Tag Archives: Alexa

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Sheetz launches new skill for Alexa now available using interactive voice activated technology

Sheetz continues its mission to provide the ultimate convenience to customers

ALTOONA, Pa., 2017-Dec-07 — /EPR Retail News/ — Sheetz, one of America’s fastest growing family-owned and operated convenience chains, is proud to announce customers can now order their favorite Made-to-Order food without even getting up from the couch. Sheetz created a new skill for Alexa which is now available using interactive voice activated technology to enable Sheetz customers, for the first time ever, to place an order by using just their voice.

“We could not be more excited to bring this next generation of innovation to our customers and industry,” said Ryan Sheetz, AVP of Brand Strategies for Sheetz. “From the inception of our MTO menu more than thirty years ago, to the introduction of touch-screen ordering in 1993, to the launch of the voice activated ordering today, our goal has always been to continue to innovate and reinvent ourselves in order to provide the ultimate convenience to our customers.”

Customers who have a Sheetz online ordering account and an Alexa-enabled device can use the new Sheetz skill for Alexa.

How it works:

  • First, log into your account on the Sheetz website (www.sheetz.com) and select your favorite order and saved store for pickup.
  • Then, search for and enable the Sheetz ordering skill through any Alexa-enabled device or Alexa App.
  • Say: “Alexa, Start Sheetz”, or “Alexa, Order My Favorite From Sheetz”
  • Let Alexa guide you the rest of the way

Ordering through the Sheetz skill for Alexa is now available at all of Sheetz’s 564 locations throughout the Mid-Atlantic.

For more information, please visit: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0723HGVBV.

About Sheetz, Inc.
Established in 1952 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Sheetz, Inc. is one of America’s fastest-growing family-owned and operated convenience store chains with more than 17,500 employees and more than $5.6 billion in annual revenue. The company operates over 560 store locations throughout Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and North Carolina. Sheetz provides an award-winning menu of M•T•O® sandwiches and salads, which are ordered through unique touch-screen order point terminals. All Sheetz convenience stores are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Recognized by Fortune as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For, Top 12 Best Places to Work for Women and Top 35 Best Workplaces for Millennials, Sheetz is committed to offering employees sustainable careers built on an inspiring culture and community engagement. For more information, visit www.sheetz.com or follow us on Twitter (@sheetz), Facebook (www.facebook.com/sheetz) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/sheetz).

For further information:
Laura Hager
lhager@planitagency.com
667-219-2067

SOURCE: Sheetz, Inc.

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Morrisons launches “voice skill” using Amazon’s Alexa

Bradford, UK, 2017-Nov-15 — /EPR Retail News/ — Customers can now order from Morrisons.com without lifting a finger using Amazon’s Alexa.

Morrisons online shoppers will now be order their weekly shop from Morrisons.com using only their voice.

Customers will be able to ask Alexa to add milk, bread or any other item to their Morrisons.com shopping list.

They will also be able to ask Alexa to edit their order; ask if their delivery is on time; or check their basket to see if an item has been requested.

The service will be particularly helpful when customers find out that they’ve run out of an item in the fridge or store cupboard – they can just ask Alexa.

It will also be helpful for people who are disabled or even on the move – BMW recently announced that Alexa would be in its new cars from next year.

To access this service, customers will need to activate the Morrisons ‘skill’ or app, which is available on devices with Amazon Alexa such as the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot or Amazon Tap.

Matt Kelleher, Morrisons Online Director, said: “Customers are increasingly using voice commands in their everyday lives to check the weather, play music, or find out the latest news. It is important we follow this emerging trend and make Morrisons an easier and more accessible place to shop for groceries online. It’s exciting that our customers can now shop without even needing to login to a computer or mobile phone.”

The Morrisons.com skill on Alexa will be able to:

  • Add items to your basket
  • Remove items from your basket
  • Check the total of your order
  • Check if you have an item in your order
  • Check if Morrisons sells a product
  • Check if you can still edit your order
  • Check if your delivery is on time

The new app will suggest the right item based on previous shops, helping customers to add to their basket.

