Alexa added to Amazon's music app
Amazon's voice-controlled smart virtual assistant Alexa has been added to the tech giant's mobile music app for the first time.
Users of Amazon Music on both iOS and Android in the UK will now be able to search for and play music on their smartphone using their voice, the company has announced.
Alexa is already used to power the firm's Amazon Echo smart speakers, as well offering voice controls on other Amazon products, including its Fire TV streaming devices.
Amazon Music's Steve Boom said: "Amazon Music customers already know and love Alexa from listening on Echo devices.
"Now our mobile listeners can enjoy an entirely new app experience that combines the power and simplicity of Alexa voice controls with the visual richness of the Amazon Music app."
Google, Microsoft, Samsung and Apple have all invested heavily in voice-enabled assistants in recent years as artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a crucial technology for consumers.
Google's own Home smart speaker is powered by their Assistant, which also features on many Android smartphones, while Apple will launch their own music speaker, the HomePod, later this year.
That device will also feature voice control capabilities though Apple's virtual assistant, Siri.
Amazon says that with Alexa in the Music app, users are now able to ask for tracks based on genre, decade or activity, as well as by lyrics if they do not know a song's name.
The firm says Alexa's AI can also correctly understand time context such as asking for songs only from an artist's "early albums" or their "latest single".
