Amazon on Thursday launched a new service aimed at Alexa developers that automatically provisions and helps them to manage a set of AWS cloud resources for their Alexa skill’s backend service. The service is intended to help developers speed the time it takes to launch their skills, by allowing them to focus on their skills’ […]
View More Amazon launches ‘Alexa-hosted skills’ for voice app developersCategory: skills
Alexa’s skills can now work together, initially for bookings and printing
Amazon this morning announced a new way for customers to use Alexa’s skills – together, in combined requests. That is, you can start a request in one skill, then have it fulfilled in another. For example, the AllRecipes skill can now connect the HP skill in order to print out recipes for customers, Amazon says. […]
View More Alexa’s skills can now work together, initially for bookings and printingAmazon introduces APL, a new design language for building Alexa skills for devices with screens
Along with the launch of the all-new Echo Show, the Alexa-powered device with a screen, Amazon also introduced a new design language for developers who want to build voice skills that include multimedia experiences. Called Alexa Presentation Language, or APL, developers will be able to build voice-based apps that also include things like images, graphics, […]
View More Amazon introduces APL, a new design language for building Alexa skills for devices with screensMore Alexa ‘blueprints’ arrive, offering customizable voice apps for families and roommates
Earlier this year, Amazon rolled out a new feature that allowed Alexa device owners to create their own custom skills using preconfigured templates. Today, Amazon is expanding Alexa Blueprints, as the service is called, to include a handful of new templates designed for families and roommates. These include a chore chart template, a house rules […]
View More More Alexa ‘blueprints’ arrive, offering customizable voice apps for families and roommatesBoost VC backs Storyline’s Alexa skill builder
Have you felt a disconnect with your Alexa and wished she could share more of your sense of humor or tell you an actually scary ghost story? Startup Storyline makes designing your own Alexa skills as easy and dragging and dropping speech blocks, and has just raised $770,000 in a funding round led by Boost VC to […]
View More Boost VC backs Storyline’s Alexa skill builderAmazon now lets you share your custom skills made with Alexa Blueprints
Earlier this year, Amazon introduced “Alexa Blueprints” – a way for anyone to create their own customized Alexa skills for personal use, without needing to know how to code. Today, the company will allow those skills to be shared with others, including through text messages, email, messaging apps like WhatsApp, or social media platforms like […]
View More Amazon now lets you share your custom skills made with Alexa BlueprintsAmazon will now directly pay top Alexa ‘kid’ skill developers in the U.K. and Germany
Amazon is expanding its program that pays developers directly for their top-performing Alexa skills, by now offering these “developer rewards,” as they’re called, to those based in the U.K. and Germany who publish “kid” skills. This emerging skill category was one of the last to be included in the developer rewards program, which already offered […]
View More Amazon will now directly pay top Alexa ‘kid’ skill developers in the U.K. and GermanyAmazon opens up in-skill purchases to all Alexa developers
Amazon today launched in-skill purchasing to all Alexa developers. That means developers have a way to generate revenue from their voice applications on Alexa-powered devices, like Amazon’s Echo speakers. For example, developers could charge for additional packs to go along with their voice-based games, or offer other premium content to expand their free voice app […]
View More Amazon opens up in-skill purchases to all Alexa developersAlexa will soon gain a memory, converse more naturally, and automatically launch skills
Alexa will soon be able to recall information you’ve directed her to remember, as well as have more natural conversations that don’t require every command to begin with “Alexa.” She’ll also be able to launch skills in response to questions you ask, without explicit instructions to do so. The features are the first of what […]
View More Alexa will soon gain a memory, converse more naturally, and automatically launch skillsAmazon’s new ‘Alexa Blueprints’ let anyone create custom Alexa skills and responses
Amazon this morning is introducing “Alexa Blueprints,” a new way for any Alexa owner to create their own customized Alexa skills or responses, without needing to know how to code. The idea is to allow Alexa owners to create their own voice apps, like a trivia game or bedtime stories, or teach Alexa to respond […]
View More Amazon’s new ‘Alexa Blueprints’ let anyone create custom Alexa skills and responsesKids Court, the grand prize winner from Amazon’s developer contest, disappears from the Alexa Skills Store
What does winning the Alexa Skills Challenge earn you from Amazon? Apparently, in addition to the $20,000 Grand Prize, you might also have your skill yanked from the Amazon Skill Store without warning. At least, that’s what seems to have happened to the grand prize winner from the recent Alexa’s kids competition, Pretzel Labs. Its […]
View More Kids Court, the grand prize winner from Amazon’s developer contest, disappears from the Alexa Skills StoreAmazon will now pay Alexa developers for top-performing skills for kids
Last year, Amazon announced a program that would reward developers for building popular and well-received Alexa skills, by doling out cash payments for top-performing skills. Initially, the program was only open to game skill developers – as that was a category Amazon wanted to encourage – before expanding in August to a limited set of other categories. Today, Amazon is expanding… Read More