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What Is An Amazon Alexa Skill?


Modern technology has made our lives much more comfortable and convenient. It has allowed us to engage in different types of activities that a lot of us did not think possible 20 years ago. With it, we are able to communicate with people across the globe, look up information whenever and wherever, make business deals, organize our trips, and perform seemingly mundane day-to-day tasks more efficiently.

Nowadays, one of the latest technological advancements that are making waves worldwide is the Alexa. What is it and what does it do?


How Did The Amazon Alexa Begin?

Developed by Amazon, Alexa is a cloud-based voice service that acts as like your own personal virtual assistant. It was first introduced in 2014 and originally used in Amazon’s smart speakers, the Amazon Echo and the Amazon Echo Dot.

Available in four languages --- English, German, French, and Japanese, it works on a variety of platforms, including iOS, Android, and Fire TV, that run on iOS 8.0 or later, or Fire OS 5.0 or later.


What Is An Alexa Skill?

An Alexa Skill refers to an ability or capability that the Amazon Alexa can perform. Just say a task out loud, and Alexa will do it for you! It can be general functions that you already enjoy now from your desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones, or skills that are developed by you or third-party vendors to perform more specific and personalized functions. Some examples are:

·         Providing traffic and weather updates
·         Playing music and other audio
·         Setting timers and alarms
·         Giving the current news reports
·         Sending text messages
·         Making calls
·         Controlling smart home appliances and systems

These days, there are more than 10,000 Alexa Skills available on Amazon that can be useful in quite a wide range of fields and industries --- from business, education, news, sports, travel, weather, and lifestyle to food, health, music, humor, and shopping. 


Where Can You Use The Amazon Alexa Skills In Your Everyday Life?

Thanks to Amazon Alexa Skills, you can do a ton of everyday tasks, such as the following, with just a voice command:

·         To turn off the lights in your bedroom without having to leave your seat or bed, you can say, “Alexa, turn off the lights in the bedroom.”

·         To order take-out food via some restaurants’ or fastfoods’ app, give the command, “Alexa, order pizza from ____.”

·         To know if tomorrow’s a good day for a hike, you can ask, “Alexa, what’s the weather like tomorrow?”


Can You Make Your Own Alexa Skill?

With The Amazon Alexa Skills Kit (or ASK), it is possible for you to create your own personalized Alexa Skills. Its collection of tools, code samples, self-service APIs, and documentation are very helpful to developers, businesses, and even regular users like you who want to build Alexa Skills according to your personal needs.

You can go visit Amazon.com now and sign up for an account to get started. Read the instructions and tutorials to learn how you can successfully design, build, and launch your own Alexa Skills.


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