Amazon Devices January Round-Up: Valentine’s with Alexa, Echo Show Gestures, and More

Built into over 100,000,000 devices worldwide, Amazon Alexa continues to evolve and find new ways to apply learned  behaviours to different scenarios.

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Here are the top Amazon devices and Alexa updates you need to know for the month of January  2023:

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with Alexa

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and Amazon is here to make your day a love-filled one with Alexa.

This Valentine’s Day, try some of the following utterances with your Alexa-powered devices:

Love-filled commands:

  • “Alexa, I love you” – Express your feelings to Alexa and see what Alexa has to say!
  • “Alexa, Happy Valentine’s Day” – Wishing you and your loved ones a Happy Valentine’s Day!
  • “Alexa, sing a love song” – Get in the mood with a love song, just ask Alexa to play one!

Time for date night:

  • “Alexa, give me a pickup line” – Impress your crush with a cheesy pickup line that Alexa can provide.
  • “Alexa, give me a date night idea” – Looking for something fun to do with your significant other Alexa has got you covered.

Fun for all:

  • “Alexa, what’s my star sign match?” – Get an idea of who your perfect match is based on your star sign.
  • “Alexa, quiz me on love.” – Test your love knowledge and see how much you know about the day of love!
  • “Alexa, give me a valentine?” – Let Alexa suggest a Valentine’s Day gift or message for your loved one!
  • “Alexa, who do you love?” – Find out who’s on Alexa’s radar

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Echo Shows Become More Accessible with Gestures

The new Gestures feature now available for Canadian users on Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen) and Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen) is making Alexa interactions more accessible.

Gestures offer increased accessibility features for users who are nonverbal or have limited mobility or hearing.

To try out Gestures on your Echo Show 8 or 10 at home:

  • Select “Settings,” then “Device Options,” then “Gestures”.

Protecting Your Privacy With Alexa

On January 28th Amazon celebrated Data Privacy Day. Below are some suggestions on how to make sure you are in control of your voice data.

  • Alexa does not record everything you say all the time. By default, Echo devices only record audio after the device detects your chosen wake word (such as “Alexa” or “Amazon”).
  • Echo devices are designed to listen for the sound waves of the wake word while ignoring everything else.
  • Customers will always know when Alexa is listening to their request through the blue light indicator and optional audio tone.
  • You can easily review and manage your recordings in the Alexa app or online.
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