Tag: Alexa

Boston Children’s Hospital To Further Integrate Amazon’s Virtual Assistant Alexa

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
After releasing an Alexa skill called KidsMD last month that dispenses healthcare advice for parents with sick kids, Boston Children’s Hospital is planning to further integrate the voice-activated virtual assistant into its daily operations. The hospital and its sibling facilities are working to “bring Alexa into patient rooms, help doctors take notes, read back charts, and more,” according to a spokesperson.

During a recent demo at its simulation center, the hospital staff set up three mocked-up rooms — an operating room, an intensive care unit, and a child’s bedroom — to demonstrate how Alexa may assist in medical and healthcare domains. While the demo session revealed some potential drawbacks of Alexa, as it occasionally misunderstood commands and frustrated doctors, it nevertheless offers a hopeful glimpse into the future of healthcare aided by voice-activated tools.

What Healthcare Brands Need To Do
Hands-free interactions enabled by voice interfaces are a natural fit for hospitals, as doctors and healthcare practitioners would be relieved from some manual tasks in order to focus on their patients. For brands, however, this kind of interface presents new challenges in discovery as they only present limited options upon requests. Therefore, healthcare brands should be proactive in experimenting with voice-activated devices via deep integrations or partnerships.

The Lab currently has extensive experience working with brands to develop Alexa skills and incorporating them into brand strategies. So get in touch or schedule a visit to the Lab if you’d like to learn more about how to reach your audience via conversational interfaces. For more information on this topic, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: Stat News

Amazon Fire TV Gets New Business-Friendly Alexa Features

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Amazon’s Fire TV devices have enjoyed Alexa integration since September, and now Amazon is adding even more useful voice-command features to those streaming devices. After updating to the latest software, Fire TV users will be able to ask Alexa to search for local businesses and restaurants in the same way an Echo user does now, thanks to Alexa’s integration with Yelp last year. Besides this business-friendly feature, Alexa can also help Fire TV users launch and navigate the HBO and Hulu apps via the Fire TV remote, look up showtimes for movie theaters, and even read them Kindle ebooks.

What Brands Need To Do
In January, Amazon claimed that Fire TV was “the best-selling streaming media player in the U.S.” With this update, Amazon is extending Alexa’s reach into more living rooms. For brands operating physical stores, especially chain restaurants, it is important to make sure their business information is correctly indexed on Yelp in order to aid discovery.

For more information on how brands can develop authentic brand voices and navigate the new rules of discovery, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: TechCrunch

 

Alexa Can Now Answer Your Medical Inquiries

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Another week, another new skill for Alexa. Amazon’s voice assistant continues to grow its capabilities as KidsMD, an Alexa skill developed by Boston Children’s Hospital, officially launched last week. It allows users to ask Alexa-enabled Amazon devices for information about their sick children’s symptoms and receive health advice. Users can also ask Alexa for age and weight-specific dosing guidelines for various medications for kids.

What Brands Need To Do
This new skill marks one of Alexa’s first entries (besides My Dermatologist) into the healthcare domain, and it should come in handy when parents are too busy taking care of their sick kids to manually Google for information. As conversational interfaces led by the likes of Alexa and chat bots continue to gain momentum and evolve in their capabilities, it is important for brands of all industries to explore possible integrations into those advanced platforms.

For more information on how brands can develop authentic brand voices and navigate the new rules of discovery, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: Engadget

Alexa Connects To More Smart Home Devices

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Voice control is coming soon to more smart home devices as Amazon adds Smart Home Skill API to Alexa Skills Kit. This will make it easier for makers of smart home gadgets to integrate Amazon’s voice assistant with their products, allowing users to control those devices remotely via voice command. For now, Amazon’s API is limited to thermostats, lights, switches, and plugs. Last week, Alphabet-owned Nest integrated Alexa into its smart thermometers to allow users to adjust the temperature without lifting a finger.  

What Brands Need To Do
According to BI Intelligence estimates, connected-home device shipments will grow at a massive compound annual rate of 67% over the next five years and hit 1.8 billion units shipped in 2019. As the availability of smart home devices rapidly grows, they provide a valuable emerging platform for brands to connect with consumers at home. As Amazon and the developer community continue to build out Alexa’s capabilities and make it more brand-friendly, brands would be smart to get on board with those devices via integrations or partnerships.

For more information on how brands can develop authentic brand voices and navigate the new rules of discovery, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: ZDNet

 

Fitbit Becomes The First Wearable Company To Integrate With Amazon’s Alexa

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Another day, another new skill added to Amazon’s virtual assistant service Alexa. Today, Fitbit unveiled its integration with Alexa, which allows users to get their daily fitness stats, such as steps taken and heart rates, simply by asking their Alexa-enabled Amazon devices. The fitness wearable maker also designed some contextual messages so that Alexa can offer users words of encouragement throughout the day.

What Brands Need To Do
While Fitbit is the first wearable company to integrate with Alexa, it is not the first one to add a conversational touch to fitness wearables. Moov, for example, created a fitness tracker that talks to you during workouts via wireless earbuds to guide you through the exercises and reads you key biometric stats. Nevertheless, by integrating with Alexa, Fitbit has added another dimension to its product and a new touchpoint to engage users. As Amazon and the developer community continue to build out Alexa’s capabilities and make it an increasingly brand-friendly platform to reach consumers at home, brands would be smart to get on board with those devices via integrations or partnerships.

