More third party widgets are becoming available for Amazon Alexa, so Mark takes the opportunity to share what he can about how widgets work, how they go beyond a #VoiceFirst design, and how you can get started designing them to accompany your skills. Allen... has some choice facial reactions in response.

As we kick off the new year, Allen and Mark look ahead at what's coming (or what we *hope* is coming) in the #VoiceFirst world this year. From Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant to custom agents and AI, what do we think the year ahead will bring? What are you looking forward to?

As the end of 2022 looms, Mark and Allen look back at some of the highlights of the show, of #VoiceFirst development, of working with Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant, and of talking to all of you. 

Wishing you the warmest of holiday seasons from all of us at Two Voice Devs and the #VoiceFirst Community Choir.

Featuring

Jeff Blankenberg

Script

Mark Tucker

Editing

Allen Firstenberg

A Two Voice Devs Production

The biggest buzz the past few weeks have been about ChatGPT from OpenAI, with some folks in the #VoiceFirst community pondering how this is going to change the nature of conversation design and voice development. Mark and Allen talk about what works with ChatGPT, what doesn't, and how voice developers might be thinking about it's role with building conversational apps and platforms in the future.

Learn more:

* ChatGPT: https://chat.openai.com/chat

The tech industry isn't always full of better and better things happening. Sometimes... there are setback, reassignments, poor sales, and layoffs. The recent news out of Amazon, particularly in the hardware and Alexa division, and with the Google Assistant have indicated that the #VoiceFirst movement may have hit some hard times. Allen and Mark talk about what's going on and extend our best hopes for those impacted.

Some further reading:

As Google has been sunsetting conversational actions, they've been ramping up with support for the new App Actions for Google Assistant. Mark and Allen discuss what App Actions offer for both users and developers and how this compares and contrasts to skills for Amazon's Alexa and apps for Apple's Siri

We'd like to extend our thanks to so many people in the #VoiceFirst community, our jobs, our family... and you, our listeners.

Mark sits down with Brett Adler, developer of the award winning VoicePT skill, to discuss his background in software development, low code and no code tools, and how his personal experiences brought him to developing a multi-modal #VoiceFirst assistant that helps physical therapy patients do their exercises.

More about VoicePT at https://devpost.com/software/voicept

When you're seeing each other for the first time in 3 years, you make it an event! That's what Mark and Allen recently did when they met up at the 2022 Voice Summit in Alexandria, VA. And what better way to commemorate the event than to record a session of Two Voice Devs live in front of an audience? Why, to welcome questions from that audience! Hear our thoughts on #VoiceFirst topics from what developers need to real estate and urban planning in the DC metro region.

Our thanks to the VOICE2022 organizers for helping us with the production, including recording the session, and to our fantastic audience and their questions.