Amazon updates Alexa Plus to work with more smart home devices

In short: Amazon is rolling out an Alexa Plus update that lets it understand more complicated requests and control more smart home devices from more brands.

What happened

Amazon announced an update to Alexa Plus, its newer version of the Alexa voice assistant. The company says the update will let Alexa Plus connect to more smart home devices, including products from Bosch, Delta, Ecovacs, iRobot, Yale Home, Whirlpool, Tapo, Eufy, and others.

Amazon says Alexa Plus will also be better at sending your request to the right device automatically. Think of it like a receptionist who knows which department to call without you naming it.

Amazon shared an example using a supported washing machine. A person could say, “Alexa, my kid’s soccer jersey could use a deep clean, but the tag says cold wash only.” Alexa Plus would then look through the washer’s options and choose a cycle that matches that request.

Amazon says these new connections are powered by a new AI developer toolkit, which is a set of tools that helps device makers plug their products into Alexa Plus. Amazon is also adopting the Model Context Protocol, or MCP, which it describes as an open standard that helps an AI system connect to outside services and tools (like giving the assistant more “ports” to plug into).

Amazon first launched Alexa Plus widely in February. It could already handle multi-step requests and create routines by voice, but it only worked with a limited set of outside services. Amazon says more integrations are coming later this year, including Priceline, Canva, Headspace, Lyft, Cengage, and Virgin Atlantic. Amazon also says some partners, including Priceline, Atom Tickets, Cengage, Fandango, and Taskrabbit, will soon support payments through Amazon Wallet.

Why it matters

If it works as promised, this update could make smart home voice control less picky. Instead of memorizing exact commands or specific app names, people may be able to describe what they want in plain language and let Alexa Plus handle the steps.

Source: The Verge AI