Alexa+ is now live in Australia – Top 5 things you’ll love about Amazon’s upgraded assistant

Overnight, Amazon announced that their upgraded Alexa+ assistant is launching here in Australia. 

Alexa has been a part of the Australian landscape for eight years now, launching two years after the US launch. Last year, Alexa engagement grew with almost 2 billion interactions in Australia alone. Of those interactions, Alexa answered 77 million questions. 

She has become a much-loved part of Australians’ routines answering questions, controlling the smart home and more – but Alexa has now evolved. 

I went to the launch yesterday, and here’s my top five things I loved about Alexa+.

• Alexa+ is now smarter, lets you speak more naturally, has been regionalised so she knows what the heck we’re on about when we say ‘Bottle-o’ or ‘Serv-o’.
  
  She won’t quite weigh in on which is better: Sydney or Melbourne, but she will willingly hang sh*t on Adelaide to avoid answering the question.
• I love that I can now just email Alexa.
  
  When you’re signed up to Alexa, you can send an email to alexa@alexa.com from the email account associated with your Alexa account, and she can take in that information – especially if there are attachments. You can still send documents to Alexa through the Alexa app for Android and iOS, but you can also now just email!
• Alexa can now take action.
  
  Amazon has partnered with a host of vendors including OpenTable so you can now just ask Alexa to book a table at your favourite restaurant.  More locally, Alexa can now stream news from ABC News24, or dive deeper into topics thanks to an Australian Associated Press (AAP) partnership.
• Alexa now sounds and understands better – and you don’t have to call her each time.
  
  The voice of Alexa has remained consistent since she arrived on the scene, but with the launch of Alexa+, she now sounds more natural and more expressive. Alexa can now understand you better. You don’t have to ‘speak like Alexa wants’ to have her understand you now. Alexa+ can listen to your halting requests, filtering out pauses or ‘ums and ahs’ to get to the crux of what you’re asking. You can also get a continued conversation going with Alexa+, just keep talking to her and she remembers the context of what you asked, and can just keep going.
• It’s free for Amazon Prime users.
  
  I’ve been a Prime member for a while now. Free shipping, shopping events including Prime Day, Prime Video and Amazon Music are all great perks, but now for your per year, you also get access to Alexa+.

Alexa+ is rolling out from today in Australia. You can register to take part at Amazon.com.au/newalexa – or purchase one of the new eligible Echo devices that have been designed for Alexa+, including the Echo Show 8, Echo Show 11, Echo Dot Max, and Echo Studio to get instant access.