|
 The news, along with announcements of a new range of
voice-controlled Echo speakers, a multilingual mode for Alexa
and an additional privacy feature for deleting voice recordings
regularly, underscores the investment the world's largest online
retailer is putting into voice-controlled computing, a new area
of technology in which it is competing against Alphabet Inc's <GOOGL.O>
Google Assistant and Apple Inc's <AAPL.O> Siri.
Amazon's celebrity voice feature will cost $0.99, Senior Vice
President David Limp said at an event in Seattle. Jackson's is
the only celebrity voice Amazon has disclosed so far.
In a new push, the company introduced a lineup of wearables,
including the Echo Frames, eyeglasses that allow customers to
communicate with Alexa as they walk around.
Limp said the frames are designed so that only those wearing
them can hear Alexa talk. They do not include a visual display,
distinguishing them from Google Glass, which is marketed toward
enterprise customers.
The new "Echo Buds" come with noise reduction technology from
Bose, Limp said.
Since Amazon announced its first Echo speaker in 2014, shoppers
have purchased more than 100 million devices that come with
Alexa, including microwaves, vacuum cleaners and even cars.
That has given the company the biggest market share for voice
speakers among its rivals, according to research firm eMarketer.
[to top of second column] |
Yet customers have been slow to adopt the growing range of tasks
that Alexa can perform, often sticking to basic hands-free functions
like directing the assistant to play music, set cooking timers or
report the weather.
That may have underscored Amazon's calculus for courting celebrities
to encourage users to turn to Alexa for a wider range of
interactions.
The company on Wednesday also announced a deal with the Food Network
television channel under which users of its Echo Show device, which
includes a screen display, can tune in to celebrity chef Bobby Flay
for inspiration on what to cook.
"I can get to be in basically any kitchen in the world, anywhere in
the world," Flay said in a live promotional demo for the
partnership.
Amazon announced an update to its Echo Show, as well as new devices
like the Echo Studio, Echo Glow and the Echo Flex.
(Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in Seattle; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama
and Kirsten Donovan)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
