Alexa Live 2020 > Release Roundup
| Feature | Description | Relevant Links | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexa Conversations (beta) | Create Alexa skills that feel more natural with fewer lines of code | Docs Blog |
US |
| ASR Evaluation | Use ASR Evaluation to measure your skill’s speech recognition with audio files - now integrated with NLU evaluation | Docs Blog |
All |
| DNN Models for NLU (rollout) | Deep neural networks (DNNs) can help improve Alexa's natural language understanding | Blog | US |
| Dynamic Catalogs (coming soon) | Progamatically update slot values with dynamic catalogs | Blog | All |
| Multi-Value Slots (beta) | Receive multiple slot values and respond to more complex utterances | Docs Blog |
All English language locales |
| Alexa Entities (preview) | Retrieve more information on slot values for a better customer experience | All | |
| App-to-App Account Linking | App to app account linking can now be initated from the Alexa App without the need to re-enter credentials | Docs Blog |
All |
| Person Profile API | Skills incorporating Alexa voice profiles can now create even more personalized experiences | Docs Blog |
All |
| Skill Limit Access (preview) | Verify which voice profile is accessing your Alexa Skill with Limit Access | US |
| Feature | Description | Relevant Links | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| APL for audio (beta) | Mix Alexa speech, sound effects, music, and other audio at runtime with APL for audio | Docs Blog |
All |
| Alexa Web API for Games GA | Build visually impressive and animated Alexa games with existing web technologies such as HTML5 | Docs Blog |
All |
| APL 1.4 | Add visuals to your skills with APL 1.4 | Docs Blog |
All |
| Visual Studio Code Plug-in for APL | Author and render APL locally with Alexa Skills Kit toolkit for Visual Studio Code | Docs Blog |
All |
| JSX for APL (beta) | Author APL documents using JSX and React along with SDKv2 and the latest SDK | Docs Blog |
All |
| Multimodal Responses (preview) | Easily build unified audio and visual responses in your skills | All |
| Feature | Description | Relevant Links | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skill Resumption (preview) | Allow customers to easily return to your skill after using Alexa accomplish another task | US | |
| Alexa for Apps (preview) | You can now enable customers to quickly get to key content and functionality in your app, just by asking Alexa. | All |
| Feature | Description | Relevant Links | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| NFI Toolkit (preview) | Pass signals that Alexa can consider for name-free requests | US, UK, IN | |
| Quick Links for Alexa (beta) | Customers can launch your skills by clicking a link from your mobile app, website, or online ads | Docs Blog |
US, es-US |
| Alexa Hosted Skills Upgrades and Regional Deployment | Alexa-Hosted Skills are now hosted closer to your customers | Docs Blog |
All |
| Invocation Dashboard (preview) | Included with the NFI toolkit preview, you can now see how your skills are invoked | All | |
| Locale Clone | Save time while creating a new locale by cloning a previously built locale | Docs Blog |
All |
| Customer Behavior Analytics (beta) | You can now understand how customers behave in your skill with Customer Behavior analytics | Docs Blog |
US |
| Custom Tasks (beta) | Custom tasks (beta) let you expose skill functions outside your skill | Docs Blog |
All |
| In-Skill Purchases on Amazon.com (limited rollout) | Customers can now find and purchase ISPs on Amazon.com | Blog | US, es-US |
| In-Skill Purchases on Screened Echo Devices | Customers can now purchase ISPs from Echo Devices with screens | Blog | US, es-US |
| Feature | Description | Relevant Links | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skill Versioning and Rollback | Rollback the current version of your live skill to a previously live version without entering manual certification | Docs Blog |
All |
| Dev Console Homepage Redesign | ASK Dev Console has a new look and allows you to do more | Console | All |
| ASK SDK Controls framework |
The new Controls Framework makes it easier and faster to code manage multi-turn skills | Docs Blog |
All |
| Alexa Skills Toolkit for Visual Studio Code | Build and test Alexa skills locally with VS Code | Docs Blog |
All |
| Open Source Template Repository for Alexa-Hosted Skills | Introducing new Alexa-Hosted Skills templates with added feature support | Docs Blog |
All |
| Feature | Description | Relevant Links | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexa Connect Kit Module with Espressif Chipset | Introducing added support for a new Alexa Connect Kit (ACK) Module with Espressif chipset, as much as 50% lower in cost. | All |
