Who Made Alexa?
For the defunct subsidiary company of Amazon, see Alexa Internet,
| Developer(s) | Amazon |
|---|---|
| Initial release | November 6, 2014 ; 8 years ago |
| Operating system | Fire OS 5.0 or later, iOS 11.0 or later Android 4.4 or later |
| Platform | Amazon Echo Fire OS iOS Android Linux Windows |
| Available in | English French German Japanese Italian Spanish Portuguese Hindi Arabic |
| Type | Intelligent personal assistant, cloud-based voice service |
| Website | developer,amazon,com /alexa |
Amazon Alexa, also known simply as Alexa, is a virtual assistant technology largely based on a Polish speech synthesiser named Ivona, bought by Amazon in 2013. It was first used in the Amazon Echo smart speaker and the Echo Dot, Echo Studio and Amazon Tap speakers developed by Amazon Lab126,
- It is capable of voice interaction, music playback, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, playing audiobooks, and providing weather, traffic, sports, and other real-time information, such as news,
- Alexa can also control several smart devices using itself as a home automation system.
Users are able to extend the Alexa capabilities by installing “skills” (additional functionality developed by third-party vendors, in other settings more commonly called apps ) such as weather programs and audio features. It uses automatic speech recognition, natural language processing, and other forms of weak AI to perform these tasks.
Most devices with Alexa allow users to activate the device using a wake-word (such as Alexa or Amazon ); other devices (such as the Amazon mobile app on iOS or Android and Amazon Dash Wand) require the user to click a button to activate Alexa’s listening mode, although, some phones also allow a user to say a command, such as “Alexa” or “Alexa wake”.
As of November 2018, Amazon had more than 10,000 employees working on Alexa and related products. In January 2019, Amazon’s devices team announced that they had sold over 100 million Alexa-enabled devices. In September 2019, Amazon launched many new devices achieving many records while competing with the world’s smart home industry.
Who is the CEO of Alexa?
Tom Taylor leads the Amazon Alexa and Echo teams at Amazon.
Is Alexa made by Apple?
Amazon Echo vs Apple HomePod vs Google Nest: price and availability – Let’s clear a few things up first. Amazon, Apple and Google are the brands that create the top smart speakers, and each brand has its own voice-based smart assistant. Amazon has Alexa, Apple has Siri and Google has Google Assistant.
Each brand then has a range of smart speakers with these assistants built-in. There’s Amazon Echo, Apple HomePod and Google Nest. The types of products and prices vary across each of these ranges. For example, the Amazon Echo range has the most extensive selection of smart speakers. You can read our best Alexa speakers for a more detailed rundown of our favorites.
The prices of Amazon Echo smart speakers start at $49.99 / £49.99 / AU$79 for the Amazon Echo Dot. Apple is currently only offering one smart speaker after discontinuing its original HomePod in 2021. Now the Apple HomePod Mini is available for $99 / £99 / AU$149.
- The Google Nest range used to be called Google Home.
- You might still find older models, like the Google Home Mini, available.
- But for the most part, products from Google now include the Nest label, with prices starting at $49.99 / £49 / AU$79 for the Google Nest Mini and jumping up to $99 / £89 / AU$149 for the larger Google Nest Audio.
These are the only two products in the Google Nest range right now. 
The Apple HomePod Mini is available in five different colours (Image credit: Apple)
Who owned Alexa?
The headlines for Alexa have been dire of late, with word of massive layoffs in Amazon’s Alexa division and chatter that the Alexa group is hemorrhaging cash, In another development from earlier this year, Amazon shuttered Alexa.com, with Amazon saying prior to the shutdown that it was a “difficult” decision.
So what does that mean for Alexa? Well, no matter the financial tribulations that Alexa appears to be facing, the truth is that Alexa.com the website had nothing to do with Alexa the voice assistant. Founded back in 1996, just a few years after the birth of the World Wide Web, Alexa Internet was a service that tracked and compared the traffic of websites, gathering browsing data from the Alexa Toolbar (subsequently replaced by browser extensions) as well as sites that had installed the Alexa script on their pages.
Amazon snapped up Alexa Internet and the Alexa.com domain back in 1999, a full 15 years before Alexa the voice assistant made her first appearance. Back in the day, a site’s Alexa traffic ranking was a big deal. Not only could website owners stack their properties up against competitors, they could also raise their advertising rates if their rankings were high enough.
- The Alexa Toolbar was also a popular helper app for browsers that, among other tools, included a then-novel popup blocker.
