Amazon’s Alexa quietly gained a few features in February you might not be aware of, including severe weather alerts and the ability to send information about your commute directly to your phone. These, and other features, were announced in Alexa’s Monthly Roundup for February, published yesterday.
Alexa adds severe weather alerts and new features for commuters
Watch NBA highlights on Alexa-devices with screens
Watch NBA highlights on Alexa-devices with screens
is a deputy editor and Verge co-founder with a passion for human-centric cities, e-bikes, and life as a digital nomad. He’s been a tech journalist for 20 years.
Say “Alexa, how’s my commute” or “Alexa, how is the traffic to the airport?” to your Alexa-enabled device and you’ll hear the current traffic report. “Alexa, send that to my phone” will generate a notification on your device, and you can tap it to begin navigation using your phone’s maps app.
“Alexa, tell me when there’s a severe weather alert”
If you say “Alexa, tell me when there’s a severe weather alert,” the digital assistant will notify you when a severe weather warning is issued in your area. You can turn this feature off by saying “Alexa, cancel severe weather alerts.”
Other new features recently introduced include NBA highlights (“Alexa, play the Lakers highlights”) for Alexa-enabled device with a screen, or updates on the 2020 US presidential election by saying “Alexa, what’s my election update” or “Alexa, what happened in the last debate.”
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