Amazon Developer Blogs

Amazon Developer Blogs /blogs/ Developer Blogs en-us Copyright 2017 Thu, 23 Feb 2017 23:57:26 +0000 Apache Roller ${project.version} /blogs/post/7a57d597-2f01-4ce4-bc0d-be9247420f0b/train-jam-2017-day-one Train Jam 2017: Day One Becky Young /blogs/post/7a57d597-2f01-4ce4-bc0d-be9247420f0b/train-jam-2017-day-one Thu, 23 Feb 2017 23:57:26 +0000 Appstore <a href="http://trainjam.com/about">Train Jam</a> is off to a great start! Before leaving the station in sunny, warm Chicago, we all gathered at the Bottom Lounge to pick up our Train Jam info packets and meet with one another, including Train Jam organizers, Adriel and John. The best way to connect with other gamers is to share our creations from previous game jams. We had a blast playing each other’s games! <a href="http://textquestgame.com/">Text Quest</a>, in particular, caught my eye. It’s a brilliant idea to use text as the artwork. <a href="http://trainjam.com/about">Train Jam</a> is off to a great start! Before leaving the station in sunny, warm Chicago, we all gathered at the Bottom Lounge to pick up our Train Jam info packets and meet with one another, including Train Jam organizers, Adriel and John. The best way to connect with other gamers is to share our creations from previous game jams. We had a blast playing each other’s games! <a href="http://textquestgame.com/">Text Quest</a>, in particular, caught my eye. It’s a brilliant idea to use text as the artwork. I also challenged my fellow jammers to beat <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06X6KRNC5">Insane Dino Escapee</a>, a game I released on Amazon Appstore a few days ago for Fire TV. Only one person (out of 10+ challengers), Liam de Valmency (Games Programmer at Media Molecule), successfully completed the game and it took him less than five re-tries. I was amazed by his gamer reflex and button smashing skills. I also appreciated all of the feedback from players on how I can improve my game. All said, my fun meter button is permanently fixed to “maximum fun.” <img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/Appstore/funmeter._CB534586130_.png?t=true" alt="funmeter.png" /> Stay tuned for tomorrow’s recap! /blogs/post/d5a3614a-d0ae-404c-bc7e-db5bb08a52e7/alexa-now-has-over-10-000-skills-available Alexa Now Has Over 10,000 Skills Available Zoey Collier /blogs/post/d5a3614a-d0ae-404c-bc7e-db5bb08a52e7/alexa-now-has-over-10-000-skills-available Thu, 23 Feb 2017 17:22:27 +0000 Alexa Alexa Announcements <img align="right" width="300" vspace="10" hspace="10" height="200" alt="10K-skills_blog.png" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/default/10K-skills_blog._CB534594333_.png?t=true" /> Today we’re happy to share that developers have published over 10,000 skills, making Alexa even better for customers. We’ve been blown away by the innovation and activity in the Alexa developer community. To put it in perspective, we’ve seen a 3x increase in the number of skills available since September 2016 alone. We’ve come a long way in the short time that the Alexa Skills Kit has been available for developers, and we’ve seen a wide range of unique skills that allow customers to do everything from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F9RRL46?ref=skillrw_dsk_trn_gw_1" target="_blank">reorder their favorite morning coffee</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BN1DYBQ?ref=skillrw_dsk_zen_gw_4" target="_blank">stay mindful through meditation</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Kasa/dp/B01EIQX6Y8/ref=sr_1_1" target="_blank">control smart home lighting</a> or <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CTJ1XY6?ref=skillrw_dsk_trn_gw_0" target="_blank">check their bank account balance</a>. In November we unveiled a new way for customers to discover Alexa skills and explore the breadth of the Alexa skills catalog. With Alexa skills on <a href="https://amazon.com/skills" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a>, customers can enable skills directly through the website and leave reviews, just like other items on Amazon. Many skills have hundreds of reviews and are rated 4-star or higher by customers. We’ve also added ways for customers to enable and find popular skills, just using their voice. To celebrate this 10k milestone of skill selection, here are a few Alexa skill highlights: <ul> <li> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N039PEF/ref=sr_1_1" target="_blank">Beat the Intro</a> has the honor of being the 10,000th skill published. It’s a music game by Musicplode Media that tests your knowledge and love of music.</li> </ul> <img align="right" width="300" vspace="10" hspace="10" height="200" alt="10K-skills_blog.png" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/default/10K-skills_blog._CB534594333_.png?t=true" /> Today we’re happy to share that developers have published over 10,000 skills, making Alexa even better for customers. We’ve been blown away by the innovation and activity in the Alexa developer community. To put it in perspective, we’ve seen a 3x increase in the number of skills available since September 2016 alone. We’ve come a long way in the short time that the Alexa Skills Kit has been available for developers, and we’ve seen a wide range of unique skills that allow customers to do everything from <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F9RRL46?ref=skillrw_dsk_trn_gw_1">reorder their favorite morning coffee</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BN1DYBQ?ref=skillrw_dsk_zen_gw_4">stay mindful through meditation</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Kasa/dp/B01EIQX6Y8/ref=sr_1_1">control smart home lighting</a> or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CTJ1XY6?ref=skillrw_dsk_trn_gw_0">check their bank account balance</a>. In November we unveiled a new way for customers to discover Alexa skills and explore the breadth of the Alexa skills catalog. With Alexa skills on <a target="_blank" href="https://amazon.com/skills">Amazon.com</a>, customers can enable skills directly through the website and leave reviews, just like other items on Amazon. Many skills have hundreds of reviews and are rated 4-star or higher by customers. We’ve also added ways for customers to enable and find popular skills, just using their voice. To celebrate this 10k milestone of skill selection, here are a few Alexa skill highlights: <ul> <li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N039PEF/ref=sr_1_1">Beat the Intro</a> has the honor of being the 10,000th skill published. It’s a music game by Musicplode Media that tests your knowledge and love of music.</li> <li>Customers love to play <a target="_blank" href="https://developer.amazon.com/alexa-skills-kit/gaming">voice-based games</a> and some of the highest customer-rated skills continue to be interactive games. <a target="_blank" href="https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/4a023e42-1ca4-4040-93e0-d1367d68583f/the-magic-door-brings-alexa-a-new-world-of-interactive-adventure">The Magic Door</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/f36e5480-dd21-43fd-b842-a349c9452926/Jeopardy-America-s-Favorite-Game-Show-Celebrates-Its-First-Year-with-Alexa">Jeopardy!