Voice In Canada Flash Briefing #367
Hey there. So, there’s some big news going down in the United States in particular. Unfortunately, this is not so relevant to us here in Canada, but I wanted to share it with you because this is a big, big development in the Alexa ecosystem. Here’s the deal.
You may be familiar that there are things called Alexa blueprints where they’re, essentially, templates that Amazon has developed, and you can plug in certain phrases, certain key facts, concepts, and that sort of thing.
And you can develop your own skills that can be used privately within your personal Amazon accounts. So things like a chore chart, a skill for a house guest, a skill for inspirations, or jokes, or trivia, or that sort of thing.
Now, in the United States, they actually have a larger catalog that you can use, but here’s the really interesting part, and this is what I wanted to let you know, is that, just recently within the last week, Amazon has now allowed these skills that you can develop through blueprints and they truly are very, very easy to develop.
Amazon has allowed these skills now to be published into the skills store beyond just your personal account for your personal use, which means that it is now extremely easy to create a skill for Alexa.
You can develop your own skills that can be used privately within your personal Amazon accounts.
Here’s the catch, at this point, it is only available in the United States, but as I said, this is such a big development that I wanted you to know about this, because ultimately what I can only assume it’s going to happen, is that, some time, and hopefully sooner rather than later, this is going to be available in Canada.
So for now, what you might want to do is start looking at the blueprints that you can develop in Canada, and yes, right now these are limited to your own personal account, but this is going to be a way for you to in the future create skills and get them onto the skill store in the most easy way that you possibly can.
Now there are limitations, of course, you’re not going to be able to have the same functionality as you would if you are building out a custom skill from scratch using a developer or that sort of thing. But it is a way to get a presence on Alexa with relative ease.
So, check it out. You can always check it out at Blueprints.Amazon.ca, and if you happen to have a US account, you can go to Blueprints.Amazon.com and you can check it out and see what it’s like to actually develop a skill and have it go live. Okay? I hope that’s helpful.
I think this is a very interesting development, and I will talk to you again tomorrow.
Useful Resources
- Complete List of Alexa Commands
- Alexa-Enabled and Controlled Devices in Canada
- Teri Fisher on Twitter
- Alexa in Canada on Twitter
- Alexa in Canada on Instagram
- Alexa in Canada Community Group on Facebook
- Please leave a review on the Skills Store!
- Shopping on Amazon.ca
- Create a Flash Briefing Tutorial – Free Tutorial to Create your own Flash Briefing
- Flash Briefing Formula – Your Complete Premium Step-By-Step Course to Launch a Successful Flash Briefing that Gets Found and Grows Your Brand
Listen on your Echo Device! Easy as 1-2-3!
1. Open your Alexa app and click on the Menu button > Settings > Flash Briefing.
2. Click on “Add Content” and search for “Voice in Canada”.
3. Click on “Voice in Canada” and the Enable button.
Alexa, what are my flash briefings?
Alexa, what’s in the news?
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