Amazon Updates Alexa To Read Kindle Books

By Lynn Palec, | January 18, 2016

Amazon Prime's gaming discounts come on top of free Release Date delivery that Amazon already provides to Prime members for many pre-ordered games.

Amazon Prime's gaming discounts come on top of free Release Date delivery that Amazon already provides to Prime members for many pre-ordered games.

Amazon announced on Jan. 17 that it is releasing a new update for Alexa. The update will allow the digital assistant to read Kindle books through another Amazon service called Echo.

According to Mashable, the new feature is called Kindle Books by Alexa and employs the digital assistant's robotic voice.

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Users can ask Alexa to read a Kindle book by issuing a simple command like "Alex, read (name of the book." The latest update is free, and it supports any Kindle books provided that users have already stored it in their Amazon library.

Alexa uses an intuitive technology that keeps records of its users reading habits. Called the Whispersync Technology, it works as a digital librarian as well. When a user gives Alexa a command like, "Alexa, read my Kindle book," the digital assistant will open the last book the user accessed on their digital library.

The new update also gives Alexa the features to allow it to pause, go forward, and resume reading. However, the update does not include a feature to skip to a book's specific chapter. On that note, using the Alexa app, there is a button that allows users to skip 30 seconds forward or backwards when tapped and another button that has allows user to specify a chapter.

Tech analysts are mostly positive about the latest update on Alexa. Some say that the new feature is a useful feature for connected homes as it provides an easy way to keep users comfortable by reading books without the need to physically hold one.

Aside from reading books, Alexa can also do a lot of things like reading aloud a recipe for a certain dish. The digital assistant was recently integrated to smart home products developed by Vivint, the integration will allow Alexa to control various security systems as well as locks.

In order to promote the new feature to users who's Amazon Library is currently empty, Amazon is offering a free "Star Wars" ebook sample which contains various excerpts taken from six "Star Wars" novels. According to Digital Trends, the novel also adds another layer of experience to the new feature since it is dubbed by a somewhat robotic voice.

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