alexaskills
Latest
Amazon will let companies create Alexa apps for their employees
Amazon is now letting companies create voice skills for use in the office with the launch of Alexa for Business. Members can use one of dozens of blueprints to create their own voice-activated commands on Alexa without having to write code. The voice apps will only be accessible to employees of their organization and can't be used on any devices outside the company.
The NFL wants Alexa to be your playoff watching companion
Just in time for the start of the playoffs, the NFL has released a new skill for Amazon Alexa devices. "A Rookie's Guide to the NFL" will guide fans and folks who are new to the game through the 2019 postseason, with information about teams, rules, positions, players, equipment, formations and more. The skill is the NFL's first venture into apps with voice-enabled features and is available through the Alexa Skills Store starting today.
Alexa skills can now collaborate with each other
Amazon is working on a way to connect various Alexa skills so that the assistant can perform multiple related tasks without the user having to repeat themselves. The company is calling the feature skill connections, and Amazon is previewing it with developers now. Here's how Amazon says skill connections could work. Say you use Alexa to buy some concert tickets at the last minute. With skill connections, the skill you used to buy the tickets could then offer to book you a taxi ride to the event, and it could just past the location information off to the taxi-booking skill for you rather than you having to look up the address, invoke the taxi skill and repeat the address yourself.
Amazon makes it easy to share the Alexa skills you create
In April, Amazon introduced Alexa Skill Blueprints, a way for anyone to customize certain Alexa skills without having to code. Now, the company has made it easier to share those skills with others. The growing list of templates include blueprints for trivia, dad jokes, flashcards and info for your babysitter or pet sitter. Just fill in the templates with the information you want to include and the new skill will be available on every Alexa-enabled device on your account.
Amazon lets every Alexa developer offer in-skill purchases
Now that it's easier to ask Amazon's Alexa follow-up questions, it's only natural that its shopping options are getting a boost. Soon you'll be able to ask Alexa to buy even more things, as Amazon opened up in-skill purchasing to all developers today. While some microtransaction applications are obvious -- buying items in games, for example -- others could be upgrading from a free to a paid tier or, heck, simply browsing goods.
Alexa can help improve your ‘Call of Duty: WWII’ K/D ratio
Amazon has been adding some pretty mainstream entertainment skills, like recapping NBA and NHL scores. But now you can ask the voice assistant how you did in your last Call of Duty: WWII match, too. The new skill, available in beta, will use AI and machine learning to give personalized tips to improve your play in, of course, a soldier-sounding voice.
'Destiny 2' gets a Ghost Alexa skill and replica speaker
Whether you're a Destiny 2 newbie sampling its free trial or a hardened vet griping about player progress, one thing we can all agree on is the general awesomeness of the game's Ghost AI. The floating intelligence is a tipster, guide, and mechanic all rolled in to one. Activision is so enamoured with the virtual assistant that it's pairing it up with Amazon's Echo speakers. Yes, a Ghost Alexa skill is now available for players that want to bark voice orders at a real-life version of the virtual assistant. With it, you'll be able to ask Alexa to ask Ghost to equip load-outs, scout levels, and join a clan.
Amazon's Alexa can create lists for virtually anything
Amazon's Alexa may boast tens of thousands of skills, but there's probably a handful you keep coming back to. If you're the adventurous type, you might use it to find baby-making tunes, brush up on Eurovision trivia, or play a tickling game. Everyone else, it seems, sticks to its most popular trick: creating lists. And, now Amazon is giving you the power to tally absolutely anything.
All 30 NBA teams will have their own Alexa skill this season
Amazon's Alexa is already helpful for broadcasting sports scores upon request. For the upcoming NBA season though, the virtual assistant will serve up more detailed information on every team in the league. All 30 teams will have their own Alexa Skills, which means you can ask for things like the date of the next home game, who your teams plays on a specific date, if they're winning, stats leaders, standings and the latest team news.
ASU students live with Echo Dots while learning voice-control tech
Engineering students at Arizona State University can opt into an interesting new program meant to give students access to voice-controlled technology while they learn about it in the classroom. Students living in the campus' new engineering residence hall, Tooker House, can get a free Amazon Echo Dot and take courses aimed at developing the technology. "Our focus is putting this technology into the hands of our students in a way that will build an ecosystem that supports voice technologies throughout the ASU campus," said ASU's Octavio Heredia in a statement.
The best commands for Amazon Echo and Alexa
Researched and written by Libby Plummer Powered by Alexa, the Amazon Echo and smaller Echo Dot speakers can carry out scores of tasks from setting alarms and giving weather reports to checking sports scores and ordering an Uber. But there's plenty more on offer, including a wide range of fun easter eggs. Here are some tips and tricks for Alexa that you might not know about.