For further information please contact the Morrisons press office on 0845 611 5111

Source: Morrisons

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Alexa and Echo are now available by invitation in Japan

Developers can now create Alexa experiences for customers in Japan—Alexa Skills Kit also now available in Japan, and Alexa Voice Service coming later this month

SEATTLE, 2017-Nov-09 — /EPR Retail News/ — Amazon today (Nov. 8, 2017) announced that Alexa and Echo are now available by invitation in Japan. Additionally, developers can now use the Alexa Skills Kit to create Japanese Alexa experiences, and will soon be able to use the Alexa Voice Service to integrate Alexa into products for Japanese customers. Read the press release announcing Alexa in Japan: https://amazon-press.jp.

“Tens of millions of customers already love Alexa and we’re thrilled to introduce her to our customers in Japan today, with an all-new experience designed from the ground up for Japanese customers, including a new Japanese voice, local knowledge, and over 250 skills from Japanese developers,” said Tom Taylor, Senior Vice President, Amazon Alexa. “We’re also excited to expand the Alexa Skills Kit and the Alexa Voice Service, so developers and hardware makers around the world can create Alexa experiences for our Japanese customers.”

Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Plus are voice-controlled speakers designed entirely around your voice—they’re always ready, hands-free, and fast. Alexa is the brain behind Echo—just ask, and she’ll answer questions, play music, read the news, set timers and alarms, recite your calendar, check sports scores, control lights around your home, and much more. With far-field voice control, Echo can do all this from across the room. Since Alexa runs in the AWS cloud, she is always getting smarter—plus, it is simple for developers to build Alexa skills and integrate Alexa into their own products.

The devices will start shipping in Japan next week.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

Media Hotline:

206-266-7180
www.amazon.com/pr

Source: Amazon.com, Inc.

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Alexa and Echo now available in India; will launch in Japan later this year

  • The Alexa Skills Kit and Alexa Voice Service also now available for developers in India
  • Amazon also announced this week that Alexa and Echo are coming to Japan this year

SEATTLE, 2017-Oct-05 — /EPR Retail News/ — Amazon today (Oct. 4, 2017) announced that Alexa and Echo are now available by invitation in India, and that they are coming to Japan later this year. Read the press release announcing Alexa in India: www.amazon.in/pr.

“Millions of customers love Alexa, and we’re thrilled to introduce her to our customers in India today and Japan later this year,” said Tom Taylor, Senior Vice President, Amazon Alexa. “We’re also excited to expand the Alexa Skills Kit and the Alexa Voice Service, so developers and hardware makers around the world can create localized Alexa experiences for our Indian and Japanese customers.”

Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Plus are voice-controlled speakers designed entirely around your voice—they’re always ready, hands-free, and fast. Alexa is the brain behind Echo—just ask, and she’ll answer questions, play music, read the news, set timers and alarms, recite your calendar, check sports scores, control lights around your home, and much more. With far-field voice control, Echo can do all this from across the room. Since Alexa runs in the AWS cloud, she is always getting smarter—plus, it is simple and free for developers to build Alexa skills and integrate Alexa into their own products.

The devices will start shipping in India later this month, and Alexa and Echo will be available in Japan later this year.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

Media Hotline:
Amazon-pr@amazon.com
www.amazon.com/pr

Source: Amazon.com, Inc.

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Amazon and Microsoft collaborate to help Alexa and Cortana talk to each other

SEATTLE, 2017-Aug-31 — /EPR Retail News/ — Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) announced today (Aug. 30, 2017) that Alexa will be able to talk to Cortana, and Cortana will be able to talk to Alexa. You will be able to turn to your Echo device and say, “Alexa, open Cortana,” or turn to your Windows 10 device and say, “Cortana, open Alexa.”

Alexa customers will be able to access Cortana’s unique features like booking a meeting or accessing work calendars, reminding you to pick up flowers on your way home, or reading your work email – all using just your voice. Similarly, Cortana customers can ask Alexa to control their smart home devices, shop on Amazon.com, interact with many of the more than 20,000 skills built by third-party developers, and much more.

“Ensuring Cortana is available for our customers everywhere and across any device is a key priority for us,” said Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft. “Bringing Cortana’s knowledge, Office 365 integration, commitments, and reminders to Alexa is a great step toward that goal.”

“The world is big and so multifaceted. There are going to be multiple successful intelligent agents, each with access to different sets of data and with different specialized skill areas. Together, their strengths will complement each other and provide customers with a richer and even more helpful experience,” said Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO, Amazon. “It’s great for Echo owners to get easy access to Cortana.”