</a> are two customer favorites. One of our recent <a target="_blank" href="https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/a1b132a2-dd01-4254-94e6-de63a239225c/announcing-the-winners-of-the-amazon-alexa-api-mashup-contest">API mashup contest winners</a> also created a video game companion skill that turned Alexa into a Star Trek-like space ship interface.</li> <li>The top 5 categories of skills, in descending order are: News, Gaming, Education/Reference, Lifestyle and Novelty/Humor.</li> <li>There are now tens of thousands of developers building skills for Alexa.</li> </ul> We want to thank the developer community for their tireless efforts and innovation across all skill categories. We knew when we created Alexa that the possibilities would be endless. The <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/alexa-skills-kit" target="_blank">Alexa Skills Kit</a> enables anyone, anywhere, using almost any programming language to see their ideas come to life and create new voice experiences for all of us to enjoy every day. For more information about the Alexa Skills Kit, check out the following: <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/alexa-skills-kit" target="_blank">Alexa Skills Kit Developer Portal</a> <a href="https://forums.developer.amazon.com/spaces/23/index.html" target="_blank">Alexa Skills Kit Developer Forums</a> <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/content/alexa-developer-podcast" target="_blank">Alexa Dev Chat Podcast</a> <a href="https://amazon.com/skills" target="_blank">Alexa Skills on Amazon.com</a> -Dave (<a href="http://twitter.com/thedavedev">@TheDaveDev</a>) /blogs/post/4a023e42-1ca4-4040-93e0-d1367d68583f/the-magic-door-brings-alexa-a-new-world-of-interactive-adventure The Magic Door Brings Alexa a New World of Interactive Adventure Zoey Collier /blogs/post/4a023e42-1ca4-4040-93e0-d1367d68583f/the-magic-door-brings-alexa-a-new-world-of-interactive-adventure Thu, 23 Feb 2017 16:57:11 +0000 Alexa Alexa Developer Spotlight Developer Stories Andy Huntwork has worked at Amazon for over 10 years, the last three as a principal engineer. He’s developed front-end and backend services for technologies ranging from websites to payment systems and everything in between. But when the Amazon Echo came out in 2015, he saw a new doorway open. Alexa was an exciting way to bring voice-based experiences to the world, and Andy wanted to part of it. “So I joined the Alexa team,” Andy says, “and immediately started playing around with the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK).” Only a few months after Amazon released ASK, Andy and his wife, Laura, created their first skill. The skill recited public domain works, like Abraham Lincoln’s speeches and The Jungle Book, but the Huntworks wanted to build something more interactive and engaging. Laura recalls wondering, “What would you ask Alexa to open that’s exciting, even magical? Wouldn’t it be fun to open a magic door?” From that simple idea grew <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Huntwork-net-Inc-The-Magic-Door/dp/B01BMUU6JQ/">The Magic Door</a>, an adventure with Alexa guiding you through a growing number of original, interactive stories. Today, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Huntwork-net-Inc-The-Magic-Door/dp/B01BMUU6JQ/">The Magic Door</a> skill is a sophisticated adventure framework, hosting 10 adventure storylines, 30,000 spoken words, numerous character voices and hundreds of sounds effects. <h2 style="margin: 12pt 0in;">Walking through the Magic Door</h2> <img width="510" height="334" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/Alexa/TheMagicDoor_map._CB534593910_.png?t=true" alt="TheMagicDoor_map.png" /> To enter a faraway land of magical creatures, perplexing riddles and hidden prizes, just say Alexa, open The Magic Door. Suddenly, you’re off on an adventure with Alexa as your personal guide. Andy Huntwork has worked at Amazon for over 10 years, the last three as a principal engineer. He’s developed front-end and backend services for technologies ranging from websites to payment systems and everything in between. But when the Amazon Echo came out in 2015, he saw a new doorway open. Alexa was an exciting way to bring voice-based experiences to the world, and Andy wanted to part of it. “So I joined the Alexa team,” Andy says, “and immediately started playing around with the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK).” Only a few months after Amazon released ASK, Andy and his wife, Laura, created their first skill. The skill recited public domain works, like Abraham Lincoln’s speeches and The Jungle Book, but the Huntworks wanted to build something more interactive and engaging. Laura recalls wondering, “What would you ask Alexa to open that’s exciting, even magical? Wouldn’t it be fun to open a magic door?” From that simple idea grew <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Huntwork-net-Inc-The-Magic-Door/dp/B01BMUU6JQ/">The Magic Door</a>, an adventure with Alexa guiding you through a growing number of original, interactive stories. Today, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Huntwork-net-Inc-The-Magic-Door/dp/B01BMUU6JQ/">The Magic Door</a> skill is a sophisticated adventure framework, hosting 10 adventure storylines, 30,000 spoken words, numerous character voices and hundreds of sounds effects. <h2 style="margin: 12pt 0in;">Walking through the Magic Door</h2> <img width="510" height="334" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/Alexa/TheMagicDoor_map._CB534593910_.png?t=true" alt="TheMagicDoor_map.png" /> To enter a faraway land of magical creatures, perplexing riddles and hidden prizes, just say Alexa, open The Magic Door. Suddenly, you’re off on an adventure with Alexa as your personal guide. Brought to life by Laura’s storytelling and Andy’s coding, Alexa narrates your travels through a rich landscape, not only with words, but voices and sound effects too. She describes the scene around you, your choices of where to go next and the curious items with which you can interact. Alexa might ask if you want to go to the garden, the mountains or the sea. Or she might tell you there’s a key on a nearby table, just begging for you to pick it up. What will you do next? Threading a path through over 200 different scenes, you encounter talking creatures and riddles to solve. You don’t always know your final quest, but there’s always a reward when you reach the end. <h2 style="margin: 12pt 0in;">Developing a simple story to an interactive adventure</h2> The Huntworks first had the idea when Laura wrote an interactive adventure tale set in a magical forest. She emailed it to Andy, who coded the story into an Alexa skill over the weekend. Though simple, the skill let the player move around in a virtual world, while Alexa described what he or she could see around them. Andy wanted to make sure the skill was extensible, so they could expand its capabilities and add new stories. Before any more coding, he broke down the initial tale into basic elements, creating a story domain model. Looking at the story flow, the initial elements in the model were: <ul> <li>Stories – Full adventures with a start and an end</li> <li>Scenes – places you can be (or go)</li> <li>Prompts – Questions to ask the user to elicit a choice</li> <li>Choices – User responses and the corresponding scenes to go to next</li> <li>Transitions – Descriptions the user hears when moving from scene to scene</li> </ul> Andy devised an XML schema for describing these story elements. The human-readable schema allows creation of a storyline without any coding. So, while Laura turned her initial forest story into XML, Andy wrote the engine to “run” these files. This state-based dialog manager uses Amazon DynamoDB to store the user state as the player moves through the story. The skill worked, but just allowing you to move around and “see” a mystic landscape wasn’t enough for Laura and Andy. They enhanced the stories, the model and dialog manager with: <ul> <li>SSML and sound effects as soon as available through ASK.