Amazon Alexa facts for kids
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| Operating system | Fire OS 5.0 or later, iOS 11.0 or later Android 4.4 or later |
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| Platform | Fire OS, iOS, Android, Linux, Windows, Wear OS |
| Available in | English, French, German, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, Arabic |
| Type | Intelligent personal assistant, cloud-based voice service |
Amazon Alexa is a smart computer program that acts like a helpful assistant. It's made by Amazon and works on many devices. You can find Alexa on smart phones, tablets, smart speakers, and other electronics.
Alexa was created from a speech program called Ivona, which Amazon bought in 2013.
Alexa first appeared in Amazon's smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and Amazon Echo Dot. It can understand what you say and do many things. For example, it can play music, make to-do lists, set alarms, play podcasts, read audiobooks, and give you weather, traffic, sports scores, and news. Alexa can also control many smart devices in your home, like lights or thermostats. You can add more abilities to Alexa by installing "skills." These are like small apps made by other companies. Alexa uses special computer intelligence to understand your voice and perform these tasks.
Most Alexa devices listen for a "wake-word" like Alexa or Amazon. Some devices, like the Amazon app on phones, need you to press a button first. By November 2018, over 10,000 Amazon employees were working on Alexa. In January 2019, Amazon announced that over 100 million Alexa-enabled devices had been sold.
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How Alexa Started
Alexa grew from a program called Ivona, which was created in Poland. Amazon bought Ivona in 2013. Alexa was officially announced on November 6, 2014, along with the Amazon Echo speaker. Amazon chose the name Alexa because the "X" sound helps the device hear it clearly. The name also reminds them of the ancient Library of Alexandria, a famous library of knowledge.
In June 2015, Amazon started the Alexa Fund. This fund invests money in companies that create new voice control skills and technologies for Alexa. In 2016, the Alexa Prize competition was started to encourage more advancements in Alexa's technology.
The first Alexa Conference, a meeting for Alexa developers and fans, happened in January 2017. Amazon also started "Alexa for Business," which helps companies use Alexa for work tasks. In May 2018, Amazon announced that Alexa would be included in 35,000 new homes built by Lennar.
By November 2018, Amazon opened its first Alexa pop-up shop in Toronto, Canada. This shop showed how Alexa could control smart home devices. Alexa devices are also sold in Amazon's own stores and other pop-up shops. By 2018, you could talk to Alexa in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, and Hindi.
In October 2019, Alexa became available in Brazil, speaking Portuguese. In November 2019, Amazon released the Echo Studio, a speaker that works with Alexa and offers great sound. In February 2025, Amazon launched Alexa+, a new version of its voice assistant that uses advanced AI. Alexa+ is free for Amazon Prime members.
Alexa App
There's a special app for Alexa that you can get on the Apple Appstore and Google Play. You can use this app to add new skills, control music, manage alarms, and make shopping lists. It also lets you see what Alexa heard you say and tell Amazon if it understood correctly.
What Alexa Can Do
Alexa can do many things right away, like setting timers, telling you the weather, making lists, and finding information on Wikipedia. To use Alexa, you just say a "wake word" (usually "Alexa"). Then, Alexa listens for your command and tries to answer your question or do what you asked. When you ask a question, Alexa turns your voice into text. It then looks for information from different places like WolframAlpha, iMDB, AccuWeather, Yelp, and Wikipedia to give you the best answer.
Alexa devices can play music from your Amazon Music accounts and also work with Pandora and Spotify. You can also play music from services like Apple Music and Google Play Music from your phone or tablet through Alexa. Many popular Alexa skills help with trivia, listening to live sports, getting local weather, playing calming sounds, and even helping kids learn. In 2019, Apple, Google, Amazon, and Zigbee Alliance announced they would work together to make their smart home products compatible.
Amazon is making Alexa even smarter with new AI features, similar to ChatGPT. This upgrade might be a separate paid service. Alexa can also tell jokes! For example, if you ask "Alexa, do you know GLaDOS?", she might give a funny reply that refers to the Portal video games.
New Technology for Alexa
By April 2019, Amazon had over 90,000 "skills" available for Alexa devices. This was a huge jump from only 1,000 skills in June 2016. Microsoft's AI assistant, Cortana, became available on Alexa devices in August 2018. In 2018, Amazon added a "Brief Mode" where Alexa would just make a beep sound instead of saying "Okay" to confirm a command. In December 2018, Alexa got better at answering questions about math, science, history, and more, thanks to a new connection with the Wolfram Alpha answer engine.
Controlling Your Home
Alexa can connect with smart devices from many different companies. This means you can use your voice to control things like lights, thermostats, and smart plugs. This feature started on April 8, 2015. Developers can create their own smart home skills using the Alexa Skills Kit. In September 2018, Amazon even announced a microwave oven that works with an Echo device. Alexa can also work with Ring doorbells to greet visitors and give instructions for package deliveries. Amazon has seen a big increase in people using Alexa to control smart home devices like lights and fans.
Ordering Things
You can use Alexa to order food from places like Domino's Pizza and Pizza Hut. In the UK, you can order meals using Just Eat. You can also order meals using Amazon Prime Now in many US cities. With Amazon Key, Alexa can even help Amazon delivery people unlock your front door to leave packages inside. However, in 2018, not many people were using Alexa to buy things, and most who tried it didn't make a second purchase.
Music and Audio
Alexa supports many music and audio services. These include Prime Music, Amazon Music, Apple Music, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Audible, Pandora, and Spotify Premium. You can link your Amazon account to Alexa to listen to your Amazon Music library and audiobooks from Audible. Amazon Prime members can listen to millions of songs for free. You can also upload up to 250 of your own songs to Amazon Music from your computer and play them through Alexa.
