WEST MICHIGAN – As FOX 17 continues bringing you the most local news in West Michigan, we’re making it easier to stay connected by integrating into Amazon’s Echo platform.
Amazon Echo is a hands-free speaker that responds to voice commands and helps users with their daily lives by giving information through Amazon’s voice recognition service, Alexa.
Not only can it play your music or order your favorite products, it can now get you news from FOX 17.
Alexa is a cloud-based virtual personal assistant, much like Apple’s “Siri” and Google’s “OK, Google” that provides personal assistance through user interaction.
She can look up information, tell jokes, order pizza, and even hail an Uber. Now, for the first time, Alexa’s news can be localized for Echo users in the WXMI viewing area.
Viewers can now hear the latest headlines and weather read by WXMI’s anchors and reporters by simply adding WXMI to Echo’s Flash Briefing. Once it’s enabled, getting free updates from FOX 17 has never been easier and you’ll get the latest headlines and forecast, updated twice a day.
To enable WXMI Flash Briefings manually, open Settings from the left sidebar in the Alexa app, tap Flash Briefing, tap Get more Flash Briefing content and search for WXMI. Once the WXMI skill has been enabled, users can say, "Alexa, open WXMI," or "Alexa, ask WXMI for my news."
Alexa is available for people using Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Amazon Tap, Fire TV, Fire HD 8 tablet and Triby, a portable smart speaker and message board.
