tech:

taffy

Developers have released over 1000 skills for Alexa, says Amazon

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

Apple deletes WhatsApp, Threads from China app store on orders from Beijing — CNN

Apple has removed WhatsApp and Threads from its app store in China, following an order from the country’s internet watchdog, writes Juliana Liu.

Singtel, Vonage partner to integrate Paragon platform

Singtel has announced a partnership with Vonage, a cloud communications company and subsidiary of Ericsson, to help enterprises and telcos innovate and scale their services through Singtel's orchestration platform, Paragon. 

Tech giants urge EU to prioritize digital competitiveness and infrastructure investment

Five major technology companies - Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia, and Vodafone - called on European policymakers to take urgent action to boost Europe's digital competitiveness and keep it a priority for the incoming European Commission.