I'm sure many on here have already seen this, but Amazon announced a new subscription service for the lady A whose name cannot be mentioned for fear of a hundred ears pricking up across the land.
This will bring AI functions to the echo devices and the ability to perform more complex voice commands, like being allowed to fumble your words or chain commands together.
The cost is about $20 a month, but if you have a Prime subscription then you get it included, which is odd given that Prime costs less than this.
It seems that only the latest Echo Show devices will initially be eligible for this. But I was reading on ZDNet, that if you do have one of these, then the service will also unlock on your other Echo devices.
So I am hoping someone on here has an Echo Show and can post up their thoughts when it arrives.
Not sure when the next Amazon sale will be, but I will keep an eye out to see how cheap the Shows get.
Really interested to see where this one goes.
I think if I was going to pay for AI, then I would likely do it on my Mac rather than on my Echos, although it will definitely be something I'd want to play with. I think you can use it with the Alexa app or web site so it might still be usable on the Mac I guess.
Comments
Re: BBC
Whilst I don’t have an Echo Show, I do have a Fire TV Cube 2 and BBC iPlayer is perfectly accessible. They even made a change a couple of weeks ago so that the AD setting I is remembered so I don’t have to change it each time. Maybe it’s different on a Show.
A few years ago when I bought the Cube, iPlayer wasn’t accessible at all if I remember.
Re: Echo Show first
I am guessing that the Echo Show is first because it is less intrusive to show ads. Whereas on the voice speaker it is more obvious. I suspect they are just trying to figure out a way to pay for all this.
I think you misspelled…
I think you misspelled Stephen Fry.
I get it, I don't like the idea of us missing out on any technology, but asking for something that is specifically visual, on a visual form factor to not be visual, is a little bit of a stretch. We won't need an echo show to access Alexa Plus anyway.
there is also the fact that there are a million and one other AI solutions boiling up like ants. There will be alternatives that suit our needs better, which is the same for any user. It's not going to be one AI to rule them all, each has it's flavour and, part of the thing we look for is our personal understanding of what is accessible.
It's all a little moot anyway. Until it arrives on echo show, then on echo speakers, we realy don't know what it's going to be capable of... To be honest, I'm not sure Amazon knows either.
Echo show
1. This is likely to limit the initial number of users so they can cut down on duplicate bug reports and gradually expand availability as they become more confident in its reliability.
2. It's a niche use but theoretically you can use the show to watch Amazon Prime content or make video calls.
3. Some blind people may share their accomodation with someone sighted who would benefit more from the show, someone already mentioned their child enjoying their echo not to mention partners or roommates.
I'm confident this isn't designed to focus on sighted users, it's simply designed to limit the test user base. If it gives a perk to people buying the most expensive echo variant then that's just a bonus from a business perspective, be patient and think of this as a public beta where the show owners are the guinea pigs. I don't believe it'll be so earth shatteringly amazing compared to the standard A lady that I'm concerned about them using the more affluent people to work the bugs out.
Got Alexa+ Early Access on My Echo Pop
I have an Echo Pop. I signed up for the Alexa+ Early Access program several weeks ago and got an email on Thursday (06/05/2025) that my early access was available. I set it up on Saturday and have been using it the last couple days. The voice quality is very good, and Alexa is definitely much more conversational. It has flubbed some facts (not unlike any other AI model) but overall I am impressed with it so far.
Michael
How is the integration of third-party services? Are we able to do stuff like book hotels/uber etc in a contextually aware fassion as advertised?
Update: I Cheated The System! LOL!
My family and I got access last Friday. Since my own Amazon account wasn't eligible because I don't have or want a smart display, I switched over to the family account when I came home for summer break. I've been using Alexa+ for a few days now and I absolutely love it! The conversational aspect absolutely blew me away, and as a Christian, being able to ask about Bible verses I might have forgotten is the absolute best.
I also can send text messages through my Echo Dot over Bluetooth using my phone sort of like the Meta glasses can do. I don't know if or how my Echo Dot will notify me of an incoming text though; that will be interesting to find out.
There are 8 different voice options of which my favorites are Feminine 1 and Masculine 2. There's also an enhanced version of the original Alexa voice that's really good!
I also found a feature called Daily Briefing which takes a selection of news articles based on your interests and basically generates a radio show. Alexa learns your interests over time and incorporates them into the briefing. It will even call you by name, and each story switches between two of the voices with little sound cues in between stories and a cool little intro.
I can also forward emails to Alexa and she'll pull out all the relevant info the next time I ask a question about it. For example, I forwarded my church's newsletter to her, and then a few minutes later asked, "Echo, I sent you a newsletter a few minutes ago. Can you tell me when the Restored Family Fun Nights event is?" She not only tells me the date and time but also the location and a summary of the event from the email. I think this would be extremely useful for those of us who receive complicated PDF's that we don't understand.
Since I'm on a family account, I haven't tested out Uber, OpenTable, Ticketmaster, or Thumbtack yeteas I can't give any info as to how they work as of now.
One thing I don't like is that even though Alexa+ works on my Echo Dot, they seem to limit the ability to interrupt Alexa to devices with a screen, which seems kind of silly.
