Amazon rolls out Answer Update for Alexa on Echo

Amazon Echo.
Elaine
Thompson/AP

• Amazon’s Alexa will soon be able to memorize a question
  it can’t answer and then come back to you once it’s fetched an
  adequate response.
• The new Answer Updates is being rolled out over the
  coming days, and helps solve one of the most frustrating things
  about Echo smart speakers.
• It could also ensure Amazon maintain its dominance over
  Google Home.

Amazon’s Alexa will soon be able to come back to you with a
response to a question it can’t answer.

The company is rolling out an update to Echo smart speakers,
which essentially allows Alexa to memorize a question it can’t
answer and then come back to the user once it’s fetched an
adequate response.

The feature was first spotted by
Voicebot. Writer Bret Kinsella was asked by his Alexa if he
wanted to activate Answer Updates. When he asked what this was,
Alexa replied: “If you ask me a question and I don’t know the
answer but I find out later, I’ll notify you.”

Amazon later confirmed to
TechCrunch that Answer Updates is being rolled out over the
coming days. It adds a layer of sophistication to Alexa, which
currently replies with something like, “Sorry, I didn’t
understand the question,” when it can’t answer your question.

According to TechCrunch, users will be able to opt in and out of
the feature after it is available on their device. “The Alexa
service is getting smarter every day, and Answer Updates is just
another way we’re continuing to expand Alexa’s Knowledge Graph,”
an Amazon representative said.

The Knowledge Graph is the information database Alexa uses to
answer questions. The database is generally considered inferior
to the system used by Google Home, thanks to Google’s search
engine history.

The idea that Google Home can understand you
better may be more attractive in some customers’ eyes, and it
could be partly the reason why Google Home is eating into Echo’s
dominance in the smart speaker market. eMarketer found that 66% of
Americans use an Amazon Echo at least once a month, compared
to 29.5% who use Google Home. By 2020, it said 33% will use
Google and 60% Amazon.

Tweaks like Answer Updates could help Amazon maintain its lead.