Sports Updates
Amazon Alexa can give you updates on your favorite sports teams. You can add teams to a list in the Alexa app. Alexa supports updates for many sports leagues, including:
- IPL
- MLS - Major League Soccer
- EPL - English Premier League
- NBA - National Basketball Association
- NCAA men's basketball
- UEFA Champions League
- FA Cup
- MLB - Major League Baseball
- NHL - National Hockey League
- NCAA FBS football
- NFL - National Football League
- 2. Bundesliga, Germany
- WNBA - Women's National Basketball Association
- 1. Bundesliga, Germany
- WWE - World Wrestling Entertainment
Messages and Calls
You can send messages using the Alexa app. Alexa can send messages to other Alexa apps or to Echo devices linked to an Amazon account. You can type messages from the app, but if you send a message from an Echo device, it will be a voice message. Alexa cannot send videos or photos. All Alexa contacts in a household are shared across devices. There is no password protection for this feature, so anyone with access to your phone number can contact you through Alexa. You can use the Do Not Disturb feature to temporarily stop alerts for messages and calls.
Alexa for Businesses
Alexa for Business is a service that helps companies use Alexa. Businesses can use Alexa to join conference calls, schedule meeting rooms, and use special skills made by other companies. Alexa Smart Properties is also used in places like hospitals and hotels.
Weather Alerts
Since February 2020, Alexa can tell you when a severe weather warning is issued in your area.
Traffic Updates
Also since February 2020, Alexa can give you updates about your commute, traffic conditions, or directions. It can even send this information to your phone.
Alexa Skills Kit
Amazon lets developers create and share "skills" for Alexa using something called the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK). Once a skill is published, anyone with an Alexa device can use it. Users can turn on these skills using the Alexa app. There's also a "Smart Home Skill API" that helps device makers connect their smart home products to Alexa. Most skills run their code in "the cloud" using Amazon's AWS Lambda service. In April 2018, Amazon launched Blueprints, a tool that lets people create their own skills for personal use. In February 2019, Amazon allowed people to publish these Blueprint skills to the Alexa Skill Store for everyone to use.
Alexa Voice Service
Amazon also lets companies add Alexa's voice abilities to their own products using the Alexa Voice Service (AVS). This is a cloud-based service that helps devices understand voice commands and natural language. Companies don't have to pay fees to use AVS to put Alexa in their products. Alexa's voice is created by a special type of computer network.
Since September 25, 2019, Alexa and Google Assistant have been able to help people apply for jobs at McDonald's using voice commands. This service is available in many countries. Amazon also announced that Alexa would soon be able to sound like celebrities, like Samuel L. Jackson, for a small fee. In 2019, Alexa started understanding Spanish commands. On September 15, 2020, Amazon announced that Amitabh Bachchan would be a new voice for Alexa in India, available as a paid upgrade.
Amazon Lex
Amazon Lex is the technology behind Alexa's speech recognition and natural language processing. Amazon made this technology available to other developers on November 30, 2016. This allows developers to create their own "chatbots" that can talk like Alexa.
Where Alexa is Available
By November 2018, Alexa was available in 41 countries. Most recently, Alexa launched in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on December 7, 2021.
Devices That Work with Alexa
As of September 2018, over 20,000 different devices can work with Amazon Alexa. These include many types of smart speakers, TVs, phones, laptops, and smart home devices.
Smart Speakers
Many companies make smart speakers that have Alexa built-in. These include Amazon's own Echo devices, Sonos One, Lenovo Smart Assistant, Harman Kardon Allure, and many more.
TVs and Media Boxes
Alexa can also be found in some TVs and media players. Examples include Amazon Fire TV devices, Element Smart TVs, Sony Smart TVs, and Samsung Smart TVs.
Phones and Tablets
Some phones and tablets also have Alexa. This includes Amazon's Fire tablets, Huawei Mate 9, HTC U11, and Motorola Mobility phones.
Laptops and Desktops
You can find Alexa on some laptops and desktop computers from brands like Asus, HP, Lenovo, Acer, and Razer.
Smart Home Devices
Alexa works with many smart home devices to control things like lights, thermostats, and door locks. Some examples are GE Sol LED Lamp, LG InstaView smart refrigerators, ecobee4 smart thermostats, Philips Hue lights, and Schlage smart locks.
Wearables and Earphones
Some wearable devices and headphones also have Alexa. These include ONvocal OV headphones, UBtech Robotics Lynx robot, and Bragi Dash earbuds.
In Cars
Alexa is also available in some cars from companies like Ford, BMW, Mini, Toyota, Lexus, and Volkswagen. Devices like Garmin Speak and Anker Roav Viva also bring Alexa to your car.
Other Devices
Alexa can be found in other interesting devices like the Anki Vector robot and the Microsoft Xbox One gaming console.
Alexa Prize
The Alexa Prize is a competition for university students that started in 2016. It offers a total of $2.5 million in prizes and research grants. The goal is to challenge students to build "socialbots," which are computer programs that can have long, interesting conversations with people. Teams from the University of Washington, University of California, Davis, and Emory University have won the top prize in past competitions.
Alexa Fund
Amazon believes strongly in voice technology, so on June 25, 2015, they announced a $100 million fund called the Alexa Fund. This fund invests in developers and companies that are creating new Alexa abilities or integrating Alexa into their products. Amazon looks for companies that focus on customers, are innovative, and have strong leaders.
Besides money, Amazon also offers business and technology advice, helps bring products to market, and provides marketing support. Some of the companies that have received funding include ecobee, Invoxia, Ring, and Fitbit.
Similar Technologies
- Bixby
- Cortana
- Google Assistant
- Mycroft
- Siri
See also
In Spanish: Amazon Alexa para niños