</li> <li>Items and inventory, allowing players to pick up and interact with items in a scene.</li> <li>Condition-based scene descriptions and action, depending on what a player is carrying or has already done before.</li> <li>Validation of The Magic Door’s ASK interaction model (<a href="https://github.com/ashuntwo/grunt-ask-analyze">validator open source</a>). </li> </ul> Finally, Andy automated several technical tasks so Laura could independently develop and publish her story content. For example, with <a href="https://github.com/ashuntwo/sound_reactor">Andy’s sound effect manager</a>, she can automatically convert audio files into ASK audio format and upload them, instead of Andy having to do multiple steps via a command line. <h2 style="margin: 12pt 0in;">Ensuring adventure lovers come back for more</h2> Over the course of 12 months, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Huntwork-net-Inc-The-Magic-Door/dp/B01BMUU6JQ/">The Magic Door</a> evolved into a sophisticated adventure framework, hosting 10 adventure storylines and 200+ scenes. But Andy and Laura aren’t nearly finished. They know the importance of keep their users happy and coming back for more. For one thing, they’re adamant about keeping the skill’s content fresh and relevant. That’s why they continue adding new adventures, not to mention seasonal stories, like their Halloween and Christmas storylines. “If we’d launched our skill and just left it there, not developed it any further,” says Andy, “users would have been bored with it.” Laura and Andy also stay busy with The Magic Door’s <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AlexaMagicDoor/">Facebook page</a> and <a href="https://www.themagicdoor.org/">website</a>.  Both are critical to the Huntworks’ interaction with their users.  Through Facebook, in particular, the Huntworks provide support to users, while also gaining an important understanding of user experience.   Finally, to improve the game’s usability, Andy added analytics to collect data on where users “go” throughout the story and where they’re getting stuck. “This lets us know if a riddle is too difficult, or if a scene doesn’t handle what users are asking for. We know right where the bad scenes are, so we can dive in and fix them,” says Andy. That’s why The Magic Door continues to grow and draw new users. “It’s absolutely an evolutionary thing. We‘ve really tried to figure out what users are trying to tell us, and to make the skill better as a result. The toughest thing is just finding more time to spend on the project.” /blogs/post/c4eefc4b-e906-43f7-8d07-695cf88abd22/webinar-building-media-based-apps-for-fire-tv Webinar: Build and Test Web-Based Apps for TV Using Amazon Web App Starter Kit Serena McIntire /blogs/post/c4eefc4b-e906-43f7-8d07-695cf88abd22/webinar-building-media-based-apps-for-fire-tv Wed, 22 Feb 2017 16:53:27 +0000 Appstore Amazon Fire TV <img width="697" height="268" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/Appstore/010617_FireTV3._CB520245714_.jpg?t=true" alt="010617_FireTV3.jpg" /> In our upcoming webinar, Build and Test Web-based Apps for TV using Amazon Web App Starter Kit, Amazon Technology Evangelist, Mario Viviani will share how easy it is to deploy a fully fledged TV app on Fire TV using WASK.   <div align="center"> <img width="697" height="268" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/Appstore/010617_FireTV3._CB520245714_.jpg?t=true" alt="010617_FireTV3.jpg" /> <div align="left"> </div> </div> If you’re considering building a media-based app for Amazon Fire TV, Amazon provides two frameworks to help you accelerate your development: <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/platforms/webapps/docs/the-web-app-starter-kit-for-fire-tv?sc_channel=blog&sc_publisher=blog&sc_campaign=BLOG_DG_Evergreen&sc_detail=blog&sc_segment=blog&sc_country=ww&sc_itrackingcode=blog1001&sc_medium=BLOG_DG_Evergreen_blog_ww_blog1001">Web App Starter Kit for Fire TV (WASK)</a> and <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/devices/fire-tv/docs/fire-app-builder-overview?sc_channel=soc&sc_publisher=tw&sc_campaign=SOC_DG_TW_2016-08_Evergreen-Blog&sc_detail=&sc_segment=all&sc_country=ww&sc_itrackingcode=soc1099&sc_medium=SOC_DG_TW_2016-08_Evergreen-Blog_all_ww_soc1099">Fire App Builder</a>. In our upcoming webinar, Build and Test Web-based Apps for TV using Amazon Web App Starter Kit, we will share how easy it is to deploy a fully-fledged TV app on Fire TV using WASK. In this free webinar you will learn: <ul> <li>How to kick-start your web-based TV app by connecting it to YouTube.</li> <li>How to customize the interface and the main features of your app.</li> <li>How to test your web app in a browser.</li> <li>How to run and test your app on a Fire TV device.</li> <li>How to submit your app on the Amazon Appstore to reach millions of customers.</li> </ul> Installation requirements: 1. Download or clone the <a href="https://github.com/amzn/web-app-starter-kit-for-fire-tv">WASK Github project</a>. 2. Install the text editor. 3. Install a web browser (for example, Chrome or Firefox). We will use Chrome for the demo. 4. Acquire a <a href="https://developers.google.com/youtube/v3/getting-started#before-you-start">YouTube Developer Key</a>. We are offering two sessions of this webinar on Thursday, February 23, 2017. Sign up today to reserve your spot. <a target="_blank" href="https://goto.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1135727"><img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/Appstore/7AM._CB536075562_.png?t=true" alt="7AM.png" /></a> <a target="_blank" href="https://goto.