Amazon Alexa adds detailed news reading option

If you like to catch up on the news each day in a little more depth, but without having to turn on the TV, Amazon has a solution for you using its smart speakers. Alexa will now offer to read you the news in a lot more detail.

As Engadget reports, Alexa users in the US can benefit from a new feature which allows the voice assistant to convey the news in detail. It's a feature that's been made possible thanks to partnerships with Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, Newsy and NPR, from where the news will be sourced.

Alexa users can ask "tell me the news" or "play news" from any of the news outlets mentioned above and detailed audio will be played. If you don't care about a particular news story it's possible to skip over it and move on to whatever is next in the queue.

The long-form news option is available on any Alexa device, but you can also view video versions if you own an Echo Show $229.99 at Amazon.

This new feature doesn't mean Alexa reading off the latest news each day is disappearing as an option. In fact, it was only in January that Amazon upgraded Alexa with a more professional-sounding newscaster voice. It may also be the case that in the near future you can listen to the news through a pair of Amazon Alexa Earbuds.