Samuel L Jackson’s voice can wake you up and give you the weather forecast for under $1 - for now.
Amazon will now offer select celebrities to pipe in when Echo is summoned, although Alexa still reigns as the default helper. The company has kicked off its previously announced celebrity voice program with the Thursday rollout of “Snakes on a Plane” and “Pulp Fiction” actor Samuel L. Jackson.
Users can pay a $0.99 introductory fee and have Jackson’s voice respond to requests or they can ask questions about Jackson’s career and interests outside of Hollywood. The feature is not entirely dependent on prerecorded phrases; celebrity voices will be powered in part by Amazon’s neural text-to-speech model.
To enable the feature, users must say “Alexa, introduce me to Samuel L. Jackson,” followed by a question or request. For instance, “Alexa, ask Samuel L. Jackson where he is from,” “Alexa, ask Sam to wake me up at 7a.m.,” or “Alexa, ask Sam Jackson to sing happy birthday.” Amazon offers an in-character explicit response from Jackson and a clean version for all-ages households, just make the distinction in the Alexa app settings menu.Amazon has said that celebrity voices will cost $4.99 after the introductory discount. The feature, which is English-only for now, doesn’t yet support lists, reminders, skills, or shopping for Amazon items through Alexa.Amazon stock is up 16.7% for the year to date. The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Taser maker Axon's hiring of Amazon Alexa executive is the future of law-enforcement technologyWhen Axon Enterprise hired its new chief software executive from Amazon Alexa and sent him out to accompany police officers on midnight ride-alongs, it was an indicator of where the company known for Tasers and body-worn cameras is headed. The former Amazon executive will be making big bets on the technologies that Axon thinks will be critical to the future of police work.
Read more »
Watch Billy Joel Play 'White Christmas' With Alexa Ray Joel at Madison Square GardenBilly Joel played 'White Christmas' with daughter Alexa Ray at MSG, marking the first time he'd played the holiday standard in 21 years
Read more »
Brazil's Amazon rainforest and development at a crossroadsBrazil’s finds itself at a crossroads, striving for development but plagued by worsening Amazon deforestation that could accelerate climate change. DLBiller and Leo Correa traveled to the crossroads to find where the two highways lead.
Read more »
Orlando Bloom Sets First-Look Deal With Amazon“Carnival Row” star Orlando Blook has inked a first-look deal with Amazon, Variety has learned. Under the deal, Bloom will develop television and film projects for Prime Video. Bloom cu…
Read more »
Orlando Bloom Inks First-Look Deal With Amazon StudiosCarnival Row star Orlando Bloom is expanding his relationship with Amazon Studios, signing a first-look deal with the studio behind the series. Under the pact, Bloom will work with Amazon Studios t…
Read more »
Amazon Releases Secret ‘Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker’ Exclusive VideoAmazon released a special behind-the-scenes look at “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” in partnership with Disney and Lucasfilm, in order to — what else? — sell stuff to fan…
Read more »