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1135968"><img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/Appstore/1PM._CB536075560_.png?t=true" alt="1PM.png" /></a> /blogs/post/acc08b81-8f50-4bc8-998a-58530a39f5c8/the-all-new-fire-tv-stick-to-hit-shelves-in-the-uk-germany-and-japan The All-New Fire TV Stick to Hit Shelves in the UK, Germany, and Japan Serena McIntire /blogs/post/acc08b81-8f50-4bc8-998a-58530a39f5c8/the-all-new-fire-tv-stick-to-hit-shelves-in-the-uk-germany-and-japan Wed, 22 Feb 2017 01:07:07 +0000 Appstore Amazon Fire TV <img width="700" height="269" alt="tank_blog_header(1).png" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/Appstore/tank_blog_header%281%29._CB534687753_.png?t=true" /> Today we are excited to announce that the <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/Tx1W8FCB4UA5KIB/Introducing-the-All-New-Fire-TV-Stick-with-Alexa-Voice-Remote">all-new Fire TV Stick</a> with Alexa Voice Remote, the most powerful streaming media stick available, is coming to the UK and Germany. The next generation Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote will also be available in Japan this April. <img width="700" height="269" alt="tank_blog_header(1).png" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/Appstore/tank_blog_header(1)._CB534687753_.png?t=true" /> Today we are excited to announce that the <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/Tx1W8FCB4UA5KIB/Introducing-the-All-New-Fire-TV-Stick-with-Alexa-Voice-Remote">all-new Fire TV Stick</a> with Alexa Voice Remote, the most powerful streaming media stick available, is coming to the UK and Germany. The next generation Fire TV Stick with Voice Remote will also be available in Japan this April. <blockquote> <h2>Fire TV gains momentum</h2> The latest generation Fire TV Stick features <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/4cdd501a-932d-4ccb-97fa-dca6b17c659f/notifications-and-new-amazon-fire-tv-user-interface-puts-content-first">the latest content forward interface</a>, designed to improve discoverability. Additionally, our on-screen merchandising capabilities will continue to improve, providing recommendations that can surface relevant content based on each customer’s unique interests. Since its recent launch in the US, the all-new Fire TV Stick has quickly become a best-seller on Amazon.com and received more than 35,000 five-star reviews. <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/application/new.html">Submit your app</a> now to make sure it is available for customers when the devices ship starting in April. <h2>Get discovered</h2> We aim to create the best 10-foot experience for our customers and developers by making content discovery and engagement easy and enjoyable. The new UI provides more rows in the browsing experience, creating additional opportunities for your apps and games to gain visibility. In particular, the Your Apps and Games and Recommended for You rows increase the chance that the right customers will see your app. <img width="280" height="157" alt="Tank_Launch_UK_DE_JP.png" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/Appstore/Tank_Launch_UK_DE_JP._CB534695820_.png?t=true" /> <h2>Deeper engagement with Alexa</h2> <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/alexa">Alexa</a> is Amazon’s cloud-based voice service, which provides thousands of skills that allow customers to play music, get information instantly, and more. With the Alexa Voice Remote, customers in the UK and Germany will now be able to search for apps by name or request broader searches like “puzzle games” by using voice commands. Voice search extends to app metadata, helping make sure your app is surfaced. <h2>Better performance</h2> The next-generation Fire TV Stick is 30 percent faster than the original best-selling version and has the horsepower to let your high-performance apps and games shine. The Quad-core ARM 1.3 GHz CPU provides a snappy user experience, and the enhanced Wi-Fi capabilities (802.11ac MIMO Wi-Fi) and H.265 (HEVC) Codec support improve video and audio streaming experiences. For a full list of specs, check out our <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/devices/fire-tv/docs/getting-started-developing-apps-and-games-for-amazon-fire-tv">Fire TV documentation</a>. <h2>Bringing your app to Fire TV has never been easier</h2> Whether you are a developer building web apps using HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript or building native apps using Java, you can kick start your app development using our <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/devices/fire-tv/docs/fire-tv-development-framework-comparison#fab">Amazon Fire App Builder</a> or <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/devices/fire-tv/docs/fire-tv-development-framework-comparison#wask">Web App Starter Kit</a>. All you need is a JSON or MRSS feed with the metadata of your content, and the tools will take care of the rest. <h2>Submit your app today</h2> Our <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/devices/fire-tv/docs/getting-started-developing-apps-and-games-for-amazon-fire-tv">Fire TV Guide</a> has everything you need to prepare your app for Amazon Appstore. <a target="_blank" href="https://developer.amazon.com/application/new.html"><img src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/Appstore/UKButton._CB535421954_.png?t=true" alt="UKButton.png" /></a> </blockquote> /blogs/post/ac27fd36-8550-4c69-a418-dba4c236bcaf/week-in-review-february-12-18-2017 Week in Review – February 12-18, 2017 Serena McIntire /blogs/post/ac27fd36-8550-4c69-a418-dba4c236bcaf/week-in-review-february-12-18-2017 Tue, 21 Feb 2017 04:15:21 +0000 Appstore <img width="700" height="173" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/Appstore/WIR._CB520204265_.png?t=true" alt="WIR.png" /> Here's what you missed last week on the Amazon Developer blog. <div align="center"> <img width="700" height="173" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/Appstore/WIR._CB520204265_.png?t=true" alt="WIR.png" /> <div> </div> </div> Here’s what you missed last week on the Amazon Developer blog: <blockquote> <h2><a href="https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/d793ffde-7232-4d64-ae53-d4d3b2218185/measure-lifetime-value-metrics-on-advertise-your-app-campaigns">Measuring Lifetime Value Metrics on Advertise Your App Campaigns</a></h2> We compared the quality of paid vs. organic installs for free-to-play (F2P) apps and games. The result - developers today are seeing a return on investment (ROI) for their paid acquisition campaigns. Read more on how you can measure the ROI of your Apps and Games in the Amazon Developer Console. <h2><a href="https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/1f0c7fb6-03fd-4516-81b7-e8614f4e9b6d/announcing-the-amazon-alexa-skills-challenge-on-devpost-com">Announcing the Amazon Alexa Skills Challenge on DevPost.com</a></h2> Compete for over $40,000 in prizes in the Amazon Alexa Skill contest by creating unique new skills that make Alexa smarter. Sign up today! <h2><a href="https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/4a66fa38-eb97-4cfc-953e-57281ae3989b/re-engage-your-inactive-users-with-push-notifications">Engage Your Inactive Users with Push Notifications</a></h2> Only 25% of app users stick with the app past the 90-day mark. Learn how to use push notifications to re-engage inactive users. <h2><a href="https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/6190307d-d238-4cae-b19d-8618cbfa7b32/new-advanced-alexa-course-by-opearlo-on-a-cloud-guru">New Advanced Alexa Course by Opearlo on A Cloud Guru</a></h2> Amazon is excited to announce