The second annual Amazon Prime Day is right around the corner, and just as we expected, the company is pushing the deals as hard as it possibly can. As if a singular mega-deals day wasn’t enough to build up hype, Amazon has been offering daily deals to lead up to the big day – and yes, those are only for Amazon Prime members, much like the big sale itself.
Now we learn that the company has one other trick up its sleeve, and it involves its super-smart AI assistant Alexa and its stand-alone cylindrical hub. With Alexa, you can be given audio cues about sales that are not revealed anywhere else.
If you have an Alexa device, all you need to do is ask, “Alexa, what are your Prime Day deals?”, and it’ll respond with what we’d assume are tailored deals just for you. If you order anything through Alexa during this short period, you’ll be given a $10 credit on any order over $20.
There are some other specific commands that will help you order some sweet loot quickly and easily. “Alexa, order a drone” will order a Dromida Kodo UAV quadcopter, priced at $25. “Alexa, order a griddler” will order a Cuisinart 5-in-1 Griddler for $40. Lastly, “Alexa, order an Amazon Tap” will order an Amazon Tap (surprised?) for $79. Some of these deals are extremely time-limited, so you won’t want to waste any time to take advantage of them.
For those out of the loop, Prime Day is effectively Amazon’s own version of Black Friday, where the company treats its Prime subscribers to many exclusive deals. Last year, many took advantage of a free Prime trial to partake in the sales, and because that was a one-off offer, it’ll be very interesting to see how that affects this year’s sales. Will the deals be enough to cause people to sign up for Prime? Your guess is as good as ours.
Read more at http://hothardware.com/news/amazon-promotes-alexa-exclusive-voice-activated-deals-and-secret-prime-day-sales-for-echo#lP6FJcyqAXYOGWdp.99
by Rob Williams
