki scored from second on an infield hit in the 7th.” How did the Yankees do total in that sport? “The Yankees struggled overall in their last game against the Cubs. They managed only two hits and three baserunners, resulting in a 4-1 loss.” You can say that once more.
While Alexa+ could have flubbed its try and play the right Natasha Benningfield music earlier, I used to be impressed that it fished out the fitting monitor title from my mangled question, and I used to be additionally in a position to transfer tunes from one Echo speaker to a different with ease: “Alexa, moves the kitchen tunes to the office,” or “Add the kitchen music to the bedroom.” No issues there.
What in regards to the climate—or higher but, what ought to I be carrying on this sweltering day in Brooklyn? “It’s going to be warm and humid today in Brooklyn, with temperatures in the mid- to upper-80s. For comfort, wear light, breathable clothing like a t-shirt and shorts. Don’t forget sunscreen and a hat to protect from the sun,” Alexa correctly instructed me.
Things received a little bit rockier once I requested Alexa to plan an evening out for my spouse and me. Asked what concert events are taking place in New York tonight (Alexa+ has a Ticketmaster integration), Alexa mentioned it couldn’t discover something. I requested once more (“Are you sure there’s not anything at all,”) and Alexa did discover a Gin Blossoms live performance in close by Huntington, NY—a little bit of a hike from Brooklyn, however OK.
How about dinner reservations earlier than the live performance? Alexa recommended Peter Lugar’s at 5:30, adopted by an Uber experience to the present, however I identified that the hour-plus drive to Huntington for the 7:30 pm curtain wouldn’t depart us a lot time to eat.
“You’re right, that dinner window is tighter than a pair of hipster jeans,” Alexa joked. (Don’t give up your day job, Alexa.) “Let’s adjust the plan. How about dinner at 5 PM, then Uber to Huntington by 6:15 PM? That gives you 45 minutes to eat and still arrive by 7 PM for the 7:30 PM concert.” Still a fairly tight window, however high quality.
I didn’t really e book something throughout my brief Alexa+ take a look at, however I definitely may have, given Alexa+’s integrations with Open Table, Ticketmaster, and Uber. Indeed, that’s one of many large guarantees Amazon has made about Alexa+: that it’s going to–ultimately–be capable to assist plan your evenings or journeys, in addition to e book them, all by way of voice instructions.
I wrapped up the day’s testing with one thing within the kitchen. “Alexa, I need a quick recipe for vinaigrette dressing. Can you whip one up for me? Give me the steps one at a time—oh, and I don’t have red wine vinegar, but I do have mustard, olive oil, and balsamic.” And simply as I requested, Alexa doled out the directions, one step at a time: “In a small bowl, add 1/2 cup of olive oil and 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar….”
I ought to word that I carried out most of my Alexa+ testing on an Echo Show 8 show, but it surely additionally labored on a fifth-generation Echo Dot, the second-generation Echo Show 5, an Echo Show with Clock, and even my Echo Frames, that means I may chat with Alexa+ whereas cruising round the home and even out on the planet.
So, total? What I’ve seen and heard to this point, I’ve preferred—a lot so, that I’d really start using my Echo devices regularly again.
But will Alexa+ ship on Amazon’s lofty guarantees of an AI agent who can act in your behalf? And will Alexa+ really be value paying for? That all stays to be seen.
This story is a part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart speakers.