Alexa+ manages to answer quickly, even when listening to a more complex question and giving a more complex answer. Usually he also manages to answer all my questions: no other “Hmm, I’m not sure how to answer” that I once heard too many from the original Alexa. He also gave me that answer to apparently simple questions: suggestions about outfits on a cloudy day at the zoo, for example, or where we can book a table for dinner or if Kesha has tickets on sale for his tour. Alexa+ can accurately tell me the details of the calendar and check my intelligent house with a much better speed than the Google speakers who checked my house for last year. I also like that I can access the conversations that I had in the past through the Alexa app. They are grouped by the initial question I asked, making it easy to browse the conversations and see what Alexa’s answers were.
Alexa+ will also use the camera to recognize you and other members of the house if they also set their profiles. My Eco shows will show “Buongiorno, Nena” when I approach them and I suggest things in the section for you on the homepage that recalls that I like to do, like the air arts and go to the zoo. Alexa+ also did a good job ignoring when they randomly lead his name in conversation, and while my initial thought was due to the fact that I did not look at the camera, my further tests discovered that he was good enough to ignore his name if he was halfway, even if I looked at them.
Alexa+ is not yet perfect, nor is it complete. I met some sobs, for example, when he was asked about the nearest donut shops, he provided me shops in the city where I live, even if I was currently in a different city. However, these problems have been easily resolved by providing them with more context. His funniest answer was when I asked for time at the zoo, trying to see if he knew he was referring to the San Diego zoo, and instead he gave me time for Zaō, Japan. But the next time I asked for time in San Diego, and then what to wear at the zoo, he deduced correctly which zoo I was talking about.
New excavations
Photography: Nena Farrell
While I can do all the original asks that I would usually do it with Alexa+, there are many new things to try.