an advanced course on Alexa Skills Development on A Cloud Guru by Alexa Champion Oscar Merry, co-founder and head of technology at Opearlo. <h2><a href="https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/5598f354-ba97-4484-a2a7-9d50b2b77ff4/case-study-the-economist-increases-monthly-views-with-amazon-fire-tv">Case Study: The Economist Increases Monthly Views with Amazon Fire TV</a></h2> Learn how the iconic magazine The Economist transitioned from print media to producing digital content for Fire TV, using Amazon Appstore’s educational video series. <h2><a href="https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/1f9788e6-0df2-4d0d-b600-5a73f4036a07/indie-favorites-showcase-february">Indie Favorites Showcase - February</a></h2> Each month Amazon Appstore features indie game titles that have earned accolades in indie prize competitions around the world. Here you can find February’s outstanding indie achievers and information on entering your game in future contests. <h2><a href="https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/89c9c171-d3d2-44fe-a868-1843aafdc4f7/case-study-scottish-broadcaster-stv-experiences-growth-with-amazon-fire-tv">Case Study: Scottish Broadcaster STV Experiences Growth with Amazon Fire TV</a></h2> This educational video series demonstrates how the Scottish television broadcast channel STV phenomenally grew their platform users and stream starts by nearly 2,000% on Fire TV. <h2><a href="https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/cf473bfc-b504-4575-bdcd-556de233517a/alexa-skill-developer-spotlight-nick-schwab">Alexa Skill Developer Spotlight: Nick Schwab</a></h2> Back-end developer turned Alexa skill master Nick Schwab gives his advice on the challenges and rewards of developing skills for Alexa. <h2><a href="https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/91cbba9a-db93-4806-80fc-2979b921a197/announcing-thermostat-query-for-smart-home-skills">Announcing Thermostat Query for Smart Home Skills</a></h2> With thermostat query, users can now issue a voice command to Amazon Echo or Echo Dot to control inside temperature. This new feature simplifies development efforts by enabling specific voice interactive experiences straight from the Smart Home Skill API. Learn about the simplified process in this blog post. </blockquote> Don’t want to miss another blog? We’ve got you covered. Click below to have our weekly summary sent directly to your inbox each week. <a href="http://bit.ly/2kCZeIN"><img alt="Subscribe_Button.png" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/Appstore/Subscribe_Button._CB520204270_.png?t=true" /></a> /blogs/post/5a190563-cbc4-459c-b55c-12001774f0bd/build-an-alexa-skill-for-a-cause Build an Alexa Skill for a Cause Zoey Collier /blogs/post/5a190563-cbc4-459c-b55c-12001774f0bd/build-an-alexa-skill-for-a-cause Mon, 20 Feb 2017 22:25:42 +0000 Alexa Alexa Event Marketing Guest post by Tom Hudson; Tech Director @thirteen23. Tom writes about new and emerging platforms and other tech-related stuff. <img align="right" width="213" vspace="10" hspace="10" height="53" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/Alexa/thirteen23_Logo_Dark._CB534063633_.png?t=true" alt="thirteen23_Logo_Dark.png" /> When I started my job as Technical Director at <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://www.thirteen23.com" target="_blank">thirteen23</a>, the owner Doug Cook and I were sitting in a room chatting about projects. At some point during the meeting he said “Alexa, is it still raining outside?” Uh what!? Previous to this I had never seen or heard of an Amazon Echo. Somehow I completely missed it. Needless to say, after the meeting I went back to my computer and immediately bought one. Since then I’ve been hooked on it, writing custom skills and taking advantage of all the integrations. I wrote a <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://medium.com/hello-thirteen23/is-there-an-echo-in-here-25a8f7c743a1#.khlagu8cv" target="_blank">3-part series</a> on my experience building Alexa skills, and thirteen23 has played around with custom integrations such as controls for connected speaker systems.  In a couple of months my coworker Nikki Clark and I will be teaching a <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://schedule.sxsw.com/2017/events/PP60965" target="_blank">workshop at SXSW 2017</a> on how to design for and build an Alexa skill. If you’re in Austin this March for the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.sxsw.com/festivals/interactive" target="_blank">SXSW Interactive Festival</a>, you should sign up! Guest post by Tom Hudson; Tech Director @thirteen23. Tom writes about new and emerging platforms and other tech-related stuff. <div class="section-content"> <div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"> <img align="right" width="213" vspace="10" hspace="10" height="53" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/Alexa/thirteen23_Logo_Dark._CB534063633_.png?t=true" alt="thirteen23_Logo_Dark.png" /> When I started my job as Technical Director at <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://www.thirteen23.com" target="_blank">thirteen23</a>, the owner Doug Cook and I were sitting in a room chatting about projects. At some point during the meeting he said “Alexa, is it still raining outside?” Uh what!? Previous to this I had never seen or heard of an Amazon Echo. Somehow I completely missed it. Needless to say, after the meeting I went back to my computer and immediately bought one. Since then I’ve been hooked on it, writing custom skills and taking advantage of all the integrations. I wrote a <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://medium.com/hello-thirteen23/is-there-an-echo-in-here-25a8f7c743a1#.khlagu8cv" target="_blank">3-part series</a> on my experience building Alexa skills, and thirteen23 has played around with custom integrations such as controls for connected speaker systems.  In a couple of months my coworker Nikki Clark and I will be teaching a <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://schedule.sxsw.com/2017/events/PP60965" target="_blank">workshop at SXSW 2017</a> on how to design for and build an Alexa skill. If you’re in Austin this March for the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.sxsw.com/festivals/interactive" target="_blank">SXSW Interactive Festival</a>, you should sign up! <h2 class="graf graf--h3 graf-after--p" id="c5eb">Speak up! Build an Alexa Skill for a Cause</h2> Last year when it was announced that our idea was selected for a workshop at SXSW—we still weren’t decided on the focus of the workshop.. Our biggest concern was allowing non-programmer participation, so we knew it needed to be simple. The second concern was doing something meaningful, something that would go beyond just a learning experience. After brainstorming ideas, we decided to use the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/Tx3DVGG0K0TPUGQ/updated-alexa-skills-kit-fact-template-step-by-step-guide-to-build-a-fact-skill" target="_blank">Alexa Skills Kit Fact template</a>, and cater it to important causes in the United States and around the