Sorry PS5, Amazon Alexa just got a huge upgrade on the Xbox Series X

Amazon has dropped a surprise Alexa application for Microsoft’s Xbox consoles. If you have one of the Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Xbox One S, or Xbox Series S consoles, and an Amazon Alexa device, such as the Amazon Echo Dot, then you can now start using the Amazon Alexa Xbox app.

The app brings greater access to Alexa through Microsoft's Xbox line of consoles, which haven’t been able to get the best from Amazon’s Alexa AI, until now.

Amazon is providing new voice assistant features to the Xbox console suite. The app, Alexa for Xbox, shows the dwindling importance of Microsoft’s proprietary smart assistant, Cortana, which has lost significant ground to the likes of Google Assistant, Siri, and Alexa, which respectively underpin great devices like the Google Home Hub, Apple HomePod, and the Amazon Echo Show 10.

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Previously, you could only use an Alexa device with your Microsoft console in one direction: sure, you could enable the feature in the device's Settings to let Alexa launch video games, but the functionality didn’t travel both ways. 

However, the new Alexa Xbox app lets your console and Alexa hardware work in tandem; now, you can use your Xbox to use the fuller suite of Alexa features. Pair Alexa with your console to launch games or link-up Alexa-powered devices from our best smart speakers to your TV. 

Currently, the app is available for customers in the US and Canada, affording them dual access to both Xbox and Alexa functions, while simultaneously using their consoles. The new app appeared in the Microsoft Store seemingly out of nowhere, spotted overnight by eagle-eyed publications who monitor Microsoft's movements (via Windows Central).

And, it doesn't stop there: you can use Alexa-based models from our best video doorbell list with the app, including the Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus. Overall, it offers greater holistic compatibility between Alexa and your favorite console, like better voice control with the Xbox Series X, although this next-gen wonder is currently as rare as hen's teeth. 

Our Xbox Series X stock tracker can help point you in the right direction of Microsoft's latest console if desire to undertake the very challenge of buying one. Alternatively, if you prefer the PS5, head over to our PS5 stock tracker to try your luck at snagging Sony's next-gen hardware.

T3 likes the sound of anything that converts your Xbox into more of an Amazon Echo-type media experience through the use of Alexa. Still, there's nothing to worry about for concerned users, as the normal Xbox controls remain unaffected by the app if you do download it. It really is the best of both worlds.  

Source: Engadget