Alexa is the voice-controlled virtual assistant created by Amazon , and launched in November 2014 along with its line of Echo smart speakers. His name was chosen for having a strong consonant at the beginning and including an x, something that would make it easier for the assistant to recognize his name, and also in honor of the Library of Alexandria .

Alexa’s operation is very similar to that of other assistants such as Google Assistant, Siri and Cortana. You start by invoking it by saying its name, at which point the speaker or device in which it is integrated will start listening. Then you must say a command with your voice , and the assistant will recognize what you ask and tell you an answer.

Initially, the assistant was only linked to smart speakers created by Amazon. But a few months later, its SDK was opened so that other manufacturers and developers could start working on it. Since then, the assistant has been included in a host of devices , from wall clocks to microwaves.

Thanks to this expansion capacity, Alexa has become one of the reference assistants . Amazon even closed an agreement with Microsoft to integrate Alexa within Cortana , and thus be able to access millions of PCs and laptops around the world.