When HTC unveiled its U11 flagship smartphone in May of this year, the company announced that it would feature both the Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa. This is one of the first main stream smartphones to actually pack Amazon’s virtual assistant into the device, along with Google’s.
And about two months post launch, the HTC Alexa application is rolling out into the US Google Play Store and allows the virtual assistant to be on the U11. This proprietary application allows Alexa to be reached hands-free at any time, or rather as long as the smartphone has some battery life. Being that the unique feature of the HTC U11 is the squeezable sides, is that you can also squeeze to ask Alexa.
The HTC Alexa application will allow you to get access to your Amazon Music Library, setup Flash briefings, add Alexa skills along with a few other features. This application appears to take the core Amazon Alexa application with a few customizations from HTC that allow it to be hands-free on the U11. While the US Google Play Store has the HTC Alexa application now, it will roll out to the UK in July and Germany in August. The HTC U11 is readily from Amazon for $649 with Prime shipping in Amazing Silver, Solar Red, Sapphire Blue, and Brilliant Black.
