Amazon has released two new premium Alexa voices inspired by famous actress and comedian Melissa McCarthy and basketball superstar Shaquille O’Neal.
Both voices cost $ 5 each at the Alexa Skill Store, which seems a bit too much for a novelty voice, but I suppose the cost is well worth it if you’re a big fan of one of these celebrities. What’s more than a little annoying is that Amazon doesn’t offer these voices in Canada.
This means Canadians can never ask a virtual McCarthy “Hey Melissa, tell me about the bridesmaids,” or Shaq to “drop the beat.” Beyond these more specific abilities, novelty voices can also perform various other basic Alexa tasks, such as setting timers, alarms, and getting the weather.
This isn’t the first novel voice Amazon has given Alexa. The company also worked with Samuel Jackson in 2019.
I guess I’ll eventually get over the fact that these voices won’t make it to Canada as I don’t really need a novelty Alexa voice. However, I am still secretly hoping that Amazon will make a fun voice for Canadians at some point in the future.
Alongside these voices, the company also announced that it will add the word Ziggy as a trigger word for the smart assistant. This allows users to call their machine Alexa, Echo, Ziggy, Computer, or Amazon now.
Via: The edge
