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Alexa just got an awesome upgrade — and you can try it now

Alexa simply got an awesome upgrade — and you can try it at present

Amazon Echo (4th Gen)
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Amazon giveth and taketh abroad. This week the company has removed the power to read and reply to emails from your Echo smart speaker, but introduced the ability to move music from device to device.

The latter is a commonly requested feature, as Repeat enthusiasts tend to accept multiple devices in dissimilar rooms, often relocating previous generations as new models sally. Previously you would take to finish and beginning music on unlike devices, just now you tin can make Alexa option up where you left off.

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This tin be washed in a number of means. The showtime is to motility your audio between groups. Only say "Alexa, move my music to [group name]" and whatever you're playing will exist redirected to the speaker of your pick. The second is to verbally intermission your music on the electric current device, and then say "Alexa, resume music here" to the Repeat yous want to take over.

The 3rd way is specifically for owners of Echo Buds. Just say "Alexa, motility my music here" once connected to your phone, and the music should relocate to your earbuds.

In addition to calculation this Alexa feature, Amazon is removing one that isn't widely publicized: the ability for Alexa to read your emails, and dictate spoken responses. Echo owners using the feature were sent an email giving them merely a week's notice for the characteristic being taken away, which is unusually abrupt.

"We're writing to inform y'all that starting time on November 8th, 2021, email access will no longer exist supported for Alexa customers," the email from Amazon reads. "This means you will no longer be able to link your Gmail or Microsoft email business relationship with Alexa to browse or manage your e-mail, and any linked email account(s) will automatically be unlinked."

This means that email routines and e-mail notifications will as well no longer piece of work, nor will Alexa's power to track packages via shipment notifications. Information technology can still rail Amazon packages, but it'south a bit of a blow for people who aren't completely exclusive to the retailer's ecosystem. Outlook and Google calendar integration is still supported, Amazon added.

Amazon didn't give a reason for the retirement of the feature, other than to tell TechHive that the Alexa team "regularly evaluate the features and experiences available to customers and prioritize those that make customers' lives easier and permit them to get the most of their Alexa experience." That sounds like an elaborate way of saying that there weren't enough people using the feature to justify maintaining it.

But for those that were, the characteristic proved invaluable. On Reddit, a couple of commenters mentioned that it was especially handy for elderly relatives who discover keyboards or tablets difficult, but still need to use e-mail to stay in touch. It'southward also a blow to visually impaired users.

That'southward the trouble with cloud-based services like Alexa: if the host company decides a feature is more trouble than it's worth, then there'southward no guarantee it'll be available indefinitely. At the very to the lowest degree, a Santa Claus vocalization can exist enabled.

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Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, covering phones, drones and everything in betwixt. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the spider web and in the occasional magazine too. When not weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably find him tackling his ever-growing games backlog. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/amazon-is-killing-useful-alexa-feature-but-this-new-one-is-awesome

Posted by: buntinghimeacerhe.blogspot.com

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