Voice Recognition Systems and AI
Amazon Alexa Skills Development
ALEXA SKILLS -Building skills for India
What really is an Alexa Skill? Alexa is © Amazon's voice service and the AI brain behind tens of millions of devices like the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Show. Alexa provides capabilities, or skills, that enable customers to create a more personalized experience.
The Alexa Skills Kit?
The Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) is a collection of self-service APIs, tools, documentation, and code samples that makes it fast and easy for you to add skills to Alexa. ASK enables designers, developers, and brands to build engaging skills and reach customers through tens of millions of Alexa-enabled devices. With ASK, you can leverage Amazon’s knowledge and pioneering work in the field of voice design.
Building Alexa Skills?
Reimagine Your Customer Experience with Alexa
Bring your big idea /API to life with Amazon's expertise in voice design building natural, voice-first experiences with Alexa, and help redefine the way your customers interact with technology.
Reach more of your Customers with the Voice Service the world prefers
Reach customers where they are through tens of millions of devices with Alexa. And continue delighting your customers through new innovations like Echo Show and new tools in the Alexa Skills Kit.
What can Alexa do?
- Alexa is DESI despite the name!
- Alexa can get the latest cricket score . Can get Vrat's highset score and averages
- Alexa can get a cab by Ola or Uber
- Alexa can play all hit songs of AR Rahman
- Alex a can get today's Bajaj Auto share price in NSE right now if trading is on
- Alex can play Lalita Sahasranamam now
Alexa can set up an alarm
Wake up to your favorite jams
Rather than waking up to a simple beep-beep-beep, you can tell Alexa to play a specific song, radio station, music genre, or more at a specific time. This works with Amazon's music services as well as Spotify, Pandora, TuneIn, SiriusXM and iHeartRadio.
Here are some examples of things you can say:
- “Alexa, wake me up at 6 am every day to music”
- “Alexa, set an alarm for 7 am using BBC news on TuneIn”
- “Alexa, wake me up at 7 am to KISS FM on TuneIn”
- “Alexa, wake me up to Adele at 8 am”
- "Alexa, wake me up to 80s music at 8 am”
- “Alexa, wake me up to Beyoncé radio on Pandora at 7 am”
- “Alexa, wake me up to jazz music at 6 am”
- “Alexa, wake me up to Christmas music at 7 am”
- “Alexa, wake me up to pop music for running at 5 am” [Amazon Music Only]
Plan a vacation
If you have a Kayak account, you can enable Alexa to help you plan a trip. This skill can track flights and check prices. You can even tell it your budget, and Kayak Explore will tell you where in the world you can go. To activate it, say "Alexa, ask Kayak where I can go for $500." May be build a skill for Make My Trip?
Order a ride
Uber and Ola both have skills you can enable for Alexa. Once you've set up an account and have the payment options filled in, it's as easy as saying, "Alexa, ask Uber to request a ride," The ride fare will be debited automatically from your account.
Dictate hands-free text messages
The Mastermind skill not only lets you send and receive SMS messages, but will help you find your phone, gets its battery life, turn on Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, start Google Maps, send articles from your phone to Alexa, and much more. The app is in a closed beta, and there's a lot of people on its waitlist, but if you pay $15, you can jump to the head of the line.
Stream music throughout your house
If you have multiple Echo devices connected to your home Wi-Fi network, you can group them in the Alexa app, and have them all stream the same music simultaneously.
Play Music:
You can stream music using Alexa from a variety of services (Spotify, Amazon Prime Music, Saavn for Indian music ,iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Pandora, and SiriusXM), and within each, up- or down-vote songs and play selected playlists. With Amazon's music library, you can also launch playlists based on specific activities, eras, artists, even your mood. You can also combine categories, such as "80s music for running," or, if you're feeling frisky, you can even ask Alexa to play hook-up music.
Use as a personal trainer
Alexa can whip your behind into shape with the 7-minute-workout skill. If you say, "Alexa, start 7-minute workout," the virtual assistant will suggest reportedly tested exercises that will increase your metabolism, improve your energy and remove fat. The best part: You can take breaks when you need them.
