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Alexa+ arrives in Spain with a smarter, more natural way to help at home
Amazon’s upgraded assistant is rolling out in Early Access, with more personal features and a monthly fee after launch
Alexa+ is now arriving in Spain, and Amazon says the new version is designed to sound more natural, understand context better and do far more than the standard assistant most households already know.From yesterday, April 23, it is available through an Early Access Programme, either with a compatible new device or by registering for an invitation, and it will be free during this first phase.
For many homes, Alexa has already become part of the daily routine, from turning lights on and off to checking the weather, playing music or keeping children entertained. According to Amazon, the assistant is now used in one in every four Spanish households, and Spaniards have interacted with it more than 27 billion times in the last three years. The company also says people in Spain listen to more than 56 million hours of music a month on Alexa devices.
Now Amazon wants to take things further. “From today, Alexa is Spanish,” said Andrés Pazos, Alexa’s Country Manager in Spain. He described the assistant as “authentically local” and said it can be spoken to in a much more colloquial way. He added that it understands “unwritten rules”, while Ruth Díaz, Amazon Spain’s general manager, said: “The brain of Alexa+ is in the data centres of Aragon.”
The idea behind Alexa+ is to make requests feel more natural and less rigid. Instead of having to speak in exact commands, users can simply say what they want in everyday language. That could mean asking it to add a ticket email to the calendar, spot a clash with another appointment and even draft a cancellation email in a more formal or informal tone.
It also goes further into practical tasks. Alexa+ can review security camera footage, help identify when a pet leaves the house, check whether a parcel has arrived and even look at clothing to see if it suits an event. In the home, it can react to simple phrases such as “it’s a bit warm” by turning on a fan, or “the floor is dirty” by starting a robot vacuum.
Amazon says Alexa+ can also help with entertainment, recipes, shopping and document management. You can email files and images to alexa@alexa.com to store them in your private cloud, and the assistant can suggest meals, adjust ingredients for allergies and compare products with price alerts.
For now, Alexa+ is being rolled out in Early Access. Amazon says it is compatible with more than 98% of Echo devices already in Spanish homes. Users can join by buying a compatible device or registering online, and the service will later also be available on the web. After the free Early Access period, Alexa+ will cost €22.99 a month, although it will remain free for Prime members.
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