Amazon Alexa is a virtual assistant whose sworn enemy may as well be Apple’s own Siri. And especially lately with Amazon’s newest technology, Alexa Blueprints, Alexa is taking the lead.
Alexa Blueprints is a new technology that allows for the ultimate customization for you and your family. You don’t even have to be a "techie" or know how to code. And, it is not a difficult process either: All you have to do is fill in the blanks!
On the website, they give four separate categories of blueprints to choose from:
- Fun and Games
- Learning and Knowledge
- At Home
- Storyteller
Fun and Games
In this category, these games are more so for parties or for a family night. This category consists of:
- Burns – roast your friends and family! While we already do it on a daily basis, it is more fun to hear Alexa say them.
- Play a game of letter categories
- Family jokes – because we all need to laugh
- Trivia – create trivia on any topic (multiple choice)
- Doubles Trouble – a couples game (make sure you study your significant other before playing this one, you could end up in the doghouse)
- Birthday trivia – who knows the birthday boy/girl better?
- Bachelorette party – who knows the bride-to-be best?
- Compliments – flatter your S.O., friends, or family
- Family trivia
- Inspirations – creates a list of motivational quotes for those days when we need them
Learning and Knowledge
Need to study but don’t study well on your own? Are your buddies busy? Alexa can help.
- Quiz – challenge yourself with open-ended questions (or your friends)
- Flashcards – study and test yourself for that big exam and ace it!
- Facts – can create a list of facts on any subject and access it at anytime
At Home
- Custom Q&A – create personalized responses from Alexa to your questions (Alexa, who’s the fairest of them all?)
- Houseguests – new people in your neighborhood can come visit and hear a guide to your home and neighborhood
- Babysitter – create a guide for the babysitter in order to remember important information, where to find the bottles, or how to operate the television
- Pet Sitter – fur babies are important too, to create a guide for them also!
Storyteller
For those moments when it is easier for Alexa to tell the bedtime story…here are the types of interactive stories Alexa will tell:
- Fairy Tale
- Sci-Fi
- Fable
- Adventure
- Create your own
Create a story – Use this special editor to write your story and add sound effects, then let Alexa narrate.
There is no limit to the number of blueprints you can make, so have fun! Alexa Blueprints are only available for use in the United States.
Also, you are the only one that can see your Alexa Blueprints, so feel free to be personal! Your information won’t be shared. You can create Blueprints via a laptop/desktop computer or a mobile device for convenience.
Amazon also gives an extensive list of frequently asked questions as well as customer service options via phone or email, if you have questions that are not readily available.
For those not familiar with Amazon Alexa: Alexa is a virtual assistant that can do a variety of things, such as play music, call/text hands-free, voice recognition capability, answers questions, reads the news, reports traffic and weather, give sports scores, controls Fire TV, gives information on local businesses, controls lights, fans, TVs, switches, thermostats, locks, sprinklers, garage doors, Bluetooth capability and contains many others apps (Amazon calls them skills) that Alexa can "learn."
Amazing! The future is now. The Echo gets so much right that from the moment you activate it you will think almost every other Bluetooth device you own is antiquated. The best thing about a truly revolutionary product is that the list of shortcomings you come up with are things that prior to introducing it into your life you never even perceived as possible.
This is generation 1 but everyone using it already has a feel for what generation 4 will be. Place "Alexa" into your kitchen and within a day "she" will change your life. Your music is no longer at your fingertips because you don’t have you touch anything to hear it.
You don’t have to extricate yourself from a task to switch songs or change the volume. You don’t have to walk over to the stove to set a timer. For some, you don’t even have to touch a light switch. You speak, it acts. Impressive. -C
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