- But times change, and Alexa Internet eventually found itself in an increasingly competitive field.
- While there were once plenty of loyal Alexa.com users around, Amazon clearly felt that the cost of keeping the site operational was no longer worth the expense.
The e-commerce giant announced its intention to close down Alexa.com in December 2021, and the service finally went dark on May 1, 2022. So yes, Amazon owns both Alexa the Internet site and, you know, Alexa, but the two entities are otherwise unrelated, and Amazon’s decision to shut down Alexa.com had nothing to do with Alexa’s current predicament.
- If you do want to visit Alexa (the digital assistant) on the web, you can still go to alexa.amazon.com,
- On that webpage, you can perform many of the Alexa-related functions that appear on the Alexa app, including adjusting Alexa preferences, setting alarms and reminders, managing skills and connected smart home devices, and more.
Updated on November 23, 2022 with recent news developments.
Where did Alexa come from?
Amazon chose the name Alexa because it ‘was inspired by the Library of Alexandria and is reflective of Alexa’s depth of knowledge,’ Lauren Raemhild, a public relations specialist for Amazon, said in a statement, referring to the late-pharaonic-era institution in Egypt.
How old is Alexa’s?
For the defunct subsidiary company of Amazon, see Alexa Internet,
| Developer(s) | Amazon |
|---|---|
| Initial release | November 6, 2014 ; 8 years ago |
| Operating system | Fire OS 5.0 or later, iOS 11.0 or later Android 4.4 or later |
| Platform | Amazon Echo Fire OS iOS Android Linux Windows |
| Available in | English French German Japanese Italian Spanish Portuguese Hindi Arabic |
| Type | Intelligent personal assistant, cloud-based voice service |
| Website | developer,amazon,com /alexa |
Amazon Alexa, also known simply as Alexa, is a virtual assistant technology largely based on a Polish speech synthesiser named Ivona, bought by Amazon in 2013. It was first used in the Amazon Echo smart speaker and the Echo Dot, Echo Studio and Amazon Tap speakers developed by Amazon Lab126,
- It is capable of voice interaction, music playback, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, playing audiobooks, and providing weather, traffic, sports, and other real-time information, such as news,
- Alexa can also control several smart devices using itself as a home automation system.
Users are able to extend the Alexa capabilities by installing “skills” (additional functionality developed by third-party vendors, in other settings more commonly called apps ) such as weather programs and audio features. It uses automatic speech recognition, natural language processing, and other forms of weak AI to perform these tasks.
Most devices with Alexa allow users to activate the device using a wake-word (such as Alexa or Amazon ); other devices (such as the Amazon mobile app on iOS or Android and Amazon Dash Wand) require the user to click a button to activate Alexa’s listening mode, although, some phones also allow a user to say a command, such as “Alexa” or “Alexa wake”.
As of November 2018, Amazon had more than 10,000 employees working on Alexa and related products. In January 2019, Amazon’s devices team announced that they had sold over 100 million Alexa-enabled devices. In September 2019, Amazon launched many new devices achieving many records while competing with the world’s smart home industry.
Who is better Alexa or Google?
Google Home: Cons – We’ve already explained above that Google Home slightly lags in third-party smart device support when compared to Alexa. Although it’s closing the gap, this is still a major factor that’ll affect which one you pick. Also, Google does not offer any way to change the “wake word” for its devices. 
Nest Mini Google johnlewis.com £20.00 Google’s answer to the Echo Dot, this is a small and discreet speaker that’s affordable and capable of handling all your requests. We’d recommend this for a hallway side table or tabletop as it’s not going to deliver booming sound for music but is still ideal for your voice requests. Best Google smart speaker for music 
Nest Audio Google johnlewis.com £59.99 Covered in recycled fabric, this is bigger and taller but still looks like the Nest Mini. The difference is that it’s focused much more on audio quality, making it the best Google option for music. We found it great at reproducing bass and like that it has Bluetooth to play music from your phone. Best Google smart display for your bedside 
Nest Hub 2nd Gen This is a capable 7-inch smart display that is ideal for controlling your home from your bedside. It doesn’t have a camera so it’s not for video calls, but it works with a lot of streaming services for watching shows or, more realistically, checking a recipe video on YouTube. Don’t need a screen? Go for the Nest Mini. Best Google smart display 
Nest Hub Max Google johnlewis.com £219.00 Google’s largest and most powerful smart display is the best one we’ve tested for Google Assistant. It has a clear screen, a built-in camera (which works for video calls and as an indoor security camera) and we were impressed that its facial recognition means it can personalise the reminders and messages you see when you look at the screen.
