Amazon launches Alexa+ in India with Hindi support

In short: Amazon has made its Alexa+ voice assistant available in India in early access, with support for Hindi and English.

What happened

Amazon said Alexa+, a newer version of Alexa designed for longer back and forth conversations, is now available in India. The company says the assistant can keep track of what you already asked, like a person who remembers the earlier part of a chat.

Amazon is offering Alexa+ to all customers in India during this early access period. After testing, Amazon says Alexa+ will be free for Prime customers, and it will cost ₹2,000 per month for customers who do not have Prime.

Amazon says Alexa+ can handle more complicated, multi-step requests. Examples include ordering groceries from Amazon Now, and controlling smart home devices like lights. Users can also switch between English and Hindi mid-sentence.

Amazon also said Alexa+ connects with several India-focused services. These include Swiggy, Zomato’s ticket platform District, TripAdvisor, MakeMyTrip, and EazyDiner. It also works with music services such as Amazon Music and JioSaavn.

Why it matters

For many people, a voice assistant is only useful if it understands how they actually speak at home. Hindi support, including the ability to mix Hindi and English in one sentence, could make Alexa+ easier to use for more households in India. The announced pricing also matters, since ₹2,000 per month is a significant cost for a feature that may feel optional for many users.

Source: TechCrunch AI