If you’ve been using Alexa Plus as your sous chef, travel planner or personal assistant via your Echo devices, you now have a new, more widely available way to do so — reaching the AI helper on your browser.
Amazon on Monday introduced Alexa.com, saying that it’s rolling out access to Alexa Plus Early Access customers so that the AI tool can «truly serve as a personal assistant» wherever they are.
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Amazon launched Alexa Plus nine months ago to incorporate AI into the Alexa assistant, which launched in 2014. It offers more advanced capabilities than standard Alexa and with a more conversational style. Amazon says that more than 600 million Alexa devices — including Echo, Kindle, Ring and Fire TV — have been sold worldwide.
Voice assistants have seen strong demand, with Alexa Plus and Google Assistant (now Gemini for Home) as the dominant services. According to Statista, more than 60% of smart speaker owners use the Amazon Echo, followed by Google Home at 23%.
CNET’s Tyler Lacoma has found Alexa Plus useful and even enjoyable — scheduling Uber trips, shifting music between speakers and so on — but cautions it might not be for everyone.
People can use it at Alexa.com if they have Alexa Plus Early Access, which they can get by purchasing an eligible device, including an array of Echo and Fire TV products.
Access is included at no extra charge if you have an Amazon Prime subscription. Otherwise, Alexa Plus is $20 a month.
So, say you’ve bought an Amazon Echo device and you’re an Alexa Plus Early Access customer. You can go to Alexa.com on your desktop PC or tablet, and use either voice or typing to do things like accessing your smart home controls, organizing your to-do list on a calendar, creating a weekend itinerary or planning a dinner.
Amazon says you can start conversations on your PC and continue them on your mobile app or your Echo and Fire TV devices, «with all previous chats, preferences, and personalization seamlessly carrying over.»
