Amazon has finally unveiled Alexa+, a new premium version of its popular voice assistant, promising enhanced AI capabilities and deeper smart home integration. The company first announced plans for a generative AI-enhanced Alexa in September 2023, and its release was reportedly delayed from an expected Fall 2024 launch.
The service, free to Amazon Prime members, introduces advanced features like voice-activated home automation creation, personalized automations, and enhanced smart home control. For non-Prime members, Alexa+ is $19.99 a month, which is more than the rumored $10 per month that we heard about over the last year and a half.
Largely staying true to what the company announced in 2023, Alexa+ leverages powerful large language models (LLMs) and an advanced architecture or systems, APIs and instructions the company calls “experts” that allow Alexa to control a variety of smart home devices, book reservations, order groceries, play music, and more. It also introduces agentic capabilities, allowing Alexa to autonomously navigate the internet to complete tasks, such as scheduling repairs, without user intervention.
The integration of LLMs with APIs enables Alexa+ to string together multiple actions, providing an experience akin to having a personal assistant who handles multifaceted requests seamlessly, like booking a lunch reservation and sharing it with a friend, Amazon says in its announcement.
Through that lens, Amazon wants smart home management to be more streamlined with Alexa+ through better conversational understanding. For example, users can tell Alexa+ that they’re cold, and the assistant will adjust the thermostat.
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Security camera footage is also becoming a big target of AI advances, and Alexa+ continues this trend by providing a summary of detected camera events and showing users relevant Ring camera footage across compatible Echo Show devices, the company says. Alexa+ will even integrate with Ring’s new Smart Video Search, so users can find and play specific moments from the camera’s history. For example, users make requests like, “Show me all the footage of the dogs in the backyard this week.”
In addition, a customizable smart home widget introduced for the Echo Show 15 and 21, providing quick access to devices, device status, and a timeline of recent camera activity.
Users can also send targeted announcements, sending messages to specific Echo devices to communicate with specific members of the family. Suggested replies are also available for quick responses.
With its immense popularity among consumers as thanks to Echo devices, Alexa+ of course brings some new smart home features to its users, including the ability to create personalized home automations using only naturally spoken language. This is similar to what some other smart home platform providers offer.
According to Amazon, users can ask things like, “Every morning at 7 am, turn on the coffee pot, slowly turn my bedroom lights on, and play some peaceful music.” Alexa+ can also simply suggest Routines based on a user’s specific needs, such as a wake-up automation for homeowners that have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning.
Routines can be personalized using voice recognition, triggering custom automations for different members of the household. A spouse’s voice saying “good morning,” for example, could trigger a morning routine that turns on kitchen lights, brews coffee, and plays their partner’s favorite podcast.
Alexa+ also allows for the creation of monthly, annual, or weather-based automations. Users can request weekend activity suggestions, daily weather-based clothing advice, or even automated actions like closing a garage door if rain is predicted.
Alexa+ will be accessible across various platforms, including Echo devices, smartphones, web browsers via alexa.com, and vehicles. While Alexa+ will cost $19.99 per month for non-Prime members, it will be included as a free benefit for all Amazon Prime subscribers.
The rollout of Alexa+ will begin in the U.S. within the next few weeks through an early access period, followed by a phased release over the coming months. Priority for early access will be given to owners of Echo Show 8, 10, 15, and 21 devices.
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