It’s finally official. Amazon’s Alexa has made its first appearance on mobile thanks to an over the air update to the Huawei Mate 9. This will make the Mate 9 the first phone to ever host the popular AI assistant. This will bring many of the features that have been favorites from the Amazon Echo and the Dot, which also comprise the ability to control the user’s home automation devices while they are away.
Apart from the regular chores, the Alexa app can do almost every other thing that the Echo can do from buying from the Amazon Store, playing podcasts, games and also track workout routines after it has finished briefing the user on the news. The app will also provide information about people, allow the booking of movie tickets and just like the Google Assistant, Alexa can also let users access its deep library of jokes.
Everything is not the same as the real thing, since this app does not necessarily mean that users don’t need to think about buying an Echo just yet. All these functions only work if the app is kept open on the phone. Alexa cannot be activated using a hot word or a shortcut the same way as Google Assistant can, as pointed by CNet. This could, for now, prove to be a hindrance for the Alexa as many other voice AI assistants do not need to have their own separate session to be used. Hopefully, an update should remedy this feature.
Amazon has also not made it possible for the app to track the user’s location using GPS in the case that they want to hail a cab. It is also not possible for Alexa to look into a user’s contacts as well, mostly because Amazon did not yet make this feature possible but will enable it sometime in the future. ZDNet points out that Huawei has made more than 10,000 skills available for the Alexa and that more will roll out for the Mate 9 over time. The app is currently in the process of being rolled out via updates and most Mate 9 smartphones should have it by now.
The Mate 9 had come out with 4 distinct microphones, specifically for this function and now it’s starting to pay off. The Mate 9 will also be compatible with Google Assistant, but for now, the Google AI seems to be a lot more functional. Let’s hope that Alexa can expand and provide a unique set of skills for the mobile platform.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQn6aFQwBQU