coming

AMAZON has officially updated customers on a change coming to millions of its speakers.

More than 100,000 people are understood to already be using Alexa+, which was unveiled at an AI event in New York last year.

4

4

4

The new and ultra-smart version of Alexa, hailed as “remarkable” by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, promises a more human-like interaction thanks to generative AI.

That might sound small compared to the 600 million Alexa devices worldwide, but it marks a big step forward. Alexa+, first introduced in February, is being gradually expanded to more users over the coming months.

This upgraded assistant is designed to handle more complex tasks: from booking restaurants to suggesting recipes and managing smart home gadgets, all with less user effort.

It’s a big shift away from the old Alexa’s scripted answers.

Instead, Alexa+ generates responses on the fly, much like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini, making conversations feel smoother and more responsive.

However, many of the headline-grabbing features shown in early demos are still missing.

According to Tech Edt, Alexa+ can’t yet generate bedtime stories, recommend gifts, or place food delivery orders through services like Grubhub.

Jassy admitted during the May 2 earnings call that Alexa+ remains “primitive,” with multi-step task accuracy currently sitting between 30 per cent and 60 per cent.

Still, Amazon’s goal is to push that figure to 90 per cent as its Nova Act browsing engine improves.

Amazon’s hardware chief Panos Panay described the new Alexa as knowing “almost every instrument in your life” — from smart home devices and mobile apps to the people you’re connected with.

That means Alexa+ should, eventually, help you handle everything from turning off the lights and adjusting your thermostat to ordering dinner or finding the perfect birthday gift.

But it’s not just about what Alexa+ can do — it’s also about how it does it.

The assistant now speaks with more expressive, natural voices, and it’s better at handling pauses, stumbles, and emotional cues in your speech.

For example, if you start a sentence and change your mind halfway, Alexa+ should still understand.

That said, the rollout hasn’t been entirely smooth.

Some features expected at launch have been delayed because they didn’t meet Amazon’s release standards.

The Washington Post reported that functions like visual recognition of family members, personalised chore reminders, and certain U.S.-only services like Grubhub ordering have been pushed back by at least two months.

Another controversial point is data management.

While Alexa+ can now read and summarise uploaded documents — such as legal contracts or family recipes, users currently can’t delete these files on their own.

Instead, they must contact Amazon support, and even then, some data might remain on record.

Only newer Echo Show devices (like the Echo Show 8, 10, and 15) currently support Alexa+, meaning owners of older Echo models or certain Fire TV products will need to upgrade if they want to access the new assistant.

There’s also a web version at Alexa.com, but a related project known internally as Metis — a chatbot designed to compete with ChatGPT — hasn’t launched yet.

4

April 28 (UPI) — Spain and Portugal declared a state of emergency after an all-encompassing power failure struck those nations as well as Belgium, Andorra and France.

As of around 12:30 p.m. local time, issues with the European electric grid were reported. Power went out across most of the Iberian Peninsula, affecting 48.4 million people in Spain and 10.6 million in Portugal. Parts of southwest France’s Basque Country also briefly lost electricity.

In a state of emergency, regions can ask the central government to take over public order and other things.

There was a “technical issue” when the Spanish grid was disconnected from the broader European one, a European trade body told the BBC’s The World Tonight. Kristian Ruby, the general secretary of EURELECTRIC, described the outage as a “50-year, if not 100-year incident….something very very rare.”

Ruby added: “Now, judging from that situation alone, you wouldn’t think that would cause a power cut across the entire Iberian peninsula, so my assessment is there is likely to have been other elements in this equation that have caused this situation.”

As of 11 p.m., 51% of Spain’s electricity was restored and 70% of substations were back up.

Those without power were plunged into darkness.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said “a long night lies ahead” but to fully expect power to be restored Tuesday.

“The situation is very asymmetrical across the country,” he said. “Some autonomous communities have already recovered up to 97% of their supply, while others, unfortunately, are below 15%.”

He said authorities have not determined why the outage occurred.

Portugal’s Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said there was “no indication” it was caused by a cyber attack. Portugal’s National Energy Network said earlier Monday it could take a week to return the full grid to normal.

Late afternoon, power operator REN said electricity was back for 2.5 million customers in Portugal.

Life drastically affected

Impacted hospitals have reportedly canceled surgeries, and Internet and mobile phone networks have also been affected.

Transportation has also been widely impacted, with trains trapped in tunnels between stations. Late Monday afternoon, Transport Minister Oscar Puente said 11 trains were stopped on tracks.

Puente said medium- and long-distance trains will be out until Tuesday.

Madrid’s Barajas International Airport and Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado were closed. Air traffic control towers had battery power and generators.

Gas stations without generators were closed.

