Know What Alexa Can Do & Keep Up With Your New Smart Speaker

Do you know how many smart speakers have been installed throughout the world? It’s 320 million units as of 2022 and is expected to reach 640 million units by 2024! When it comes to smart speakers, the first thing that comes to your mind is Alexa. Whether you have just bought one or are planning to, the first question you might ask is what Alexa can do.

Getting started with a new gadget is both exciting as well as overwhelming especially when it has a ton of features. Alexa can perform more tasks than you can imagine and you end up wondering where to even start.

In this article, I will tell you what cool things can Alexa do so that you know which Alexa skills you need to try first.

What Is Amazon Alexa?

First of all, Alexa is not a smart speaker. Yes, you read that right. Confused? Let me elaborate.

Alexa is a virtual assistant technology developed by Amazon which can have voice interactions, play music, provide information, and control smart devices. Its various features are called ‘skills’. It uses speech recognition, natural language processing and artificial intelligence to follow the commands you give.

Alexa is based on Ivona, a Polish speech synthesiser which was inspired by the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Amazon bought Ivona in 2013 and released it as Alexa alongside Echo in 2014 after further developing it. It was inspired by a conversational computer system or AI abroad the fictional Starship Enterprise. Yes, the same ship from the Star Trek series.  

They choose the name Alexa because it has a hard consonant ‘X’ that helps in recognition. Another reason to choose the word is that it is reminiscent of the Library of Alexandria.

You can use Alexa through any Alexa-enabled smart speaker or the Alexa app installed on your smartphone. Once set up, you just have to call out its name and then tell your commands. You need not always call it Alexa. The word Alexa is called the wake word which you can change in the settings. 

Want to know about other voice assistants like Alexa? Check out my article on the 5 best voice assistants.

Alexa Vs Echo Dot

People often interchange the words Alexa and Echo although they are not the same. Alexa, as I have already mentioned is the virtual assistant by Amazon while the Echo is a physical device. 

Echo is the brand name of a range of smart speakers developed by Amazon that uses Alexa to interact with users and perform tasks. It has many variants like Echo Dot, Amazon Tap, Echo Look, Echo Show, Echo Spot, Echo Plus and Echo Flex. 

However, to use the virtual assistant, you can either call it Alexa or Echo. Because although the default wake word is Alexa, you can set it to Echo, Computer or Amazon. Unfortunately, Amazon doesn’t allow you to set a unique wake word. Interestingly, Amazon recently introduced two other words Ziggy and Hey, Disney. Although both are fun to call out, keep in mind that you cannot avail all of Alexa’s skills with them.

Why Use Amazon Alexa?

Just like you don’t need a Google Nest (Google’s smart speaker) to use Google Assistant, You don’t need an Echo device to use Alexa. However, to fully utilize its capabilities, you must have an Echo device.

Even though an Echo device costs you, the AI Alexa is free to use. All you need to do is download the app on your phone and set it up using your amazon account. Yes, an Amazon account is a must. Having a Prime account is not mandatory but then you cannot access Amazon Music. Still, you can connect it to other streaming services like Spotify, JioSaavn, Gaana, Hungama etc.

Alexa is easy to set up and easy to operate. The commands are pretty straight forward and it easily recognises the Indian accent. To use it, all you have to do is call out the wake word and the virtual assistant is ready to serve you. You can call out to the smart speaker across the room without getting up from your seat. Even if the device is in your home, you can give commands to it using your phone from anywhere in the world. 

A List Of Things Alexa Can Do 

Now, you might be wondering what is Alexa mostly used for. People use it to play music, check the weather and traffic, set alarms and reminders, turn on and off lights and a lot more. But there are a lot of other skills – over 30,000! Let’s see what all can Alexa do:

What Can Alexa Do?

1. Just say “Alexa, play <song name> and it will start streaming that particular song provided it’s on Amazon Music or other connected streaming services. If you are not sure which song to play, you can mention a genre and Alexa will pick a song for you. Not only music but you can listen to podcasts and audiobooks as well. 
2. You can control various devices in your home like lights, fans, TV, vacuum cleaner, geyser, boiler, air conditioners, air purifiers, coolers, dishwashers, washing machines etc. If any device doesn’t support Alexa integration, you can attach a smart plug to it and you are good to go.
3. Alexa helps you be more productive. You can set alarms and reminders, add tasks to your to-do list, call friends, send text messages etc. You can keep up with the current affairs by asking Alexa about news, score, weather and traffic. You can also pay your bills by setting them up in Amazon Pay.
4. Probably the best advantage of Alexa is shopping on Amazon. Often we end up spending a lot when we intend to buy a single item. With Alexa, you can select the only item you want and add it to the cart or wishlist without even opening the Amazon app or website. You can also track your order, get notifications on shipping and check out the latest deals.
5. You don’t need to tell Alexa what to do every time. You can set routines which are a series of pre-defined tasks to carry out in a sequence. This is quite useful in building morning routines.  
6. You can also connect Alexa to your security systems which include smart door locks and alarms. Even though you cannot unlock your door (for your own security), you can still lock your door and arm your alarm.
7. Some modern cars come with Alexa integration. That means you can give commands from your car without opening your Alexa app. This comes in handy for people who forget to turn off appliances while leaving home only to realise later.  
8. If you are bored, you can have many fun conversations with Alexa. You can ask certain questions to get cheeky and funny replies. You can also ask it to tell you jokes or play some conversational games with you. If you have kids, you can have Alexa tell bedtime stories.

Apart from these, you can get nutrition tips, recipe ideas, find restaurants, check credit card balances, schedule meetings, get medical tips, first aid tips and a lot more. If you want to know more about what Alexa can do, just ask it.

What Can Alexa Do Without The Internet?

One of the most common questions people get is if you can still use Alexa without the internet. The answer is almost nothing. Because Alexa needs the internet to give you answers and WiFi to connect to your smart devices. However, you can still connect some devices through Bluetooth and listen to music. For example, you can connect your phone to any Alexa-enabled device and play music on it from any music streaming app. But you need to turn on your mobile data.

What Alexa Can Do In Hindi?

Now, let’s see what all can Amit Ji do on Alexa. Amit Ji is none other than the Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan. You can change Alexa’s voice to your favourite star and every time you ask a question, Alexa answers in BigB’s voice.

There is another way to make your Alexa a desi. You can converse with Alexa in Hindi and it will respond in the same language! To avail of this feature, you need to say, “Alexa, speak English and Hindi”. Or you can select Hindi in the app’s language settings. But keep in mind that some skills, capabilities and music may be unavailable while using Hindi.

Conclusion

Turning your home into a smart home doesn’t need a high investment. Alexa along with an echo device is a good start as you can get the device for under ₹5,000. Also, most echo devices are combined with a smart bulb, especially during sales and deals. You can also get a smart plug to connect your non-smart appliances to Alexa. I hope this article has answered all your burning questions about what Alexa can do.

Do you have an Alexa-enabled device at your home or are you planning to buy one? If you use Alexa already, what do you use it often for? Let me know in the comments below.