(MENAFN- Gambit Communications HQ)
Riyadh—7 December, 2021—Amazon today announced that Alexa, the brain that powers the the Echo device family, is coming to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - offering customers an all-new, localized language experience in an Arabic Khaleeji dialect, unique new features built with Saudi customers in mind, new smart home integrations with compatible devices, and nearly 200 Alexa skills.
Echo devices are voice-controlled speakers designed entirely around your voice—they are always ready, hands-free, and fast. Alexa runs in the cloud, receives new feature updates on an ongoing basis, and is therefore always getting smarter. Just ask, and Alexa will answer questions, play music, read the news, recite the Quran in the voice of your favorite Qari, set timers and alarms, provide sports scores, control lights or air-conditioning at home, and much more. With Echo’s far-field voice control, you can do all this from across the room, using just your voice.
In the Kingdom, Alexa delivers a localized experience, including a local dialect voice with a local personality that will surprise and delight customers—local pronunciations and intonation; local knowledge; and nearly 200 Alexa skills with favorites from Saudi developers and regional brands including Anghami, AlArabiya, MBC, Careem, Fatafeat, Al Baik, Sabq, and more.
“We’re incredibly excited to bring Alexa and the Echo family of devices to Saudi Arabia,” said Tom Taylor, Senior Vice President, Amazon Alexa. “The team has worked hard to create an all-new experience designed from the ground up for our customers in Saudi Arabia, reflecting the Kingdom’s rich heritage, traditions, and culture while celebrating the uniqueness of the Arabic language.”
Saudi Arabia is building an infrastructure with international standards that will pave the way to make it a leading digital nation and be among top 20 digital economies and a hub for technology investments in the region. Starting today, Amazon Alexa will contribute to our goals and help drive the adoption of IoT and artificial intelligence in Saudi Arabia”, said Nawaf Alhoshan, Deputy Minister for Technology Development at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in Saudi Arabia.
“As the region’s leading digital music platform, we’re thrilled to team up with Alexa, providing customers with access to millions of international and Arabic songs and podcasts”, said Elie Habib, Co-founder and CTO of Anghami. “Only by using their voice, customers can ask Alexa to play any song from the region’s largest music catalog in Arabic – this adds a new dimension to our customer experience.”
Amazon Echo—Spherical Design, Dolby Stereo Sound, Built-in Zigbee Hub
As a hands-free, voice-controlled device with a built-in speaker, Echo combines premium sound, and a built-in Zigbee smart home hub. Featuring a 3.0-inch woofer, dual-firing tweeters, and Dolby processing, Echo delivers clear highs, dynamic mids and deep bass for rich sound and can automatically adapt to your room by sensing the acoustics of your space.
Echo Dot and Echo Dot with clock (4th gen) —Compact design and crisp, full sound
Echo Dot is our most popular speaker globally and features a compact, spherical design that produces crisp vocals and balanced bass for full sound with a powerful 1.6-inch, front-firing speaker. Echo Dot with clock comes with the same features as Echo Dot, plus a simple LED display so you can glance at the time, timers, and alarms. With a tap-to-snooze feature, these devices are the perfect addition to any bedside table. Echo Dot is available in Charcoal, White and Blue, Echo Dot with clock is available in White and Blue. Echo Dot (3rd gen): The most affordable Echo device in our line-up is simple to set up and use—plug in, open the Alexa app, and get started in minutes. With four far-field microphones, Alexa hears you from across the room. And with compatible Echo devices in different rooms, you can fill your whole home with sound.
Echo Show 5 — Compact smart display with Alexa
Echo Show 5 has a smart display with a 2MP HD camera. Customize your morning routine to wake up with lights and an alarm that plays your favorite song. Glance at a to-do list or see the news, show prayer times, set timers, and stream music or videos—all using just your voice.
Echo Show 8 — See your day clearly
Echo Show 8 features a 13-MP wide-angle camera and an 8” HD touchscreen with adaptive colour. The device has built-in dual speakers to deliver a great experience whether that’s listening to music from Anghami or Spotify, or watching TV shows and movies from Netflix, Prime Video, and more.
