Alexa skills are classified into three categories: Custom, Smart, and Flash Briefing.  Developers can create custom skills that do anything they want within the capabilities of the skill. A custom skill could, for example, control a smart home device, play a game, and give a weather forecast.  Amazon created smart skills that can give you specific information, like ordering a product from the Amazon website, playing music, or giving you the latest news headlines.  This skill is created by developers and provides short, targeted updates about a specific subject such as sports scores, weather, or the newest news headlines.