Amazon has announced several new features for Amazon FreeTime for Alexa, including routines, podcasts, and audiobooks, that are all oriented towards children. There’s also a nifty whisper feature now.
At its event today, Amazon announced that it’s rolling out new features for FreeTime – a service that is oriented towards children and parents. The update brings routine support for FreeTime for Alexa, which allows users to execute several commands with just one command. For those lucky enough to live in a highly connected IoT household, you could say “Alexa, it’s bedtime” and then the lights will be dimmed, the Echo’s volume will be lowered, and the device will begin playing music to sleep to.
One of the really cool things that the update brings is the ability to whisper to Alexa. Owners of smart assistants have probably found themselves invoking Alexa in the dead of night and found themselves telling the device to reduce the volume as not to wake everyone up. With the update, users will be able to whisper to Alexa and it will whisper back to the users and play a quiet song at a quiet volume. Unfortunately, this feature will only arrive as part of FreeTime for Kids according to reports.
In addition to routines, Amazon said that it will also be adding other features for kids including child-friendly podcasts and over 1,000 audiobooks.
Aside from debuting these features, Amazon has announced lots of new and interesting devices including a new Echo Dot, an Echo-powered subwoofer and amp, Echo Plus, Echo Input, an Echo Wall Clock, an Alexa microwave, and an Alexa Smart Plug. Essentially, Amazon wants its AI in every corner of your home.
Via TechCrunch [1], [2]
