Amazon Adds Alexa to New Fire Tablet, Other Devices

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Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced a major improvement to its new tablet as Alexa will be added to its functionalities.

Amazon
Source: Amazon

The voice-activated software is the company’s version of Apple‘s Siri (NASDAQ:AAPL) or Microsoft’s Cortana (NASDAQ:MSFT), and it has only been a part of the company’s smart speakers Echo. Now, the upcoming Fire HD 8 tablet will include the digital assistant.

The software update for tablets that Amazon is launching to Fire OS 5 will have Alexa, meaning that the Fire HD 10 tablet will also get the voice assistant. The company’s best-selling seven-inch tablet will also get it, which is the old Fire HD 8.

The new tablet is quite impressive with 1.5GB of RAM, a 1280 x 800-resolution touchscreen, eight inches in length and a battery that lasts up to 12 hours. You will only have to shell out $90 for the new Fire HD 8 gadget.

It is unclear when Amazon’s software update will be officially out, but the company said this will be happening in “the coming months.” Alexa can be used for a number of functions, including checking the weather, reading the news, hailing an Uber ride, or even accessing music or other forms of entertainment.

The mobile version of the feature will have some differences to the current Echo-speaker version as you need to push a button to activate Alexa on your tablet. With the speakers, you can simply talk and the assistant will aid you.

The e-commerce retailer also announced that mobile devices will be equipped with Alexa in the future.

Amazon recently announced the launch of a new music service that costs only $5 a month, which is about half as much as other popular streaming services, including Apple Music and Spotify.

AMZN stock is down 0.1% Thursday.

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2016/09/amazon-alexa-amzn-stock-2/.

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