Is Amazon making a smartphone? A Reuters report from earlier this year revealed details about a device codenamed Transformer under development, with Amazon's Alexa+ AI assistant as the focus of the experience.
\n\nWith Amazon announcing a complete rebrand of its tablet line on Thursday—killing the cheap Fire Tablets and replacing them with premium Alexa Tablets that finally run Android with access to the Google Play Store—we now have a blueprint for what an Android-powered Amazon phone could look like.
\n\nAmazon's souped-up Alexa+ assistant is front and center on the tablets. There's a persistent “Ask Alexa” widget on the home screen that lets you call on the assistant to ask it questions—you can say “Alexa” to trigger it, too. But Alexa+ now finally has what Amazon calls On-Screen Intelligence. Like Google's Gemini on Android phones or Apple's Siri on iPhones, which can read your screen and answer contextual questions, Alexa now has the same functionality (if you opt in).
\n\nThe Ask Alexa widget is accessible in the corner of the Alexa Tablet.
\n\nThat can be for simple things like summarizing a web page, but it can be used for more complex tasks. Watching a YouTube video about a new product? Ask…
Original source: https://www.wired.com/