Alexa can now help assess whether you might have coronavirus

Amazon’s Alexa assistant can now offer advice to users who are worried that they may have contracted coronavirus, officially called COVID-19. Amazon announced the update in a blog post on Thursday, saying the company “want[s] to do everything we can to support you during these unprecedented times.” The information provided by Alexa is based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). To access the information, you can ask, “Alexa, what do I do if I think I have COVID-19?” or “Alexa, what do I do if I think I have coronavirus?” Alexa will walk you through a series of questions about your symptoms and exposure, then tell you what your risk level is and advise what your next course of action should be. This system is only for the U.S., though Alexa also provides coronavirus-related information in other countries too. Users in Japan can use Alexa to access information based on guidance from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare which will provide guidance based on your symptoms. In addition, Alexa can also sing you a song for 20 seconds to help make sure you are washing your hands for enough time, and it can answer questions related to the coronavirus outbreak as well. “Alexa can now answer tens of thousands of questions related to COVID-19 in countries around the world, and we are working to provide accurate and timely information from official government and news sources globally,” Amazon said in its blog post. Alexa is just the latest digital assistant to offer advice on coronavirus symptoms. Last weekend, Apple updated its Siri voice assistant to give iPhone users information when they asked questions like “Do I have the coronavirus?” Siri will ask a series of yes or no questions about symptoms and exposure and suggest next steps. It also reminds users to wash their hands regularly. Google Assistant also has functions to help users do their part to reduce the spread of coronavirus. In its “Do the Five” campaign, Google uses pushes notifications to encourage users to stay home, wash their hands, and maintain social distancing. And there’s a new “Coronavirus tips” section which has been added to Google Assistant on Android devices. For the latest updates on the novel coronavirus outbreak, visit the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 page. Apple Music will soon have a tool that musicians can use to create specific playlists based on the setlists of their current shows. Rachel Manolo says the Apple Watch helped keep both her and her unborn child safe. Manolo was around 18 weeks pregnant when her symptoms first started: a racing heartbeat, shortness of breath, fatigue. After several weeks of this, she decided to use the ECG function on her Apple Watch. It gave her an inconclusive result, but she reported a heartbeat of more than 150 beats per minute (bpm) for more than 40 minutes. The wait for Android 15 is over for some owners of some OnePlus devices. With Android 15 Beta 2 expected to launch today, OnePlus is rolling out the Android 15 Beta 1 for owners of the OnePlus 12 and OnePlus Open. Now, keep in mind that this is still a beta, meaning it’s intended for developers and advanced users, and there are still several known issues and bugs. The update will roll out globally and needs to be manually installed. We highly recommend following the steps OnePlus has laid out in its forum post and backing up the data on your phone since there is a risk of bricking. To upgrade, you’ll need to be running Android 14.0.0.610 and below; versions above it can’t be upgraded without rolling back.