Amazon launches Alexa Announcements

BING BONG! Calling all rooms! Calling all rooms! Dinner is served!

Amazon has announced its latest feature for its all-conquering Alexa assistant - it's called ‘Alexa Announcements'.

By asking Alexa to (for example) ‘announce that dinner is ready', a one-way Alexa announcement is played on all the other Alexa devices in the house, leaving no one in any doubt that it's scran time.

You can also say "Alexa, tell everyone…." to trigger an announcement.

The skill is an extension of the ability to "drop in" to other rooms, and make voice and video calls but unlike that, this will announce on all connected devices, and it'll be Alexa's voice, not yours.

Amazon says:

"Millions of customers already have more than one Echo device in their home. We hear from customers that they love using their Echo devices together, and Alexa Announcements offers another way to do that. Alexa Announcements compliments other multi-device features like Alexa Calling & Messaging, Drop In, and Multi-Room Music."

Amazon Alexa is dominating the smart home market with nearly 4 out of 5 smart home assistants running the platform across Echo, Echo Spot and Show, which have screens and Echo Plus with a smart home interface. Then, of course, there are the hundreds of third-party devices with Alexa including Invoxia's Triby, a whole bunch of cars, as well as phones, tablets and Fire TV devices.

The company is showing its commitment to becoming the centre of the smart home, having recently bought security camera firm Blink, and more recently smart doorbell and security firm Ring, for a rumoured $1bn.

Later this year it will be releasing smart locks, sensors and cameras, though it's not currently known how these acquisitions will affect the timescale.

Alexa Announcements are rolling out on UK devices from today. We've tested it and can confirm it works a treat. µ  

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