Amazon Makes 'Computer' a Wake Word for Alexa

Amazon has added a new wake word that can now be used by users to wake up Alexa on its voice-activated smart devices and much to the delight of Star Trek fans out there, it is 'computer'. For those who are not aware of the reference, the on-board computer on Starship Enterprise was called upon using the word 'computer'.

In May last year, Jeff Bezos shared that the computer on Starship Enterprise was the inspiration behind Alexa, as per a report by Inverse. However, the latest addition makes the voice-activated devices more like the computer on the Starship Enterprise than ever. Till now, the existing keywords that could be used to activate the Alexa devices with voice were Alexa, Amazon, and Echo.

In order to change the keyword required to wake up the device, you need to open the Alexa app, and open settings from navigation panel. Then you need to scroll down and select "Wake Word". Then you have to choose and save the wake word of your choice. "When you change the wake word, the light ring on your device flashes orange briefly," Amazon says on its website.

Even though the addition is likely to be a very popular among Alexa users, we will have to see if many of them end up activating the devices by mistake given the extremely generic nature of the word. Also, we will have to wait and see if rivals like Google Home will take inspiration from Alexa and introduce support for new wake up commands going ahead.