world—poverty, homelessness, gender inequality, suicide, bigotry, climate change, etc. In total we identified 35 causes, illnesses, and other issues, and created a set of facts for each one. Participants will pick a cause from our set, build a skill with facts about their chosen cause, and (hopefully) submit it for certification by the end of class. Through the help of Jen Gilbert, Marketing Manager at Amazon, we will also have onsite Alexa support for our workshop attendees, AWS credits for attendees, and 6 great <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BQloLHkBZRC/?taken-by=hello.thirteen23&hl=en" target="_blank">prizes</a> to be given away at the end. Thanks Amazon!!! Also keep in mind that Amazon Alexa will be at the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://schedule.sxsw.com/2017/events/OE06086" target="_blank">2017 SXSW Sports and Tech Hackathon</a> which will be a great opportunity for those already building skills. <h2 class="graf graf--h3 graf-after--p" id="68ad">SXSW Tips From a Local</h2> If you’ve never been to <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.sxsw.com" target="_blank">SXSW</a> in Austin, Texas, you’re missing out on a really great time. In a span of 10 days, a massive amount of people converge in downtown Austin to watch films, see live music, and talk tech. It can be a little overwhelming. At the same time that hundreds of sessions are happening at the convention center, there are hundreds of parties going on, hosted by film, music, and tech companies, all within walking distance. On top of this, there are tons of really awesome food trucks with lots of creative delicacies to keep you fueled up, not to mention the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://franklinbarbecue.com" target="_blank">best barbecue in the nation</a>. If you are going to SXSW Interactive this year, here are some tips to get the most out of your experience: <ul class="postList"> <li class="graf graf--li graf-after--p" id="ac0b">Plan ahead. <a class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" href="http://schedule.sxsw.com/2017" target="_blank">Get online and develop a plan</a> for what you want to do. It will make your experience much easier. Also, leave pockets of time for exploring.</li> <li class="graf graf--li graf-after--li" id="ef3b">Don’t stress about missing something. You will miss a lot, and that’s ok, because you will also stumble upon some really amazing things.</li> <li class="graf graf--li graf-after--li" id="5218">Pace yourself. It starts early every day and goes late into the night.</li> <li class="graf graf--li graf-after--li" id="90a8">Pack snacks. There will be times when you don’t get a chance to fuel up, and you’ll be thankful you packed something for those moments.</li> <li class="graf graf--li graf-after--li" id="4a5b">Stay for the music! If you are only coming for the interactive portion of SXSW and you have a few more days of vacation, stay for the music portion, which goes through the 19th. There is PLENTY to do, even without a badge or wristband.</li> <li class="graf graf--li graf-after--li graf--last" id="f1cc"><a class="markup--anchor markup--li-anchor" href="http://schedule.sxsw.com/2017/03/10/events" target="_blank">Sign up for the workshop!</a> See below.</li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="section-divider"> <hr class="section-divider" /> </div> <div class="section-content"> <div class="section-inner sectionLayout--insetColumn"> <h2 class="graf graf--h3 graf--leading" id="f1a6">Details</h2> Where: <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.sxsw.com/festivals/interactive" target="_blank">2017 SXSW Interactive Festival</a> in Austin, Texas When: March 10–14, 2017 What: Workshop titled “<a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://schedule.sxsw.com/2017/events/PP60965" target="_blank">Speak up! Build an Alexa Skill for a Cause</a>” intended for non-programmers interested in Alexa skill design and development If you are attending the <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://www.sxsw.com/festivals/interactive" target="_blank">2017 SXSW Interactive Festival</a> in Austin, Texas, and you are interested in getting into Alexa skill design and development, you should definitely <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="http://schedule.sxsw.com/2017/events/PP60965" target="_blank">sign up</a>. See you in Austin! Tom Hudson | Technology Director, <a class="markup--anchor markup--p-anchor" href="https://www.thirteen23.com" target="_blank">thirteen23 </a>| @hudsonatx </div> </div> /blogs/post/91cbba9a-db93-4806-80fc-2979b921a197/announcing-thermostat-query-for-smart-home-skills Announcing Thermostat Query for Smart Home Skills Zoey Collier /blogs/post/91cbba9a-db93-4806-80fc-2979b921a197/announcing-thermostat-query-for-smart-home-skills Fri, 17 Feb 2017 18:16:46 +0000 Alexa Alexa Announcements Marketing Smart Home Today we are happy to announce support for <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/docs/smart-home-skill-api-reference#temperature-control-and-query-messages" target="_blank">thermostat query</a>, a new feature for Alexa skills developed using the <a title="Understanding the Alexa Smart Home Skills API" href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/overviews/understanding-the-smart-home-skill-api" target="_blank">Smart Home Skill API</a>. The feature is now available in the US, with support for the UK and Germany coming soon. With thermostat query, customers can issue a voice command to an Alexa-enabled device, such as the Amazon Echo or Echo Dot, and hear Alexa say the response. For example, a customer with a single thermostat could say, “Alexa, what is the temperature in the house?” and Alexa would respond with the current inside temperature. This complements thermostat commands that already allow customers to set the temperature value. This new feature simplifies development efforts by enabling specific voice interactive experiences straight from the <a title="Understanding the Alexa Smart Home Skills API" href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/overviews/understanding-the-smart-home-skill-api" target="_blank">Smart Home Skill API</a>. In the past, smart home skill developers had to create two skills (one for smart home, the other for custom voice interactions to allow querying data) to provide this overall experience. Today we are happy to announce support for <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/docs/smart-home-skill-api-reference#temperature-control-and-query-messages" target="_blank">thermostat query</a>, a new feature for Alexa skills developed using the <a title="Understanding the Alexa Smart Home Skills API" href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/overviews/understanding-the-smart-home-skill-api" target="_blank">Smart Home Skill API</a>. The feature is now available in the US, with support for the UK and Germany coming soon. With thermostat query, customers can issue a voice command to an Alexa-enabled device, such as the Amazon Echo or Echo Dot, and hear Alexa say the response. For example, a customer with