Amazon shares rise as Alexa is coming to more third-party tech
Amazon shares rose in the US Monday, following news the tech giant’s Alexa system will soon be available on even more third-party tech. Amid the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, well-known computer brands announced Alexa will be enabled on their laptops and devices.
Amazon shares ended the US Monday trading session 1.44% higher at $1,246.87. The Amazon stock price has risen 6.6% so far in 2018.
Find Alexa in cars and third-party laptops
In an announcement at CES, Panasonic said it is working with Amazon to bring Alexa into it’s suite of in-car infotainment offerings.
”Panasonic and Amazon are accelerating the ability for automakers to connect drivers to the helpful capabilities of Alexa,” the Panasonic press release states.
“When drivers have access to familiar Alexa contextual commands and responses from inside the car, it opens up a new world of experiences OEMs can offer – enabling some of these capabilities even without an Internet connection is revolutionary," said Tom Gebhardt, President of the Panasonic Corporation of North America.
In addition to that, laptops made by HP, Asus and Acer will also have Alexa voice recognition capabilities built in, rather than through a website.
“Hands-free access to Alexa on PCs can be helpful to customers in many ways, like making it simple to interact with your smart home, get news or weather, set timers, and more,” Amazon Alexa vice president Steve Rabuchin said in a statement.
“This is a big step toward making Alexa available wherever customers might need her,” Rabuchin added.
Amazon’s climb propels founder's fortune higher
While the news surrounding Amazon right now is all good, it’s even better for the tech giant’s founder Jeff Bezos.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires index Monday, Bezos’ net worth has risen to $105 billion. Bezos fortune surpassed the $100 billion mark in November after Amazon’s black Friday and Thanksgiving shopping success.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates is second in the index, with a net worth of $93.3 billion.
