Amazon's virtual assistant gets better at recognizing natural language and can now be commanded with new custom phrases.
With the new update, Amazon Alexa gets even smarter. Now, the voice assistant from the giant founded by Jeff Bezos is able to understand phrases set by the user for precise, targeted smart home automation control capable of adapting to the needs of those in the home.
Although it is among the most important new features for those who rely on the digital assistant on a daily basis, the one related to voice commands is just one of the features announced during the recent Alexa Live 2021. The virtual event, held last week, is completely dedicated to skill developers, device manufacturers and industry startups who want to get hands-on with the artificial intelligence that governs the device. With the latest round of updates, Amazon aims to go beyond the limit of basic functions, providing the right tools to allow Alexa to integrate more and more into the everyday life of users.
Amazon Alexa, the new commands
The latest update allows Alexa to understand seven different custom phrases, useful to fully manage all smart home accessories connected to the main device. Just say the trigger phrase, or one of those recorded through the application for smartphones and tablets connected to the smart speakers, to start the routines previously programmed.
Thanks to multilingual support, another integration arrived in the latest round of improvements, the phrases can be set in Italian or in a different language. Therefore, it becomes easier and easier to exploit the potential of Alexa, in every single aspect of one's daily routine.
Amazon Alexa, the other novelties
Among the other features presented, the most interesting ones include the possibility to receive suggestions on the skills to install based on the most frequent requests that the user puts to his exclusively voice personal assistant, i.e. Echo or Echo Dot. In addition to this, there is also another purely commercial one, that is the possibility to receive purchase proposals - obviously through Amazon's e-commerce - of products or services in line with the skills in use on the smart assistant.
With an improved understanding of natural language, Alexa becomes more and more able to understand users' requests, even the less direct ones, allowing a deep interaction between man and machine. This also applies to Alexa's voice, which now comes in two. It has been friendly baptized with the name of "Ziggy" and is the male "form", usable by pronouncing the command "Alexa, change your voice". All that remains is to choose the one closest to our tastes.