History

Amazon Alexa ,Also known simply as Alexa. is a virtual assistant technology largely based on a Polish speech
synthesiser named Ivona, bought by Amazon in 2013.In November 2014, Amazon announced Alexa alongside
the Echo.

In 2016, the Alexa Prize was announced to further advance the technology.

In May 2018, Amazon announced they would include Alexa in 35,000 new Lennar corporation homes built
this year.

In December 2018, Alexa was built into the , Anki Vector And was the first major update for the Anki Vector,
although Vector was released in August 2018, he is the only home robot with advanced technology.

In October 2019, Amazon announced the expansion of Alexa to Brazil, in Portuguese together with Bose,
Intelbras, and LG.
 What is Amazon Echo?
Amazon Echo is smart speaker developed by Amazon which support intelligent
personal assistance “Alexa” which responds when you call Alexa. User can also
change this wake up word to “Amazon”, “Echo” and “Computer”.

Alexa works on Amazon API which can perform number of tasks for you like
voice interaction, music playback, setting alarm, making to do list, playing audio
books, order your grocery, book ride and streaming podcast. These skills keeps
on adding each day. Alexa can also provide user with weather condition, traffic
and other real time information.

Alexa also works with the smart home automation. It can control several smart
home devices like smart lights, security camera like Arlo, Nest and devices that
supports Amazon Alexa. Amazon first launched Amazon Echo device March
2014. Amazon has sold approx. 100 million Echo devices till this date.
 Example

  Amazon Echo Spot (2nd gen)  Amazon Alexa Voice Remote

 Amazon Echo Show  Amazon Echo Show

 Amazon Echo Plus  Amazon Echo (2nd gen)

 Application
Amazon allows developers to build and publish skills for Alexa using the Alexa Skills Kit known as Alexa
Skills. These third-party-developed skills, once published, are available across Alexa-enabled devices.
Users can enable these skills using the Alexa app.
A "Smart Home Skill API“ is available, meant to be used by hardware manufacturers to allow users to
control smart home devices.

Most skills run code almost entirely in the cloud, using Amazon’s AWS Lambda service.
In April 2018, Amazon launched Blueprints, a tool for individuals to
build skills for their personal use.
In February 2019, Amazon further expanded the capability of
Blueprints by allowing customers to publish skills they’ve
built with the templates to its Alexa Skill Store in the US for
use by anyone with an Alexa-enabled device