“I was driving and suddenly there was no traffic lights … It was a bit of a jungle,” Luis Ibanez Jimenez told CNN. “I saw a massive bus coming, and I had to accelerate a lot to go past it.”

The few open businesses only accepted cash.

The power outages impacted the 2025 Madrid Open, forcing the suspension of matches on Monday, officials said.

Help provided

France’s RTE transmission system operator announced it has mobilized teams to provide assistance.

Spain’s Interior Ministry deployed 30,000 officers for security concerns and roads where traffic signals were not working.

Madrid’s firefighters handled 174 “elevator interventions.”

The European Union, in a statement, said it was “in contact with the national authorities of Spain and Portugal as well as (European electricity transmission system operators’ network) ENTSO-E to understand the underlying cause and the impact of the situation.”

“As per EU legislation in place … there are protocols in place to restore the functioning of the system,” the statement read.

Emmerdale spoilers tease key scenes ahead next week from hints of a double exit, a possible death, and an unexpected romance off the back of a sad split on the ITV soap

There’s shocking scenes aplenty next week on Emmerdale, with more than one major twist on the cards.

There’s the Joe Tate whodunnit as the villain faces his brutal comeuppance, with a number of suspects in the frame. While his fate and what actually happens is being kept under wraps, what has been revealed is that several characters want him to face justice – and one takes action.

Also next week there’s a sad split as a character is dumped. But the moment leads to one of the most shocking romances the soap has ever aired.

There’s hints of an exit on the show next week too, after reports emerged recently that an actress was leaving her role. There’s bombshell discoveries, shocking confessions and danger for more than one character, and revenge in mind for others.

The big plot of the week has to be the Joe whodunnit, as his enemies plot revenge. Soon enough an incident happens that sees at least one resident, unnamed, take vengeance as his lies all finally come to light.

From his involvement in the limo crash that killed three women, to him drugging his brother Noah Dingle and stealing his unle Caleb Miligan’s kidney, it all comes out. As a result, there is a whole list of enemies ready to take him down.

READ MORE: Emmerdale Joe Tate whodunnit suspects revealed in ‘explosive’ revenge twist

Charity Dingle finally gets the confirmation she needs that Joe drugged her son Noah, causing the limo crash after he wandered out into the road. As those linked to the crash find this out, including tragic Amy Wyatt’s mother Kerry Wyatt, it all kicks off.

Noah will find out what his own brother did to him, and it seems he could find out that he almost suffered Caleb’s dark fate recently. Joe had Caleb stabbed in a fake car theft so that he could rush him to his private clinic, in order to get his kidney.

Next week Caleb’s loved ones find out that Joe orchestrated the attack and then stole his kidney, with Joe needing an organ transplant after a chronic kidney disease diagnosis. Caleb knows the truth already, so he may finally get his payback next week – unless of course someone close to him does it instead.

With this bombshell Noah will likely find out it was almost him that had their kidney stolen. Elsewhere, Joe’s fling with Dawn Taylor, which led to her dumping her husband Billy Fletcher, also comes to light.

When her daughter Clemmie catches her and Joe sharing a kiss, she soon confronts Joe about it. After his attempts to silence her fail, he turns nasty and she bites him on the arm, leading to him attempting to bribe her.

It all turns sinister though when he threatens to send her into care over her biting him, leaving her heartbroken. She agrees to stay silent about the kiss after Joe’s blackmail, but soon she’s forced to confess all to Billy as she struggles.

When Billy also finds out about the kiss he’s furious, and tells all to Caleb who encourages him to take revenge. Ruby Miligan questions if she’s signed Joe’s death warrant after putting Charity in the picture about the spiking and the kidney theft.

With all eyes on Joe, Ruby and Caleb are thrilled to have seemingly orchestrated Joe’s downfall as several characters want revenge. As residents gather at Home Farm for Lydia DIngle’s surprise birthday party, events take a shocking turn as someone takes their revenge.

Elsewhere next week, Ross Barton is devastated when Steph Miligan dumps him as she focuses on her recovery. But viewers will be left stunned to see who he seeks comfort in in a surprise romance.

Ross ends up sleeping with GP Manpreet Sharma it seems, as spoilers tease: “On his way out of Manpreet’s after spending the night together”, confirming they get a bit cosy. Ross is then left shrugging her off to avoid being caught by Steph’s father Caleb.

Elsewhere, Mackenzie Boyd continues to push secret killer John Sugden, as he goads him about his time in the military. There’s also hints of a sad exit, as one character decides she has fallen out of love with her partner.

Gail Loman leaves Ryan Stocks heartbroken when she plans to leave him, but she’s left torn by his reaction. It comes after the news Gail actress Rachael Gill-Davis had left the show.

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .