Alexa+ is Now Available in Early Access in Spain

Amazon’s new Alexa+ assistant is now available in early access in Spain, one week after its launch in Italy. This is the second Spanish-speaking country where Alexa+ becomes available in early access, following its release in Mexico in late January.

Once again, Amazon has worked with a team of computational linguists to ensure that the next-gen Alexa+ understands Spanish culture and idioms. “That means Alexa+ knows that “quedar” with friends is a serious social commitment, that Spanish social life is built around showing up in person, what the difference is between a tortilla with or without onions, that “vale” can mean hundreds of different things, and that paella is Valencian,” the company said today.

Amazon also partnered with major national media outlets such as El País and El Mundo to allow Alexa+ to provide fresh news to Spanish users. The assistant can also book a restaurant table with TheFork, a TripAdvisor company, and new integrations with Cabify, CoverManager, and Fever will become available soon.

Alexa+ is available out of the box on Amazon’s latest Echo speakers and smart displays. Otherwise, early enthusiasts with older devices can register here to get an invite for the early access program. Alexa+ is also available on Fire TV devices and the Alexa mobile app, and a web app is currently being tested in the US.

Amazon designed Alexa+ to be more conversational, and the assistant can also learn about users’ preferences and daily habits. Users can start a conversation on one device and pick up on another one, and there are advanced privacy controls to review interactions with the assistant, manage how long voice recordings are stored, and more.

Alexa+ is free to use during the early access period, and once that ends, it will be included with an Amazon Prime membership. For non-Prime members, Alexa+ will be available at €22.99/month. However, Amazon previously said that the chat experience on the web and mobile will be free for all users.