Amazon\'s Alexa will now listen to commands in Hindi and \'Hinglish\'

Amazon announced that its digital assistant Alexa will now support interactions in Hindi or Hinglish. The brain that powers all Amazon Echo devices, the feature shall now also be available on all its voice-controlled smart speakers.

With this update, users can now ask Alexa for diverse Hindi content such as jokes, shayaris, games, Kabir ke dohe, Panchatantra stories, Bollywood dialogues, more than 500 Alexa skills, and even spellings of words in Hindi. She will also be able to understand customers speaking to her completely in Hindi or Hinglish, in multiple contexts, and varied regional accents, Amazon said in a statement.

To get started with Hindi, customers can just ask, “Alexa, help me set up Hindi.” Otherwise,  Echo customers in India can change their device language to Hindi via the Language options inside the Device settings on the Alexa App. Echo Show users can access the settings section to change the language by swiping down from the top of the screen.

Amazon also said that an update is coming soon wherein, customers can speak to Alexa in Hindi and English interchangeably, without changing the language setting back and forth. For example, if a customer asks for the weather in Hindi, Alexa will reply in Hindi and subsequently when they ask for information in English, Alexa will understand and also respond in English. This feature is specially built for Indian households where users speak both Hindi and English.

Here are some of its new  capabilities-

Play Music

One can listen to music across languages and through applications like Jio Saavn, Gaana, Amazon Music, etc. By saying "Alexa, Bollywood ke latest gaane sunao” or “Alexa, Kishore Kumar ke gaane sunaiye” the digital assistant should play you such a song.  If you aren’t sure who the artist for a sogn is, you can even say “Alexa, yeh kaunsa gaana hai?” for her to tell you about it. Alexa will also offer over 100 relaxation sounds in Hindi for which you need to say “Alexa, mujhe aaraam karna hai”.

Ask Questions

Ask Alexa all kinds of questions, including those about cricket, Bollywood, famous people and places, festivals, calculations, sports, stocks, spelling and much more in Hindi. For example, “Alexa, Diwali kab hai”,  “Alexa, 64 ka cube root kya hai”, “Alexa, Spain ka capital kya hai?” and “Alexa, sone ka bhaav batao”.

You can also ask Alexa for a joke by saying “Alexa, chutkula sunao”. You can also say “Alexa, koi filmy dialogue sunao”, “Alexa seeti bajao”, “Alexa taali bajao”,  “Alexa, ek kahani sunao”, or “Alexa, tum kaun ho”. For more enterainment, ask Alexa to play fun games by saying, “Alexa, chalo ek game khele”.

Control your Smart Home

Use Echo smart speakers to control the TV from the couch when watching a movie, or switch off the tubelight when getting in bed—all using just your voice. You can say “Alexa, light band kar do” or “Alexa, Geyser on karo” or “Alexa, TV mute karo”. Alexa works with devices such as smart lights and plugs from brands including Wipro, Philips Hue, SYSKA LED, Xiaomi, TP-Link, and more. You can also control your compatible security cameras, fans, ACs and air purifiers from brands such as D-Link, Voltas, Orient, LG, Xiaomi and more.

Set Reminders, Alarms and Timers

Set up multiple reminders, alarms and timers with your voice, including setting repeating alarms. Just say “Alexa, phone bill bharne ka reminder lagao” , “Alexa, subah saat baje ka alarm set karo”, or “Alexa, timer mei kitne minute baki hai?”

Create and Manage Lists

Alexa can help you stay organised by creating and managing your To-Do and Shopping lists. Just say “Alexa, meri shopping list mein jeera add kar do”,  “Alexa, meri to-do list mein doctor’s appointment daal do”, or “Alexa, meri shopping list mein kya hai”.

Hear the Latest News and Cricket Updates

Alexa can read the news and give customized updates based on your news preferences. You can choose your favorite outlets to provide the news or sports results, including Dainik Jagran, Aaj Tak, NDTV, and Bollywood Hungama. Just say “Alexa, kya chal raha hai?”, “Alexa, filmy khabrein sunao”, “Alexa, cricket score batao”, or “Alexa, India ka agala match kab hai?”.

Get the Weather

Ask Alexa about local, national, and international weather forecasts. For example: “Alexa, aaj mausam kaisa hai?”, “Alexa, kya kal baarish hogi?”, “Alexa, Mumbai ka weather update batao?”, or “Alexa, is weekend Bangalore mein mausam kaisa rahega?”

Play with Alexa

Alexa has exciting Hindi skills for kids, from playing games to listening to Hindi rhymes and stories. Some of India’s most popular characters are now available through Alexa Skills including Vir The Robot Boy, Chacha Chaudhary, Kids TV, Koo Koo TV, Jugnu Kids and the evergreen Shambu and Suppandi from Amar Chitra Katha. Kids can get started by saying “Alexa, ChuChu TV shuru karo”, or “Alexa, sher ki aawaaz sunao”.