Overall, the experience is quite good. Some people might have to get used to the generative AI voices, but once you get used to it, it's absolutely amazing. I am not one of those people. The Echo Show seems to be the key that unlocks the door, but nothing more than that as it works on devices without screens. You still have to have an Echo Show to activate it for your account for the most part though, though it seems Amazon may be rolling it out to more device types as @Michael Hanson pointed out with his early access on his Echo Pop. Once Amazon sends me an email stating that my access is ready, I'll switch back over to my account and test it to its full potential. I'll keep this thread updated with new information I find and updates on my advocacy campaign.
Messages
I would imagine receiving a text message through Alexa plus, will be similar to receive a voice message through good old Alexa. If you have the Alexa app on your smart phone, you get a notification about a new message. And if you're near the device that has the Alexa plus, I imagine you get a notification sound, and when you ask it to play your notifications, it would play your text message.
That's how it works with voice messages at least.
Good luck with it. :-)
@Kyler G
That sounds really interesting. How do you access the new version? Is it something you enable in settings for each device? Or do you need to prompt it somehow?
@Mr Grieves
Amazon has two prompts that you can give Alexa in regards to Alexa+. You can ask her to tell you about Alexa+, then say "let's get started". Alternatively, we activated ours seemingly just by saying "notify me when Alexa+ is available". We expected to hear the same canned response we'd gotten before, but instead Alexa asked us if we wanted to get started, then told us to sit back and let our devices do the magic (her words, not mine), and then played a video with the new Alexa voice introducing herself over some killer background music.
Thanks
So, once you have enabled it, does it just replace the normal Alexa? And then you can presumably turn it off if you find you like the old one better for some reason?
I think the beta is only open in the US. I tried signing up to be notified when I could use it, but it didn't want to know.
US Only
Unfortunately, that's correct at the moment. But yes, once enabled, Alexa+ replaces the original experience on all your devices, but you can revert back if for some odd reason you find you don't like the new experience.
Overall, I absolutely love it! My grandma's Echo Show in the kitchen unlocked it for us, so it's not exactly Echo Show exclusive, though it still seems like you do need to own one on your account to get it activated. However, I've heard reports of people getting Alexa+ activated on Echo Dots now so we'll see how this goes. Maybe they roll it out even more broadly on Prime Day?
Reverted Due to Skill Incompatibility
One big drawback of Alexa+, and indeed the reason I switched back to original Alexa, is that not all skills are available. I have a skill that I use regularly (indeed this particular skill is my most-used Alexa feature), and it is not available on Alexa+. Amazon should do better about making sure their systems are backwards-compatible.
@Michael
Thanks for sharing your perspective!I haven't really messed around with skills on Alexa+ because I have been testing out the features that Amazon has develmped. I know you can link up Uber, OpenTable, Ticketmaster among others, but I haven't tested those out yet as I'm on a family account. I'll keep this thread updated.
Re: unsupported skills and sending messages
What happens when you try an unsupported skill? Does it just error? Is there anything in the skills list in the app that allows you to request that it gets updated? I'm sure I remember hearing somewhere that there would be a way for you to raise this sort of thing. It is possible I dreamed it of course.
The messages thing sounds interesting. Does it understand different voices? So if I ask it to send a message, it would be sent from me and not mrs grieves, and vice versa? If not I don't think it would be very practical unless you are living on your own, and even then a bit of a security/privacy risk.
Is it using the old Alexa app or is there a new one?
Question about Alexa plus
Is this also gonna be a subscription, like, I have the Alexa app on my phone. Am I gonna be able to subscribe to Alexa plus, without needing an echo, or is this specifically for the echo devices only? While reading the thread, one person said that this would be available with Amazon prime, but is there gonna be a separate subscription outside of these parameters?
@Winter Roses
Right now, it's not a subscription. It's in early access right now for free for everyone, but then it will be a Prime benefit if you're already subscribed.
Alexa+ will be available across the app and your devices. I got access through my grandparents' Echo Show, but I use it on an Echo Dot.
you don't need a prime subscription
I may be wrong, but I did hear somewhere it's $20 US a month if you don't have a prime subscription.
If I were Amazon, I wouldn't be bundling everything with prime because let's face it, you'd make more money that way.
Most people only have prime for the discounts, at least, that's why my brother has prime.
Is it something I would get? probably not.
I only have an echo dot 4th gen, and I only use it for the really basic stuff.
Plus, Australia doesn't have a lot of the cool skills.
Prime Access & Grocery Unlimited (US Only)
Obviously, this is a tech site (it'll all make sense in a sec peeps let me cook with some candy apples here!)
For those among the forums who got an EBT/Snap card, you can get Prime for 7 dollars monthly!
More details at
https://amazon.com/primeaccess/
In addition to the above, Amazon's Grocery Unlimited service:
https://amazon.com/grocery/
, can be had for 5 dollars monthly if you use food stamps. Now that, is a combination I wish more new about!
And if ya pair all that with Alexa Plus (which I'm still waiting to try since I only have an Echo Pop...)
I'm sure y'all have a blast!