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Prototyping for Amazon Echo and Alexa

Written by Pete Prestipino | Mar 17, 2016 5:00:00 AM

Interested in the Internet of Things (IoT) but not sure how to get started from a development perspective?

Toronto-based startup Unified Computer Intelligence Corporation (UCIC) has launched the Ubi Portal Voice Prototyping Tool, a way for developers to connect their APIs and Amazon Echo for testing.

Using the new (free) tool and the Ubi Portal (portal.theubi.com), developers can create a lesson using simple graphical rules that will teach the Echo new things: sending email and text messages; controlling devices like Nest, Harmony, SmartThings, and others; creating customized responses through the Amazon Echo; and, making calls to Web APIs, parsing their requests, and announcing the response back through an Amazon Echo or Alexa Voice Service-connected device.

"We're really excited about how easy it will be for anyone to now voice-enable their devices and services," said Leor Grebler, CEO of UCIC. "We think it will bring a lot of new developers into the Amazon Alexa platform."