Amazon's Alexa will now be able to tell different voices apart (AMZN)

Amazon Alexa VP

Amazon is making Alexa-enabled devices a little smarter by making them recognise different voices starting October 11.

As TechCrunch first reported, the technology giant released an update that brought the change to both its own Echo smart speaker as well as any other device with Alexa built in.

Amazon had a head start on AI-powered home speakers compared to other players like Google.

However, Google added the ability to detect different voices to its own Google Home speaker back this April, so Amazon is simply playing catch up.

The idea behind the feature is to make smart speakers better for households with multiple Alexa users. The smartphone app will ask for you to register your voice, and Alexa will automatically be able to tell it apart from others' when you summon it (and sync it with your Amazon account's preferences).

At launch, support for multiple voice detection will work with shopping, Amazon Music, Flash Briefings, and Alexa-to-Alexa calling. TechCrunch also reports that Amazon is planning to "add unspecified functionality" soon, and that Alexa will "get smarter."

Full instructions on how to activate the new features can be found on Amazon's dedicated help page.

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