Alexa and Cortana will begin talking to each other later this year.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

Media Hotline:
Amazon-pr@amazon.com
www.amazon.com/pr

Source: Amazon.com, Inc.

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Amazon announces all-new Alexa feature that lets you synchronize music on multiple Amazon Echo devices in your home

  • New multi-room music feature lets you group multiple Amazon Echo devices for synchronized music streaming in every room
  • New Alexa developer tools extend multi-room audio to other connected speakers and audio systems

SEATTLE, 2017-Aug-30 — /EPR Retail News/ — Amazon today (Aug. 29, 2017) announced an all-new Alexa feature that lets you control and synchronize music across multiple Amazon Echo devices in your home. Starting today, you can target music to a specific Echo device or a group of devices—just ask. Soon, this ability will be extended to control multi-room music on other connected speakers using simply your voice.

“In just the last few months, we’ve added dozens of new features to Alexa that enhance your entertainment experience—control of Amazon Fire TV and your home entertainment systems via Echo; music lyrics, Amazon Video, and movie trailers on Echo Show; and activity-based music searches—and we’re just getting started,” said Toni Reid, Vice President, Amazon Alexa. “Today, we’re making Alexa even smarter with an all-new feature that lets you play music synchronized on multiple Echo devices to provide room-filling music throughout your home.”

Multi-Room Music on Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Show

You can now synchronize your music playback across Echo devices to play songs from Amazon Music, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, and Pandora, with support for Spotify and SiriusXM coming soon. Simply use the Alexa App to create groups with two or more Echo devices by naming the group, such as “downstairs.” Once you’ve created the group, simply say “Alexa, play John Mayer downstairs.”

Customers in the US, UK, and Germany can start using multi-room music today on their Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Show devices.

New Tools Let Device Makers Create Additional Voice-Controlled Music Experiences with Alexa

Amazon also announced two new sets of tools for developers to bring multi-room music control to their speakers.

Alexa Voice Service (AVS) Multi-Room Music SDK

Amazon is introducing new tools that enable AVS device makers to integrate with Amazon Alexa Multi-Room Music. Doing so will allow customers to play their music across supported Echo and AVS devices—for example, a customer with three Echo devices and two standalone AVS speakers can play synchronized music across all five devices. These tools will be available early next year.

Connected Speaker APIs

These new tools enable device makers with connected audio systems to control music playback using Alexa. A customer can then use any Alexa-enabled device – for example an Echo Dot – to play music throughout their home on their connected audio systems. Amazon is excited to be working with leading brands on this offering, including Sonos, Bose, Sound United, and Samsung.

“Alexa set the standard for voice in smart homes, so working with Amazon to bring voice control to Sonos for the first time was an obvious choice,” said Antoine Leblond, VP of Software, Sonos. “This has been a close collaboration from the beginning as we’ve worked together to combine the magic of Alexa with the seamless multi-room audio capabilities that Sonos pioneered. We’re proud of the work we’ve done together as Amazon’s first multi-room partner – all you’ll need is an Alexa-enabled device and playing music out loud on Sonos will be as easy as saying ‘Alexa, play music in the living room.’”

“Sound United is constantly striving to provide consumers with the best possible user experience. With AI voice services simplifying how we control our home environments and products, we’re excited Denon, Marantz, and HEOS customers will be some of the first to experience Alexa multi-room audio compatibility and the power of voice control,” said Kevin Duffy, CEO and president, Sound United. “Soon, users will be able to play their favorite song, alter the volume, or change an input in any room where our connected products are placed, simply by asking Alexa to do so.”

“We’re thrilled to integrate Alexa multi-room audio with Samsung speakers,” said Jun Young Kim, Vice President of AV Business Team,Samsung. “With Alexa multi-room audio and Samsung, customers will simply be able to ask Alexa to play their favorite music in any room of the house – using only their voice. Listening to great music on Samsung speakers has never been easier.”

The Connected Speaker APIs are available in developer preview starting today.

Device makers can learn more about the new AVS developer tools here.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

Media Hotline:
Amazon-pr@amazon.com
www.amazon.com/pr

Source: Amazon.com, Inc.