Roger Fingas / Android Authority
Roger Fingas / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The Echo Show will now provide local weather news reports when asking Alexa about the weather.
- The feature is available in 15 cities, with more cities to come.
- The feature is live on a variety of Echo Show devices.
Local news tends to be the best source of information when it comes to what’s happening around you, especially when it comes to weather forecasts. Now Amazon has made it possible to catch up on local weather reports through the Alexa weather widget on Amazon Echo Show devices.
According to The Verge, Amazon has partnered with local news channels to show the most recent local weather news videos on Echo Show devices when you say, “Alexa, what’s the weather?” If you don’t want to talk to Alexa, you can still use the feature by tapping on the Alexa weather widget.
It’s said that the video won’t autoplay. When activated, the weather widget will reportedly open up with the usual UI displaying the forecast and current weather conditions. Along the bottom, however, will be thumbnails of local weather forecasts from multiple new stations that you can tap on and watch. Once tapped, the videos will play in full-screen mode.
The local weather videos feature is live on Echo Show 8, Echo Show 10, Echo Show 15, and Fire TV Omni QLED Series devices. It’s said to be also rolling out to the Echo Show 5.
If you want to try the feature out for yourself, it appears you’ll have to be in one of the 15 cities it’s available in. These cities include New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Charlotte, Phoenix, Chicago, Milwaukee, Fresno, Omaha, Toledo, and San Antonio.
However, anyone outside of these areas will be able to see weather reports from those select cities by asking Alexa. For example, saying “Alexa, what’s the weather in New York City?” will bring up local videos from New York.
According to an Amazon spokesperson, the Amazon Echo Show feature is expected to come to more cities. The spokesperson told the outlet, they are “considering offerings wherever there are local news stations.”