Is Alexa a Tesla?
You can use Tessie to control your Tesla using Alexa. Open the Alexa Skill and tap Enable to link Tessie with Alexa. After linking Tessie, you can say things like “Alexa, ask Tessie Control to start climate.” Note: Amazon requires that your Alexa device’s content region be set to US, UK, CA or AU.
Who invented Siri and Alexa?
| Adam Cheyer | |
|---|---|
| Adam Cheyer, Co-Founder of Siri | |
| Born | 1966-1967 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Sharon High School Brandeis University UCLA |
| Known for | Siri, CALO |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Artificial intelligence |
| Institutions | Apple, Inc. Siri SRI International Change.org Genetic Finance/Sentient Technologies |
Adam Cheyer (born c.1966) is a co-founder of Siri Inc. and formerly a director of engineering in the iPhone group at Apple,
What is Alexa birthday?
When is Alexa’s birthday? – Currently, Alexa is 7 years old. Amazon introduced the technology to the world on Nov.14, 2014. This is recognized as Alexa’s birthday.
Is Alexa a guy or a girl?
| Gender | Female |
|---|---|
| Language(s) | Greek |
| Origin | |
| Meaning | defender of human |
| Other names | |
| See also | Alexander Alexandra Alexis Alexia Alex Alexa |
Alexa is a female form of Alex, It is variously a given name in its own right or a short form of Alexandra, both of which come from the Greek name Alexandros. It can be broken down into alexo meaning “to defend” and ander meaning “man”, making both Alexa and Alexandra mean “defender of man”. The similarly-spelled name Aleksa is a South Slavic masculine name.
Why is it named Alexa?
By Seattle Times business reporter About 4,250 Alexas are turning five in the U.S. this year. One of them is Amazon’s. The voice-computing technology that can now control more than 85,000 different devices debuted Nov.6, 2014. Some 10,000 people work at Amazon on various parts of the system of technologies, which is used by “tens of millions” of customers each month, according to a company blog post marking its birthday. 
“As the Alexa device becomes more ubiquitous, Alexa baby girls will become less so,” said Pamela Redmond, co-founder of baby names site Nameberry, Thousands of other babies each year are named variants such as Alexandra and Alexis, the latter peaking as the third-most-popular female baby name in 1999.
- The arrival of the voice-computing system and its microphone-equipped device has been a mild annoyance for some of the other Alexas.
- One writes on Nameberry that she loves her name, but wishes everyone called her Lexi now.
- Meeting anyone under the age of 12 or over the age 45 means them saying, ‘Oh, like Amazon Alexa’ after I introduce myself.” Pop culture influences baby naming trends, but not always in predictable ways, Redmond said.
“Kylo as in Kylo Ren was one of the fastest-rising names last year even though the character was not strictly positive,” she said. Indeed, Kylo Ren kills his father in 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Nevertheless, the name entered the top 1,000 male baby names in 2016, climbing to 865 in 2018.
Amazon named its voice-computing technology Alexa as an homage to the Library of Alexandria, a company spokeswoman said. Amazon also controls the name commercially, having acquired Alexa Internet, which ranks websites by traffic and provides marketing tools, in 1999, and which was also named to honor the Egyptian library, an important storehouse of knowledge in the ancient world.
More than 50 humans named Alexa currently work at Amazon, according to LinkedIn. Alexa ended up with a female voice and persona, Amazon executives have said, because that’s what customers preferred in early voice testing. The company so far has not offered the option of a male-voiced assistant.
If your name IS Alexa, this is worth noting: The “wake word” that activates the device can be changed to Echo, Amazon, or computer, evoking the ambient voice-controlled computer system from Star Trek that Alexa is modeled on. That option is apparently not available yet on every Alexa-enabled device, however.
“I just got my Echo Auto and after setting it up realized I couldn’t change the wake word the same way I have changed my other devices in the house,” one person wrote on Amazon’s device forum in September, “My daughter’s name is Alexa, so not being able to change it is really a deal breaker for me.” Other female-identified digital assistants have much less common names.
Siri, the name given to the Apple assistant that debuted in 2011 and Cortana, which Microsoft unveiled in 2014, were highly unusual names to begin with, Redmond said. They’ve become less popular since: 20 baby girls were named Siri in the U.S. in 2018 and five were named Cortana, Redmond said. Alexa was first heard in a commercial on Nov.6, 2014 on YouTube.
