Alexa+ is biggest update to your Amazon Echo and Fire TV in a decade
Amazon has launched Alexa+ in the UK, bringing a swathe of new Artificial Intelligence (AI) features to the chatty AI assistant built into millions of Echo smart speakers, Fire TVs, and Echo Show smart home kit. Alexa+ costs £19.99 per month, but is included at no extra cost with an Amazon Prime membership.
Not every Alexa-enabled gadget is compatible with Alexa+, so you’ll need to make sure you own a relatively recent model from the US online superstore. According to Amazon, the upgrade to Alexa+ required a “complete rearchitecture” of its assistant, bringing ChatGPT-like smarts, a more natural speaking voice, and the ability to do more tasks on your behalf – like booking restaurant tables, drafting emails, and placing an order on Amazon.
Alexa+ will be slowly rolling out to UK households over the coming weeks. Anyone who buys a brand-new Echo device that’s designed from the ground up for Alexa+ will unlock immediate access. If you already own a compatible device, sign up at amazon.co.uk/newalexa to join a waiting list for the new programme.
Amazon says it plans to”invite hundreds of thousands of customers in the coming weeks” to test out Alexa+.
The overhaul to Alexa comes ahead of the 10th anniversary of its UK launch, which falls in September.
While Alexa has always been able to play a particular artist, playlist, or radio station from a spoken command… Alexa+ can generate a one-of-a-kind selection of songs based on a feeling or particular mood that you describe to the chatty AI
|
AMAZON PRESS OFFICE
For those who have yet to experience Alexa in any form, this talkative assistant is designed to answer general knowledge questions, set timers, manage your calendar, play radio stations and podcasts, queue up playlists from Spotify or Apple Music, and control smart home devices, to name just a few features.
It’s been an incredible success for Amazon, with 50% UK households now owning at least one Alexa-enabled device.
With the launch of the supercharged Alexa+ in the UK, which follows a little over a year after its debut in the United States, Amazon hopes that improved smarts will make it your go-to AI assistant – fending off increased competition from the likes of Google Gemini and ChatGPT.
So, while Alexa has always been able to play a particular artist, playlist, or radio station that you request in a voice command, the new-and-improved Alexa+ can handle much more complex requests like “Alexa, I’m batch-cooking for next week and it’s raining outside, can you play something to match the vibe?” or “Alexa, what’s the song that plays when Hugh Grant wanders around Portobello Market and the seasons change around him?”
You’ll need one of the most recent Amazon Echo or Echo Show hardware to take advantage of the latest Alexa+ capabilities
|
AMAZON PRESS OFFICE
Vice President of Alexa and Echo at Amazon, Daniel Rausch, told an audience in Central London ahead of the Alexa+ launch that the biggest advantage of its AI solution was its ability to help you “anytime, anywhere”.
“Life doesn’t happen in a chat window,” he said, in a thinly-veiled swipe at rivals like ChatGPT, DeepSeek, and Claude.
Alexa+ boasts many of the same features as these chatbots, but can be summoned using its iconic wake word anywhere without the need to pull out a phone or launch a specific app — provided you have enough Amazon gadgets. One of the biggest changes in Alexa+ is the ability to execute multiple tasks back-to-back from a single request. Until now, Alexa can only compute and complete single commands at a time.
Vice President of Alexa and Echo at Amazon, Daniel Rausch, demoed several new capabilities built into Alexa+ to a packed audience at a launch event in central London
|
AMAZON PRESS OFFICE
In one example, Amazon VP Daniel Rausch asked for Indian restaurant recommendations within walking distance. He picked one from the list that appeared on-screen on an Echo Show 11 and asked Alexa+ to find an opening in his calendar around lunchtime and make a reservation for two people via OpenTable.
The booking was added to his calendar, and Alexa+ even drafted an email to Mr Rausch’s dining partner to bring them up to speed with the plans – pulling the correct email address from the Contacts app, the address of the restaurant from OpenTable, and the timings from the calendar. It’s all clever stuff.
In another demo, Amazon VP Daniel Rausch asked Alexa+ to identify the packet of Pickled Onion Monster Munch crisps in his hand — a uniquely British snack that he was thinking about taking back to the United States for his children. The upgraded AI was able to correctly name the brand and spoke about the fact that these crisps were a popular choice that couldn’t easily be bought back in the States, making it a solid choice as a souvenir.
Conversations are designed to flow naturally – without the need to repeat “Alexa…” each and every time. An initial question about who clinched the Best Actor gong at the most recent Academy Awards to the Echo speaker could quickly progress to Alexa+ purchasing Sinners on Prime Video and queuing up the movie on the Fire TV. Alexa+ is smart enough to understand follow-up questions without always having to reiterate who or what you’re talking about.
Alexa+ slowly learns about you, so its responses can be personalised. If you’ve previously told the chatty AI that you’re a diehard Arsenal supporter, Alexa will deliver news about a bad result in a consolatory tone.
According to Amazon, Alexa Plus will work across “almost all” of the existing Alexa-compatible gadgets in the world, including Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Echo Show, to name just a few
|
REUTERS
Likewise, if you’ve already told Alexa that your friend Jenny is a vegetarian, and ask for recipe recommendations for the Dinner Party scheduled in your calendar with a few friends, Alexa won’t suggest a steak night.
Discussing the capabilities built into Alexa+, Director of Alexa UK Meryem Tom wrote in a blog post: “Alexa has become woven into how our household works, remembering appointments, playing music, tracking the small details that keep family life running smoothly. It’s part of our family, and it’s the same story across the UK. In just the past three years, British customers interacted with Alexa 114 billion times.
“Today, we’re announcing a new chapter in the UK. Alexa+ represents our biggest leap forward, she is not just smarter, but genuinely more capable of getting things done. Restaurant bookings. Shopping. Home security. Music discovery. Schedule management. Alexa+ handles it all through natural conversation.”
