Amazon’s Echo standalone home assistant is adding a simple, useful new feature to signal whether any orders are being delivered on that day. The Echo and the Echo Dot color ring now lights up in different colors to indicate delivery notifications.
Alexa, the cross-platform software that powers Echo, already has robust delivery notification features. Simply asking any Alexa-powered device, “Alexa, where’s my stuff?” outputs a complete list of any upcoming deliveries. Alexa also supports verbal notifications, if the user so chooses, to know whether a package has arrived.
The new feature, unique to the Echo, uses the built-in LED lights to optionally signal delivery days at a glance.
After updating their Echo, users who ask “where’s my stuff?” will receive an additional prompt from Alexa, asking of they want to be visually notified on the day that particular item arrives. If the users says “yes,” the Echo’s LED ring will glow yellow on the day the relevant item is scheduled to arrive.
If a signature isn’t required, Alexa will optionally inform you the moment your item is dropped off at your doorstep.
The feature is part of Amazon’s hype rollout for their major yearly sale for Prime subscribers, July 11th’s Prime Day. Amazon Echo/Alexa users will receive special deals only available through their devices. Amazon promises over 100 deals that will only appear in this context, which started running on July 5th and will continue through Prime Day all the way until July 17th.
And for any Echo/Alexa users who currently don’t have Prime, Amazon’s making it easier to get back in during that same time span. Asking Alexa, “sign me up for Prime” pulls up an exclusive discount offer, $20 off the normal $99 yearly fee.