a single thermostat could say, “Alexa, what is the temperature in the house?” and Alexa would respond with the current inside temperature. This complements thermostat commands that already allow customers to set the temperature value. This new feature simplifies development efforts by enabling specific voice interactive experiences straight from the <a title="Understanding the Alexa Smart Home Skills API" href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/overviews/understanding-the-smart-home-skill-api" target="_blank">Smart Home Skill API</a>. In the past, smart home skill developers had to create two skills (one for smart home, the other for custom voice interactions to allow querying data) to provide this overall experience. Today developers building smart home skills targeting devices with temperature control can enhance their customers interactions using the new thermostat query feature for these two common scenarios: <ul> <li>A customer requests the temperature value (what it is), for example “Alexa, what’s the temperature inside?” </li> <li>A customer requests the temperature setting (what it should be), for example, “Alexa, what’s my thermostat set to?”</li> </ul> When setting the temperature, the values for both scenarios are managed using Celsius. Customers can choose to interact with Celsius or Fahrenheit via settings in Alexa app (see figure 1), however, all the values passed into and returned from the smart home skill adapter must use Celsius values. For customers who choose Fahrenheit, the values are automatically converted to Celsius. <div align="center"> <img alt="ThermostatQuery2.jpg" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/Alexa/ThermostatQuery2._CB534079236_.jpg?t=true" /> </div> Figure 1: When settings are turned off, temperature units are in Fahrenheit. For more information and technical details, review our documentation on <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/docs/smart-home-skill-api-reference#temperature-control-and-query-messages" target="_blank">temperature control and query messages</a>. Please visit the following references for more information on smart home skill development. <blockquote> <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/overviews/understanding-the-smart-home-skill-api">Understanding the Smart Home Skill API</a> <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/community/post/Tx4WG410EHXIYQ/Five-Steps-Before-Developing-a-Smart-Home-Skill">Five Steps Before Developing a Smart Home Skill</a> <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/community/post/TxWSCWZI9SPYNT/Coding-Smart-Home-Skill-Adapter-Directives-Using-Node-js">Coding Smart Home Skill Directives Using Node.js</a> <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/community/post/Tx480XF5QCA6IN/Managing-Device-Discovery-for-Your-Alexa-Smart-Home-Skill">Managing Device Discovery for Your Alexa Smart Home Skill</a> <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/community/post/Tx2Y3J0OXO2O4NG/Fundamentals-of-Smart-Home-Device-Control-Including-On-Off-State">Controlling the On/Off State of a Smart Home Device </a> <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/Tx38PSX7O9YKIK1/announcing-scenes-for-smart-home-skills">Scenes for Smart Home Home Skills</a> </blockquote> /blogs/post/cf473bfc-b504-4575-bdcd-556de233517a/alexa-skill-developer-spotlight-nick-schwab Alexa Skill Developer Spotlight: Nick Schwab Zoey Collier /blogs/post/cf473bfc-b504-4575-bdcd-556de233517a/alexa-skill-developer-spotlight-nick-schwab Fri, 17 Feb 2017 16:55:34 +0000 Alexa Alexa Developer Stories Developer spotlight When Amazon first introduced the Echo, <a href="https://nickschwab.com/">Nick Schwab</a> was intrigued. He’d always loved voice commands in his car, but h<img align="right" width="257" vspace="10" hspace="10" height="201" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/Alexa/NickSchwab_small._CB534085590_.jpg?t=true" alt="NickSchwab_small.JPG" />e wasn’t sure he wanted to buy another cool device just yet. Then the Echo Dot came out, and once again, Nick couldn’t resist a good deal. He ordered his own Dot, dug into the <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/alexa-skills-kit">Alexa Skills Kit</a> (ASK). Right away, he started working on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nick-Schwab-Bargain-Buddy/dp/B01D8GGZEC/">Bargain Buddy,</a> an Alexa skill to relieve him of a daily surf to find daily deals.  Two days after the Bargain Buddy was certified, Nick received his Echo Dot in the mail—his first Alexa device. That’s right, he developed, tested and released his first Alexa skill, before he even had his first Echo Dot. That was early in 2016. These days, Nick has become a force to be reckoned in the Alexa developer community. When Amazon first introduced the Echo, <a href="https://nickschwab.com/">Nick Schwab</a> was intrigued. He’d always loved voice commands in his car, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to buy another cool device just yet. Then the Echo Dot came out, and once again, Nick couldn’t resist a good deal. He ordered his own Dot, dug into the <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/alexa-skills-kit">Alexa Skills Kit</a> (ASK). Right away, he started working on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nick-Schwab-Bargain-Buddy/dp/B01D8GGZEC/">Bargain Buddy,</a> an Alexa skill to relieve him of a daily surf to find daily deals. Two days after the Bargain Buddy was certified, Nick received his Echo Dot in the mail—his first Alexa device. That’s right, he developed, tested and released his first Alexa skill, before he even had his first Echo Dot. That was early in 2016. These days, Nick has become a force to be reckoned in the Alexa developer community. <h2 style="margin: 12pt 0in;">A back-end developer turns Alexa skill master</h2> Nick has lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan for most of his life. He started doing web development when he was 13 years old, then later majored in computer information systems in college. Now 27, Nick has been creating web APIs and designing back-end systems architecture for several years. Some of his work includes creating the APIs for <a href="https://getambassador.com">Ambassador</a>, an Inc. 500 company, managing hundreds of database servers for Allstate Insurance, and building APIs to power the iOS and Android apps of several startups.