Amazon has announced it is extending third-party support for its Alexa Voice Service (AVS) internationally, with rollout beginning today across the U.K. and Germany (via TechCrunch).

ALEXA homepage banner Icons 1500x375
First launched in the U.S. in 2015, AVS is the voice-interaction software that powers the company's Echo family of smart speakers as well as a range of supporting third-party smart home connected devices, such as thermostats, lamps, fans, wall switches, and more.

The support will mean owners of supported devices can voice-interact with additional services, such as TuneIn Radio and local Skills – Amazon's other API that lets developers build bespoke services to work with Alexa – although users should note that some services like iHeartRadio and Kindle currently only work in the U.S.

amazon alexa services skills supported
The expansion of AVS into Germany and the U.K. follows the launch of the Echo and Echo Dot in those countries last year. Amazon has yet to expand its Alexa-powered range to other markets outside the U.S., but with plans to shift 10 million units in 2017, the company is expected to speed up rollout soon.

Amazon's simple certification process has led to over 250 smart home products being certified to work with Alexa. By contrast, Apple has certified approximately 100 devices to support its HomeKit platform. Alexa-enabled devices also enjoyed strong holiday sales, with an estimated 10 million units already sold.

Tag: Amazon

Top Rated Comments

dannys1 Avatar
114 months ago
I love the idea of Alexa and I have a few dots around the house, but she disappoints much more that Siri.

I feel it's less like interacting with a device that understands the context of speech (because it doesn't) and more like the old speech recognition we used to have where you have to say specific trigger phrases to get things to happen.

Siri blows Alexa out of the water for Philips Hue integration - and despite IFTTT integration Siri is more flexible once you've added devices as you can create a scene with the phrase you want that makes sense - instead of saying something like "Alexa, trigger the blinds closed" to Alexa which isn't normal speech.

Couple that with the fact normal conversation sets her off all the time and she can only answer about 20% of the questions I ask and I find it mostly useless at the moment. Also when are these devices going to learn the context of "and" surely it's not hard to ask Alexa to turn the TV on AND set the lights to... Instead of two separate commands.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
iOS 26 Maps Glass

Apple Reportedly Moving Ahead With Ads in Maps App

Sunday October 26, 2025 6:22 am PDT by
Apple Maps could feature integrated ads as soon as next year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple's plan to bring more ads to iOS is moving "gaining traction," with the Maps app being next in line. The project will apparently give restaurants and other businesses the option to pay to have their details featured more prominently in...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

iOS 26.1 Beta Liquid Glass Battery Drain Test: Tinted vs Clear Mode

Friday October 24, 2025 2:30 pm PDT by
In the fourth iOS 26.1 beta, Apple added a "Tinted" option that reduces the translucency of Liquid Glass for those who prefer a more opaque look. I saw some comments wondering whether the setting might preserve battery life, so I thought I'd do some testing. Test Settings I did four separate tests using the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and I kept the parameters as similar as possible. Here are the...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features for Your iPhone

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:15 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. iOS 26.1 is currently in beta testing. The update will likely be released in the first half of November, and it is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer, but some...
swift for android

Developers Can Now Make Android Apps With Apple's Swift

Sunday October 26, 2025 4:23 am PDT by
The first preview release of the Swift SDK for Android was published this week, allowing developers to build Android apps in Swift with official tooling and making it easier to share code across iOS and Android. The SDK enables Android apps to be built in Swift using officially supported tooling rather than community workarounds. In June, it was announced that Apple's Swift programming...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
ios 26 digital id passport wallet

Apple Says U.S. Passport Feature on iPhone is Coming Soon

Monday October 27, 2025 7:41 am PDT by
You will "soon" be able to add a digital version of your U.S. passport to your iPhone, according to Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. Bailey reiterated that the feature is coming soon during her keynote at the Money20/20 USA conference in Las Vegas on Sunday. On its iOS 26 page, Apple says the delayed feature will be "coming later this year." Apple's...