Voice In Canada Flash Briefing #1313

Hello, hello, hope you’re doing well. Teri here with your flash briefing. I have an interesting bit of news today.

Just recently, hot off the press, Amazon announced that Alexa can now proactively notify you about your Smart Home device status through announcements.

So, what does this mean? And I have to say this upfront. It is not entirely clear as to whether or not this is available in Canada at this point.

This has just been announced now that developers can start to develop these features into their experiences.

But essentially, what it means is that if you have a smart home device that works with Alexa, if the developer has chosen to enable this type of experience, Alexa can notify you of certain statuses.

So what does that mean? Let me give you some concrete examples. Say you have a smart washer and dryer.

You can have, potentially, Alexa notify you by voice when your washer is done by simply saying something like, “Your washer is done.”

Or let’s say you have an oven (A Smart Oven), Alexa could say, “Your oven is preheated.” Or let’s say you have a vacuum that is a robot.

Alexa can now proactively notify you about your Smart Home device status through announcements

You could have a notification that verbally says, “Your robotic vacuum is stuck.”

What’s interesting to me in this, is that this is a change in that this is extremely proactive on the part of the smart device and Alexa.

Meaning, you don’t have to check. You don’t have to ask Alexa what the status is because Alexa volunteers that information proactively and keeps you notified.

Now, of course, you’re gonna have to opt into this type of notification if you want it. But I think it’s very interesting. So, where are we at today with this?

This has now been announced that developers can start to implement this, and we’re going to have to see how this comes down.

Is this going to be available in Canada Initially? I don’t know. I did a little bit of searching around and I could not find that information anywhere to tell me where it’s going to be available first.

Hopefully, it will be in Canada as well. But regardless, the fundamental fact here is that Alexa can now be proactive, which I think is very, very interesting.

So, at some point, whether it’s sooner or later, we’re gonna see this in Canada as well. Alright, hope you find that interesting.

I think it’s fascinating and I will talk to you again tomorrow.

Other Useful Resources

Listen on your Echo Device! Easy as 1-2-3!

Voice in Canada Flash Briefing Icon1. 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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