<img align="right" width="392" vspace="10" hspace="10" height="308" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/Alexa/NickSchwab_small._CB534085590_.jpg?t=true" alt="NickSchwab_small.JPG" /> While he loves his work, Nick says the biggest challenge for a back-end developer is showing off his work to prospective employers and consumers alike. In his words, “there’s nothing cool for those people to see or interact with.” Then he found Alexa. Alexa’s voice capabilities are definitely something people can interact with. “I just saw an awesome new technology and thought, boy this is going to be big. So I jumped on it,” Nick says. <h2 style="margin: 12pt 0in;">A parade of Alexa skills</h2> Nick created Bargain Buddy because he thought it would be useful to him. “Scratching your own itch” is advice Nick always gives other developers. Besides, the bargain websites had readily available APIs for him to use. Instead of searching for deals, he could just enable the Bargain Buddy skill, say “Alexa, ask Bargain Buddy for the Woot” and then decide whether to visit the site. Bargain Buddy was followed by <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nick-Schwab-Opening-Bell/dp/B01E9Z3UVC/">Opening Bell</a>, a skill to check the current price of a publicly traded stock, just by speaking the company’s natural name. Nick wanted to check the prices of his holdings—again, scratch your own itch—but many companies have unusual or hard-to-remember stock symbols. Nick used a public API to resolve company names to ticker symbols and retrieve the price, then a second fallback API in case the first one failed. Opening Bell took third place in Hackster’s <a href="https://www.hackster.io/nickschwab/opening-bell-c3a46e">Hey Alexa! The Amazon Alexa Skill Contest</a>. Next came <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nick-Schwab-Funny-News/dp/B01HZ0RR3A/">Funny News</a>. In this skill, Nick tried to inject a little satire and levity into the daily news by hooking up Alexa with fark.com’s XML feed. The skill won runner up in <a href="https://www.hackster.io/nickschwab/funny-news-bc7fe7?ref=search&ref_id=funny%20news&offset=0">Hackster’s The Internet of Voice Challenge</a>. Then things got even more interesting. At his new apartment, Nick found himself with a noisy neighbor. So he could get some sleep, he decided to create a skill that plays a 20-minute loop of rain sounds as ambient noise. He used <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nick-Schwab-Ambient-Noise-Sounds/dp/B01LXQXW3G">Rain Sounds</a> for three weeks before it was published and available in the Alexa app. It was an instant hit, receiving two dozen positive reviews the day it was published. “Adoption of Rain Sounds was the best out of all the skills I’d made to that point,” Nick says. Based on user requests, Nick decided to create a series of ambient sound skills, starting with <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nick-Schwab-Ambient-Noise-Thunderstorm/dp/B01M3RCM3B">Thunderstorm Sounds</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Nick-Schwab-Ambient-Noise-Sounds/dp/B01M5E92TH/">Ocean Sounds</a>. The skills help over 100,000 monthly users concentrate, fall asleep or just drown out irritating noise. Nick is just getting started. <h2 style="margin: 12pt 0in;">Challenges and Advice</h2> Nick says one of his biggest challenges was with Opening Bell. He found that even with a fallback stock API, the skill failed to resolve some companies. “There are thousands of companies out there with really strange names and it’s hard for Alexa to interpret them all the time.” Nick wanted to create custom rules for such names, but he had to know what Alexa was hearing and sending the skill in the failure cases. That’s when he added <a href="http://voicelabs.co/">VoiceLabs</a> voice analytics to his skill. With VoiceLabs, he was able to identify specific sounds/names the APIs can’t resolve—not to mention many other useful insights. (Read more about Nick’s experience with VoiceLabs in <a href="http://voicelabs.co/2016/12/20/interview-with-amazon-alexa-skill-master-nick-schwab/">this interview</a>.) Adding extra analytics to your skill is one of Nick’s first pieces of advice to other Alexa developers: <ul> <li>Add extra analytics to discover troublesome areas in your skill.</li> <li>Scratch your own itch – build something that you find useful.</li> <li><a href="https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/docs/choosing-the-invocation-name-for-an-alexa-skill">Choose an invocation name</a> with obvious meaning to users. (Nick says he would pick “Stock Price” instead of “Opening Bell” if he did it again.)</li> <li>Handle timeouts and other exceptions gracefully, instead of a generic error time-out message from Alexa.</li> <li>Use the <a href="https://forums.developer.amazon.com/spaces/165/index.html">Alexa developer forums</a>, and join the unofficial <a href="https://amazonalexa.slack.com/">Alexa Slack group</a>. </li> </ul> “Voice in the home stands to be really big,” Nick says and he continues to build more Alexa skills in the future. Check out all of the Alexa skills Nick has built <a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dalexa-skills&field-keywords=Nick+Schwab">here</a>. /blogs/post/89c9c171-d3d2-44fe-a868-1843aafdc4f7/case-study-scottish-broadcaster-stv-experiences-growth-with-amazon-fire-tv Case Study: Scottish Broadcaster STV Experiences Growth with Amazon Fire TV Becky Young /blogs/post/89c9c171-d3d2-44fe-a868-1843aafdc4f7/case-study-scottish-broadcaster-stv-experiences-growth-with-amazon-fire-tv Fri, 17 Feb 2017 16:00:00 +0000 Appstore Amazon Fire TV Case Studies <div align="center"> <img alt="STV.png" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/default/STV._CB534200376_.png?t=true" /> </div> Terrestrial TV broadcaster <a href="http://www.stv.tv/">STV</a> shares how they created STV Player for Fire TV, the challenges they faced, and what the future holds. <div align="center"> <img alt="STV.png" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/DeveloperBlogs/AmazonDeveloperBlogs/default/STV._CB534200376_.png?t=true" /> </div> With viewing behaviours evolving and more entertainment content being consumed online, how do you adapt your service to meet this changing demand? That was the challenge facing terrestrial TV broadcaster <a href="http://www.stv.tv/">STV</a>. STV is a free-to-air television broadcaster in Scotland, operating on Channel 3. As an affiliate of ITV, STV broadcasts shows such as The X Factor and Coronation Street along with a range of content and programmes developed and produced in-house. The STV Player App originally launched in 2008, making it one of the first terrestrial broadcasters to identify and embrace the shift in viewing habits from linear to on-demand content delivered via new mediums and services. Following its deployment on <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/fire-tv">Fire TV</a> in October 2014, STV Player has seen phenomenal growth. Product Manager, Will Jones notes, “Since January 2015, we’ve seen nearly a 2,000 percent increase in stream starts and users on the platform.” In this series of videos, Will Jones and members of the STV development team discuss how they created STV Player for Fire TV, the challenges they faced, and what the future holds for the broadcaster. <ul> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2fX_HkZS_s">Meeting User Demand</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k49D0Btexl8">Adapting Existing Web-Based Apps for Fire TV</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6tiM-2gcrU">Identifying and Resolving Development Issues</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKhou6HN_kU">Top Tips for Mobile Developers</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTvdKFVv08Q">How Future Technologies Enable STV to Shape its Offering </a></li> </ul>