Multiple parodies that replaced Alexa’s voice quickly followed. Amazon later took down the ad. YouTube user Smart Home uploaded the original commercial in 2016. Introducing Amazon Echo – YouTube Smart Home 42 subscribers Introducing Amazon Echo Watch later Share Copy link Info Shopping Tap to unmute If playback doesn’t begin shortly, try restarting your device.
Is Alexa based on a real person?
Amazon executive, Toni Reid is the woman credited for the technology behind Alexa. Originally, the voice of Alexa was not from any real person’s voice. Alexa’s voice was generated from the rules of Text to Speech (TTS) and Artificial Intelligence Technology.
Who is Alexa’s mom?
Portrayed by Lori Mendoza is one of the main characters in the Netflix Original Series Alexa & Katie, and the mother of Alexa Mendoza. She is portrayed by Tiffani Thiessen.
Who is older Siri or Alexa?
The Competitors – In this test, we’ll be using the top three voice assistants on the market today—Siri on the iPhone, Alexa on the Amazon Echo, and Google Assistant using the Google Nest Mini. Siri made its way onto the market in 2010 when it was released on Apple’s App Store.
Apple acquired it a couple of months later and started integrating it into phones. Alexa first got its start in the Echo, a smart speaker developed by Amazon. It was first released in 2014 and is now integrated into a host of Amazon devices. Google Assistant was first introduced into Android phones in 2016 with the Google Pixel phone.
Now it’s included on all new Android phones with version 6 or higher. 
- The method we used was to ask each voice assistant 25 simple questions and rate both the assistant’s ability to understand the question and its response.
- We asked the assistants questions that include several categories; local, music, entertainment, food, and communication.
- Each assistant was given a score of 1-10 for both context and response and all questions were added up to find the ultimate winner.
- Here are the questions we asked the voice assistants.
Who is smarter Siri or Google?
Final Verdict: Google Assistant Is Better but Siri’s Still a Good Option – The smart assistant you end up favoring is mostly going to depend on your phone and computer choice. Are you an iOS owner and a MacOS lover? Then Siri will do you just fine. You could install the Google Assistant app, but unless you happen to have a smart home device that’s not compatible with Siri, there’s not much need.
- It’s great being able to compose messages accurately with your voice too.
- However, Google Assistant is generally a little smarter than Siri.
- Baked into more third-party devices and able to understand the whole family a bit clearer, it works better as a smart home voice assistant than Siri.
- It all depends on what you’re looking for.
Keen to have a personal assistant who listens to your voice and not much else? Siri is just fine, but if you want a household solution then Google Assistant is just a little more useful. Either way, you’re going to be happy with whatever you end up with, with both services offering plenty of useful features that will save you tapping buttons.
How much do Alexas cost?
1. Amazon Alexa pricing: When basic is better – If you’re building your Amazon smart home from scratch, I recommend starting with an Echo smart speaker, specifically the fourth-gen Echo, Not only is this our favorite smart speaker – it’s our favorite Alexa device overall,
While the $100 price tag makes this Echo speaker more expensive than the smaller Echo Dot, it’s worth it. The fourth-gen Echo has noticeably better audio quality than all the Echo smart speakers, and the built-in Zigbee receiver allows the Echo to act as a smart home control center for compatible devices.
This one Echo speaker, with its voice control features and connectivity ability, is a great option since it serves as a control panel for the rest of your connected devices. Cost so far: $100 The fourth-gen Echo is a great choice to act as a control panel for the rest of the connected home devices. Amazon Once you have that central hub established, it’s time to connect smart home devices. Security and smart lights are a good next step when going with the basics.
For lighting, I recommend the Wyze Bulb, For $15, you can buy a 2-pack of white LED bulbs that produce better brightness than many other bulbs on the market. They can be set up in no time – just screw the bulb in, connect the light to your internet via the Wyze app and you can begin your Alexa commands.
Cost so far: $115 For Alexa home security cameras, I recommend starting with the Wyze Cam v3, Not only does its $36 price tag make it a stand-out affordable choice among all home security cameras, but it’s packed with top-shelf features: sharp night vision, a functional siren, 14-day video clip storage, weatherproof housing and a wide field of view.
What is the salary of Alexa?
How much does a Alexa Developer at Amazon make? Alexa Developer salaries at Amazon can range from ₹3,88,780-₹4,18,079. This estimate is based upon 1 Amazon Alexa Developer salary report(s) provided by employees or estimated based upon statistical methods.
