Amazon has announced a new Alexa capability that can alert you, up to 24 hours in advance, if an item in your shopping cart, wish list, or “saved for later” list is about to go on sale. The alert arrives in the usual manner of Alexa notifications, which is a pulsing yellow light on Echo speakers or a popup on Echo Show devices. Once you receive one of these deal notifications, you can even ask Alexa to automatically buy the item on your behalf once the sale price goes live. Read more ›

Amazon has been testing public transit info for Alexa for nearly a year but it has now announced that the feature is available across the US. You can use it to check the status of particular lines, such as saying “Alexa, what’s the status of the 21 bus?” or “Alexa, are there any delays on the Q train from Penn Station?” When asking Alexa for directions anywhere, you can add “…by public transit” to the request to see which routes are available and what time the next one leaves. If you commute to/from work by public transit, you can now let Alexa know by flipping a toggle setting in the Alexa app under Settings > Commute. Doing so will allow you to ask “Alexa, when’s the next train to work?” or “Alexa, how’s my commute?” and receive information specific to your public transit route.