Amazon’s Alexa personal assistant can now help co-ordinate meetings with friends and colleagues depending on mutual availability.
The latest skill, which requires access to the calendars of both participants, enables users to simply say “Alexa, set a meeting with…”
The assistant can check the respective calendars for an gap in each person’s schedule and suggest the perfect time.
The feature is called “Schedule one-on-one Meeting” and is rolling out to US Alexa users today, with global access likely to follow.
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Users will need to link up compatible calendars within the Alexa app, while the assistant must also have access to the requisite person’s contact details.
The new Alexa calendar feature also enables the ability to move meetings to more convenient times.
The “Move Meeting” tool requires that person to request “Alexa, move my meeting…” while they can also get more specific by saying “Alexa move my meeting at 8am tomorrow to 10am”.
The Alexa home
This isn’t the only Alexa news we’re excited about this month. Lennar Homes is planning to build Alexa controls into all of its new lodgings, which will also include built-in Wi-Fi, and an array of smart locks, doorbells and thermostats.
All of the new homes will also feature a pair of Echo devices, Dash Buttons for easy re-ordering of popular products and a TV running off the voice-controlled Fire TV interface.
“This will be the hallmark of why we buy a new home,” David Kaiserman, president of Lennar Ventures, told USA Today. “It’s an important step in the mass adoption of all these technologies.”
The so-called Amazon Experience Centers will be available in eight showrooms around the US.
What’s your favourite Alexa Skill? Would you like to live in a home powered completely by Alexa? Let us know @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
