Amazon Canada Announces New Alexa Features, Partnerships at CES 2023

Amazon Canada has announced a handful of new Alexa features, experiences, and partnerships this week at CES 2023.

Some of the highlights from the event include the following:

Amazon and Josh.ai Multi-Assistant Integration

Home intelligence system Josh.ai can now be integrated with Alexa to work simultaneously alongside Josh.ai’s voice assistant. Users simply need to use the corresponding wake word.

While Josh.ai’s purpose-built assistant controls the smart home and its connected devices, customers can use Alexa simultaneously to manage day-to-day tasks, seek entertainment, manage shopping lists, and more.

Matter

Beginning this spring, Amazon will expand Matter support to iOS, Thread, thermostats, blinds, and remaining Echo and eero devices.

In addition, Amazon is releasing the first Alexa Ambient Home Dev Kit (AAHDK) APIs for developer preview later this month. This includes an API for Group Sync, Device Sync, and Credential Locker (CLAPI).

These cloud-based features are designed to be flexible, allowing developers to maximize their development effort regardless of their mobile OS or connectivity protocol.

Onsite Astro Demos

Astro is Amazon’s first household robot, built to give customers greater peace of mind, convenience, and delight in their daily lives.

Users can also stop by the Amazon Devices booth in The Venetian on January 5 or 6 for live Astro demos to see how it works and what it could do for you.

Astro is not currently available in Canada.