Check stock prices
There are several skills that offer this service, you can ask Alexa for the price of a stock using the company's natural name instead of its symbol. For instance, just say, "Alexa, ask Opening Bell for Microsoft." The service gets its data.
Hear your horoscope
Elle magazine's Astro Twins, Tali and Ophira, are identical twin sisters who will read you your horoscope once you enable this skill. They have new readings every day for all the signs of the Zodiac. Indian astrology gurus can have services!
Get help
The Ask My Buddy skill will send a notification (text, SMS or phone call) to a preselected contact when you're in an emergency and can't reach your phone. While this feature is not a substitute for 911, it lets you tell loved ones you need help.
Talk to your cat(s)
The simply titled Meow skill will literally mew, purr and chirp when you enable this command. It will either keep your cats entertained or thoroughly confuse them.
Listen to a thunderstorm
Enjoy the sound of a good, strong downpour? The Thunderstorm Sounds skill plays a loop of a thunderstorm to help you relax. Too intense? There are also Ocean Sounds and Rain Sounds skills, and the Sleep and Relaxation Sounds skill is particularly popular.
Get the latest news
The NPR Hourly News Summary skill is a 5-minute briefing of the day's headlines, updated every hour. Similar skills are available for CNN, the Associated Press and the BBC.
Connect with your Fitbit
Want to find out how close you are to reaching your daily step goal? The Fitbit skill lets you ask Alexa how many steps you've taken, how well you slept and how you did on other metrics recorded by your Fitbit activity tracker.
Turn your lights on or off
Why bother reaching for your phone or a light switch when you can simply tell Alexa to turn off your connected lights? You'll need a connected device (such as a WeMo smart plug) for this skill to work, but it's pretty handy. Skills are also available for Lutron, Samsung SmartThings, Control4 and other smart home platforms. Here's how you can connect Alexa to your Philips Hue lights.
Watch TV
There are several ways to control your TV using Alexa. If you have a Logitech Harmony remote, you can use this skill this skill to link the remote to Alexa. It's recently been upgraded so you only have to say "Alexa, turn on my TV" or "Alexa, pause," and the command will automatically be sent. Here's how to connect Alexa to your Harmony remote.
Dish customers, too, can control their satellite TV box using Alexa. Here's our guide for connecting Dish and Alexa.
Clean your apartment
A number of robot vacuums, including the Neato Botvac Connected, the iRobot Roomba 690, 890, and 960, and the Samsung PowerBot VR7000 series, can be commanded to start and stop cleaning using Alexa. Vacuuming has never been this hands-off!
Start your car
Want to get your car started and warmed up before you drive off? On select Hyundai autos (those with the Blue Link feature), you can be start the vehicle remotely, lock and unlock the doors, change the interior temperature, turn on the horn and lights, and more, using the Blue Link skill. Similar skills exist for Mercedes, BMW, and Ford vehicles.
Get someone else to do the work
The TaskRabbit Alexa skill lets you make a request of the TaskRabbit service to have someone, say, clean your house, wash your car or fix a leaky sink. After you describe what you need done, TaskRabbit (account required) will connect you with the appropriate person or service.
Follow your favorite teams
The Amazon Echo wants to help you stay on top of your favorite sports and teams. In the Alexa app, in the menu, tap Settings. In Sports Update, search for and save your favorite teams. The digital assistant can give you details such as scores and upcoming schedules for NFL, NBA, MLS, MLB, NHL, WNBA, NCAA, and other American sports. Once you've entered your team, you simply say "Alexa, give me my sports update."
Listen to a podcast
Use the Anypod skill to stream thousands of podcasts. You can search by name, subscribe to podcasts, skip ahead or back, and when you pause an episode, it'll pick up right where you left off. Included in AnyPod's 3000-plus library of podcasts are Serial, RadioLab, This American Life, S-Town, The Moth, The Daily, TED Radio Hour, and This Week In Tech.
Learn some history
The History Channel's This Day in History skill will tell you historical facts not just on the day you ask, but any day you specify. You can either say "Alexa, launch this day in history" or "Ask this day in history what happened on February 10." You might just learn something!