TechTaffy

tech:

taffy

Developers have released over 1000 skills for Alexa, says Amazon

By TechTaffy Desk

Developers have now released over 1,000 skills for Alexa, the cloud-based virtual assistant from Amazon, using the Smart Home Skill API within the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK), says the retail giant.

A quick look at what some developers are building:

  • Capital One – Is using ASK to give its customers voice access to banking information, so they could hear how much money they have in their accounts or make credit card payments.
  • Domino’s – Customers can order and track their pizza hands-free using Alexa.
  • Fitbit – Is leveraging ASK to provide users with voice access to their health and fitness stats. 
  • Kayak – Is using ASK to give customers a way to access their travel details with their voice.
  • SmartThings – An open platform for the smart home, is using ASK and the Smart Home Skill API to offer customers voice-activated control of their home.
  • Uber – Letting users order a ride using Alexa.

Developers can create custom skills with ASK by designing their voice UI and building cloud-hosted code that interacts with Alexa cloud-based APIs to process customer requests. 

Just in

Around the web

Windows 11 Start menu ads are now rolling out to everyone — The Verge

Microsoft is starting to enable ads inside the Start menu on Windows 11 for all users, writes Tom Warren. 
Around the web

Biden signs TikTok ‘ban’ bill into law, starting the clock for ByteDance to divest it — The Verge

President Joe Biden signed a foreign aid package that includes a bill that would ban TikTok if China-based parent company ByteDance fails to divest the app within a year, writes Lauren Feiner.
IT

IBM to acquire HashiCorp for $6.4B

IBM and HashiCorp have entered into an agreement for IBM to acquire HashiCorp, a provider of infrastructure and security management products, for $6.4 billion.
AI

OpenAI introduces new enterprise features

OpenAI announced new features aimed at enterprise users on Tuesday, at the wake of Meta's recent LLama 3 announcement.
Around the web

Oracle is moving its world headquarters to Nashville to be closer to health-care industry — CNBC

Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison said Tuesday that the company is moving its world headquarters to Nashville, Tennessee, to be closer to a major health-care epicenter, writes Ashley Capoot.