What is Amazon Alexa? (All You Need to Know)

Would you like to make your life more interesting by discovering new possibilities? Then you must look for Voice Artificial Intelligence that gives you more control over your gadgets. Would you like to know more about Amazon Alexa and what it can do? Read on.

Do you know that Amazon Alexa allows you to control your smart devices hands-free? All you need are simple voice commands.

Table Of Contents

What is Amazon Alexa?

Launched in 2014, Alexa is now a common feature in many homes and is compatible with Alexa-enabled smart home devices from Amazon and other manufacturers. Based on a Polish voice synthesizer called Ivona, Amazon's Alexa is a virtual voice assistant. Its primary function is to provide convenience and entertainment through voice-activated interactions with the world around you. Acting like a search engine, Alexa can answer any question you pose.

However, Amazon Alexa lives in the cloud and can only assist you via a compatible device when connected to the internet. Alexa was designed to mimic real conversations, but actually, it uses Intuitive voice to perform its tasks. If you want to use Amazon Alexa, let’s find out how.

How to Use Amazon Alexa?

Do you know that Amazon Alexa is quite common that smart device manufacturers have incorporated it into their gadgets? Then I bet you must learn how to use it. First, you must be connected to the internet and have an Alexa-enabled device, such as Amazon Echo speakers and other third-party devices with Alexa built-in.

The best part is that at the moment, most Alexa-enabled gadgets can be activated simply by saying the wake word, "Alexa," which is the name of Amazon's voice assistant. If you want Alexa to start listening to you, you have to manually activate her listening mode on other platforms like the Amazon iOS and Android apps.

How Does Amazon Alexa Work?

Alexa is programmed to listen to a command and perform the function exactly as ordered. When the user gives a command, Alexa interprets voice commands into text, allowing it to learn from several sources and respond appropriately. What duties Alexa can perform is a question many people enquire; here is what we found out.

What Can Alexa Do?

Through a single voice command, Alexa can power up your phone and perform other tasks for your hands-free. Here is a list of Alexa capabilities:

Play music.
Play podcasts.
Stream live radio.
Play audiobooks.
Control your smart home.
Answer questions.
Do math.
Tell jokes.
Find recipes.
Offer sports updates.
Check the weather.
Shop on Amazon.
Administer games.
Set timers and alarms.
Find local business information.
Controlling traffic lights.

Are There Amazon Alexa Mobile Apps?

The Alexa app is available for both Apple and Android smartphones. This app can be used by people who have installed and activated it on their devices to perform functions like installing skills, controlling music, managing alarms, and viewing Amazon shopping lists. The app also lets users leave reviews on how well or badly it functions. There is also a web interface that is available for owners who have compatible devices like:

Amazon Echo Show.
Amazon Dot.
Amazon Echo.

Which Devices Support Amazon Alexa?

As for 2022, over 100 million devices support and work with Amazon Alexa. The number is growing daily, and we can’t list all of them below. Here below there are categories of items that support Amazon Alexa:

Automotive.
Smart speakers.
Laptops and desktops.
Wearables and earphones.
Phones and Tablets.
TVs and Media boxes.
Smart home devices.

Where Is Alexa Available?

As of 2022, Alexa is available in 41 countries the latest countries where Alexa was launched are Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE). Surely, Amazon is working harder to ensure that it launches Amazon Alexa to even more countries worldwide. Here is a list of countries where you can access Amazon Alexa:

United Kingdom.
United States.
Germany
Bolivia
Bulgaria
Japan.
Austria.
India Canada
Belgium
Chile
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Colombia
Costa Rica
Ecuador
Latvia
Liechtenstein
El Salvador
Estonia
Iceland
Finland
Greece
Hungary.
Portugal
Lithuania
Poland
Slovakia
Sweden
Malta
Netherlands
New Zealand
Panama
Peru
Uruguay.
Ireland.
Luxembourg
Brazil.
France.
Australia
Italy
Mexico.
Spain.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Why Did Amazon Create the Alexa App?

Amazon is a giant online retailer with millions of products listed. It can take a lot of work for customers to find the exact item they require. Therefore, Amazon found it fit to spend over US$100 million to fund the Amazon Alexa project on 25 June 2015. Every year Amazon has been developing Alexa and making it more potent for its users.

Amazon also provides business and technology support that helps bring products to the market. It also aids with software and challenging designing and offers marketing support to all Amazon businesses. Amazon Alexa was built to help customers and make their work easier. With Alexa, it’s easier for Amazon customers to search for products on Amazon.com easily.

How Long Has Alexa Been Around?

Alexa was created by Rohit Prasad together with Tony Reid. Its initial release date was 6 November 2014. Many people wonder why Amazon chose the word Alexa because the Library of Alexandria inspires it and reflects Alexa’s depth of knowledge.

Information gathered from different sources shows that Alexa was first developed by a predecessor named Ivona, invented back in Poland. Back In 2013 where Amazon bought Alexa. This shows that Alexa has been around for a while now. Following the launch of Alexa in June 2015, Amazon declared plans for a new initiative centered on voice recognition and control.

Amazon not only created the system but also invested in related businesses such as Jargon, Orange Chef, Toymail, Scout Alarm, etc. As of the year 2022, many languages, including English, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, German, and Hindi, will be supported by Alexa for interaction and communication. Having so many languages understood by Alexa makes it suitable to be used worldwide by customers.

What Can You Build with Alexa?

Alexa can do much more in terms of:

1. Creating Alexa Skills

More than 100 million devices are connected and enabled with Alexa worldwide. These skills are apps that help customers to perform everyday tasks by just using their voice.

2. Building Alexa Devices

You can use Alexa Voice Services to create your device with Alexa built-in, add Alexa control to your smart devices and accessories, and call them Alexa Gadgets.

Conclusion

Amazon Alexa AI is already being used by many people in their homes, cars, mobile phones, etc. Amazon Alexa is a user voice user interface that can easily respond to a language it understands and perform a task as ordered. Alexa can help you play your favorite music, read cooking recipes as you cook, and browse through Amazon.com products hands-free, among 700 other skills. However, remember that you need an internet connection for it to function.