Who is better Alexa or Google?
Google Home: Cons – We’ve already explained above that Google Home slightly lags in third-party smart device support when compared to Alexa. Although it’s closing the gap, this is still a major factor that’ll affect which one you pick. Also, Google does not offer any way to change the “wake word” for its devices. Nest Mini Google johnlewis.com £20.00 Google’s answer to the Echo Dot, this is a small and discreet speaker that’s affordable and capable of handling all your requests. We’d recommend this for a hallway side table or tabletop as it’s not going to deliver booming sound for music but is still ideal for your voice requests. Best Google smart speaker for music Nest Audio Google johnlewis.com £59.99 Covered in recycled fabric, this is bigger and taller but still looks like the Nest Mini. The difference is that it’s focused much more on audio quality, making it the best Google option for music. We found it great at reproducing bass and like that it has Bluetooth to play music from your phone. Best Google smart display for your bedside Nest Hub 2nd Gen This is a capable 7-inch smart display that is ideal for controlling your home from your bedside. It doesn’t have a camera so it’s not for video calls, but it works with a lot of streaming services for watching shows or, more realistically, checking a recipe video on YouTube. Don’t need a screen? Go for the Nest Mini. Best Google smart display Nest Hub Max Google johnlewis.com £219.00 Google’s largest and most powerful smart display is the best one we’ve tested for Google Assistant. It has a clear screen, a built-in camera (which works for video calls and as an indoor security camera) and we were impressed that its facial recognition means it can personalise the reminders and messages you see when you look at the screen.
Who owns Alexa and Echo?
Amazon Echo
| Developer | Amazon |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Amazon |
| Type | Smart speaker |
| Release date | November 6, 2014 |
| Operating system | Fire OS |
Who owns Amazon now 2022?
“Bezos” redirects here. For other people with the surname, see Bezos (surname),
| Jeff Bezos | |
|---|---|
| Bezos visits LAAFB SMC in 2019 | |
| Born | Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen January 12, 1964 (age 58) Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. |
| Education | Princeton University ( BSE ) |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Title |
|
| Spouse | MacKenzie Scott ( m.1993; div.2019) |
| Partner(s) | Lauren Sánchez (2019–present) |
| Children | 4 |
| Relatives | Mark Bezos (half-brother) |
| Signature | |
Jeffrey Preston Bezos ( BAY -zohss ; né Jorgensen ; born January 12, 1964) is an American entrepreneur, media proprietor, investor, and commercial astronaut, He is the founder, executive chairman, and former president and CEO of Amazon, With a net worth of US$114.5 billion as of November 2022, Bezos is the fourth-wealthiest person in the world and was the wealthiest from 2017 to 2021 according to both Bloomberg ‘s Billionaires Index and Forbes,
Born in Albuquerque and raised in Houston and Miami, Bezos graduated from Princeton University in 1986. He holds a degree in electrical engineering and computer science, He worked on Wall Street in a variety of related fields from 1986 to early 1994. Bezos founded Amazon in late 1994 on a road trip from New York City to Seattle,
The company began as an online bookstore and has since expanded to a variety of other e-commerce products and services, including video and audio streaming, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, It is the world’s largest online sales company, the largest Internet company by revenue, and the largest provider of virtual assistants and cloud infrastructure services through its Amazon Web Services branch.
Bezos founded the aerospace manufacturer and sub-orbital spaceflight services company Blue Origin in 2000. Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle reached space in 2015 and afterwards successfully landed back on Earth. He also purchased the major American newspaper The Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million and manages many other investments through his venture capital firm, Bezos Expeditions,
In September 2021, Bezos co-founded biotechnology company Altos Labs with Mail.ru founder Yuri Milner, The first centibillionaire on the Forbes wealth index, Bezos was named the “richest man in modern history” after his net worth increased to $150 billion in July 2018.
In August 2020, according to Forbes, he had a net worth exceeding $200 billion. In 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, his wealth grew by approximately $24 billion. On July 5, 2021, Bezos stepped down as the CEO and President of Amazon and transferred to the role of executive chairman; Andy Jassy, the chief of Amazon’s cloud computing division, replaced Bezos as the CEO and President of Amazon.
On July 20, 2021, he flew to space alongside his half-brother, Mark, The suborbital flight lasted over 10 minutes, reaching a peak altitude of 66.5 miles (107.0 km). In September 2022, he was ranked second on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans with a net worth of $151 billion.