24 June 2024 , 12:25
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Amazon customers may soon be charged up to £7.99 a month for a new Alexa subscription service.
According to a report from Reuters, the global company is planning a major revamp of its Alexa product which will allow you to order a takeaway or write an email through the device for a monthly fee. The fees reported could range from $5 to $10 - or £3.99 to £7.99 - although this has not been confirmed. Inside sources say the revamp has been dubbed "Remarkable Alexa" with the updated device using conversational artificial intelligence technology.
Alexa was one of the most popular voice-activated assistants on the market when it was first introduced over a decade ago. Currently, the service is available at no cost to anyone who owns an Amazon Echo smart speaker, smart display, Fire TV set-top box, or downloads the Alexa app.
To use it, all you need to do is say "Alexa" followed by a statement or question, such as "Alex, can you play Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen?" or "Alexa, set a timer on for one minute". Alongside this, the new service is set to pick up a conversation after a short break and Alexa will still remember all of the context from the previous exchanges.
The update would eliminate the need to say "Alexa" when making using the device which would offer more personalisation. The sources said there was currently no plan to introduce the service as part of the Prime membership, which customers already have to pay for.
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Back in April, Amazon's chief executive, Andy Jassy, said the company is developing a “more intelligent and capable Alexa” as it works to compete with rivals such as Google, Microsoft and OpenAI, which have all seen a positive reaction from their AI chatbots. Sources told Reuters that 2024 was seen as a “must-win” year for the Alexa team. On the reports, an Amazon spokesperson said: “Our vision for Alexa remains the same – to build the world’s best personal assistant. Generative AI offers a huge opportunity to make Alexa even better for our customers.”