Amazon Alexa just learned a few new tricks that should make it easier for you to stay of your busy schedule.
To kick things off, Alexa can now create named timers, so you can keep everything straight when attempting to set up multiple timers at once, Amazon announced on Thursday. The voice-powered virtual assistant, which powers Amazon’s Echo, can also now schedule reminders so you don’t forget to take the trash out in the morning or pay your credit card bill, for instance.
The latter feature will let you assign a specific name to a timer, which should come in handy when you’re cooking.
“Now you can ask Alexa to set a pasta timer and to set a garlic bread timer, and when the timer goes off, Alexa will state which timer is done,” Amazon said in a statement. You can also easily cancel or check how much time is left on a specific timer; just say “Alexa, cancel the pasta timer,” for instance, or “Alexa, how much time is left on my garlic bread timer?” If you have several timers going at once, you can fire up the Alexa app to see a list of them all.
Meanwhile, the new reminders feature will help you keep track of all your to dos. Just say “Alexa, remind me to pick up the dry cleaning on Saturday at 10 a.m.,” for instance, and the virtual assistant will make sure to jog your memory when it’s time. You can also ask Alexa to remind you to do things like put the laundry in the dryer, pay bills, or send your dad a Father’s Day card.
“Reminders allow customers to just ‘set it and forget it,’ knowing that Alexa will keep track of all their events and deliver their reminders at the appropriate times,” said Amazon.
These two new Alexa features are available now for users in the US, and should reach owners in the UK and Germany in the “coming weeks,” Amazon said.