For more information on how brands can develop authentic brand voices and navigate the new rules of discovery, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: CNet

SXSW 2016: Quaker Oats Integrates With Alexa To Offer User Recipes

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Quaker is tapping Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa to help customers easily find trendy recipes for making overnight oats, the long-standing, household brand announced at SXSW today. Working with agency partner Organic, Quaker has created its first app for Alexa, which is available through Amazon products such as the Echo speakers. The company is also planning a launch campaign to promote the Echo app when it becomes available to the public this summer.

What Brands Need To Do
Hands-free interactions enabled by voice interfaces are a natural fit for the kitchen, where it is more convenient for users to give commands by speaking rather than touch. So it makes sense for Quaker to integrate with Alexa to add a futuristic sheen to its 135-year-old brand. As Amazon and the developer community continue to build out Alexa’s capabilities and make it an increasingly brand-friendly platform to reach consumers at home, brands would be smart to get on board with those devices via integrations or partnerships.

For more information on how brands can develop authentic brand voices and navigate the new rules of discovery, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: AdWeek

Capital One Customers Can Now Bank With Alexa

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Alexa keeps getting smarter as it adds basic banking to its long list of skills today. Capital One announced at SXSW the integration of its banking app with Amazon’s voice-activated virtual assistant. The new skill allows users of Alexa-enabled devices to ask Alexa to check their account balances, review recent transactions, and even pay their bills with pre-linked accounts. All they need to do is to enable the skill in the Alexa mobile app, then link Alexa with Capital One accounts.

What Brands Need To Do
As Amazon and their developer community continue to build out Alexa’s capabilities, the Echo is becoming an increasingly business-friendly platform for brands to connect with consumers via a conversational interface. As Amazon expands the Echo family and makes push for Alexa integrations, brands will need to be proactive in getting on board with those devices via deep integrations or partnerships.

For more information on how brands can develop authentic brand voices and navigate the new rules of discovery, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: The Verge

Echo Gains Uber Integration As Amazon Readies Super Bowl Push

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Amazon took advantage of Uber’s API and integrated the on-demand car service into its smart speaker Echo. After enabling the Uber skill in the Echo app, users will be able to simply request an Uber ride simply by asking Alexa, the AI-powered virtual assistant embedded in Echo. You can also talk with Alexa to find out when your ride will be arriving or to cancel the ride.

Earlier this week, Echo also integrated Domino’s app to give Alexa the ability to order pizzas and track delivery, while adding support for streaming music (and ads for free-tier users) from Spotify. Amazon will be making its Super Bowl debut this Sunday with a celebrity-studded spot for Echo, and adding these useful skills certainly makes for a strong case as the company gets ready to push Echo into mainstream consumer market.

What Brands Need To Do
As Alexa’s list of skills continues to grow, Amazon Echo is becoming an increasingly business-friendly platform for brands to connect with consumers via a conversational interface. For brands, this kind of interface presents new challenges in discovery because they only give out limited options upon requests. Therefore, brands will need to be active in getting on board with those voice-activated devices via deep integrations or partnerships.

For more information on how brands can develop authentic brand voices and navigate the new rules of discovery, check out the Conversational Interfaces section in our Outlook 2016.

 

Source: The Verge

 

Header image courtesy of Amazon on YouTube

 

Amazon’s New Fire TV Adds Alexa, Takes On Apple TV

Posted on by Lab Team

What Happened
Earlier today, Amazon unveiled its answer to the new Apple TV – a souped-up Fire TV box equipped with support for 4K videos and digital assistant Alexa, recently freed from Echo. The addition of Alexa will bring its voice-enabled remote control to Fire TV, as well as powering some content searches on the TV. Last week, Apple unveiled the new Apple TV with Siri integration and an App Store.

What Brands Should Do
Previously, brands can get their content onto Fire TV through its app store, and the addition of Alexa spells more opportunity for brand integrations. Presumably, Amazon will soon allow Alexa to help users reorder Amazon.com items through Fire TV. For more information on how brands and content owners can make use of the new generation of set top boxes, click here to read our in-depth Fast Forward analysis on the new Apple TV.

The Lab has extensive experience working with brands to reach their audiences in the OTT and digital video space. Earlier this year, we led our parent company Interpublic Group to invest in Samba TV, a startup that specializes in advanced real-time TV analytics and cross device retargeting. Using Samba’s tools, the Lab can develop a second-screen retargeting campaign to reach audiences on ad-free OTT services. To learn more about how to reach your audience on advanced TV, contact our Engagement Director Samantha Holland ([email protected]) and schedule a visit to the Lab.

 

Source: The Verge

Why Amazon Unbundled Virtual Assistant Alexa From Echo

Posted on by Lab Team

Read original article on: TechCrunch

On Thursday, Amazon unveiled a tri-fold initiative that unbundles Alexa, its own speech-command virtual assistant, from the smart speaker Echo it originally inhabits. This includes an API set that allows third-party developers easily add Alexa into their own apps, Alexa Voice Service that let gadget makers to integrate Alexa into connected hardware, as well as a $100 million Alexa Fund dedicated to supporting app developers and startups that are looking to build voice-powered experiences.

This unbundling came just a month after Microsoft’s announcement of Project Oxford, which includes a set of APIs and SDKs to allow developers to integrate Cortana, its own virtual assistant service, into third-party platforms and apps. At the time, we wondered about the potential of speech-driven digital assistants like Cortana and Siri to become the new universal UI. And now, with Amazon starts pushing Alexa into new apps and platforms, it seems like we are one step closer to an inevitable virtual assistant showdown, which could have a ripple effect on both the mobile ecosystem and the development of Internet of Things.