Echo Show 10—Designed to Move with You
Echo Show 10 is designed to move with you—the brilliant 10” HD screen will automatically turn toward your direction so you can keep your eyes on the screen, focused on what you’re watching. Glance at the weather, news, stream music and videos, follow recipes, see compatible cameras, play games, and more.
Alexa—The Brain Behind Amazon Echo
Built in the cloud, and with third party developers around the world creating skills, the Alexa service is always getting smarter. With Alexa, you can use just your voice to:
Hear the News
Alexa can read the news and give customized updates based on your preferences. You can choose your favorite outlets to provide the news or sports results, including Al Arabiya, CNBC Arabia, Arriyadiah, Sports 360, Harvard Business Review Arabic, Sabq, and more. Just say, “Alexa, what’s the news?”. At launch, the following radio stations will be available: MBC FM, Panorama FM Radio, Rotana FM, and UFM.
Set prayer times and recite the Quran
Alexa can recite the Quran from the surah or Juz’u of your choice, all by voice. Just say, “Alexa, play surat Al Kahaf.” Customers can also set prayer times by saying “Alexa, wake me when it is time for Fajr”. Soon, customers will also be able to check the Hijri calendar by asking Alexa to remind them to get the aydiya before the last ten days of Ramdan.
Listen to Music Everywhere
Alexa offers a seamless music experience with premium services including Anghami, Spotify, and more. In addition, listen to radio from your favorite stations like MBC, Panorama, and more. Control music and play millions of songs by saying, “Alexa, play pop music” or “Alexa, skip this song.” You can also group multiple Echo devices and synchronize them to stream the same music in every room. Wake up to your favorite songs each morning by saying “Alexa, wake me up to top hits”.
Control your Smart Home
Use any Echo device to switch on the lamp before getting out of bed, or dim the lights from the couch to watch a movie. Also enjoy hands-free home security with Ring, whose cameras, video doorbells, are all compatible with Alexa, helping secure your home and bring peace of mind. Just say, “Alexa, check on the nursery” to see your camera feed on your Echo Show device. Alexa also works with other compatible smart home devices from brands including Philips Hue, Xiaomi, TP Link, and more.
Ask Questions
Ask Alexa questions about famous people, dates, places, calculations, conversions, and much more. For example, “Alexa, what time is maghrib in Makkah?”, “Alexa, when is Eid Al Adha?”, or “Alexa, when was King Fahad causway built?”. Or, ask Alexa for a joke by saying “Alexa, tell me a joke.”
Follow your Favorite Sports Teams
Ask Alexa for live scores or scores for completed games, find out when your favorite team plays their next game, and more. Just ask “Alexa, what is the Al-Hilal score?”, “Alexa, when is the next match of the Saudi national team?”
Built with Privacy in Mind
All Echo devices are designed with multiple layers of privacy protection, including physical microphone and camera controls. You can choose to delete your Alexa voice recordings in multiple ways, by voice or through the Alexa app. Just say, “Alexa, delete what I just said”. Or you can use the Alexa app to delete your voice recordings all at once, have your voice recordings automatically deleted after three or 18 months on an ongoing basis, or choose not to have them saved in the first place. Echo Show devices also offer accessibility features that benefit all customers, including the ability to interact with Alexa using touch instead of voice, to see captions for Alexa’s responses on the device screen, and more.
Third Party Skills
Replace with: At launch, customers will be able to enjoy nearly 200 skills available in Saudi Arabia, including rideshare services through the Careem skill, recipes and cook along instructions through the Fatafeat skill, order tracking through the AlBaik Restaurant or Domino’s, play with friends “Question of the Day”, audiobook services through Storytel, and more.
Pricing and Availability
All devices announced today are available on Amazon.sa. Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Dot with clock, Echo Show 5, Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 10 will start shipping on December 14. To celebrate Alexa’s arrival in the region and as an introductory offer, any Echo device is available at a reduced price for a limited period of time.
Amazon Echo Dot (3rd gen): 199,99 SAR, introductory offer 119,99 SAR, Charcoal
Amazon Echo Dot (4th gen): 239,99 SAR, introductory offer 159,99 SAR, Charcoal, White and Blue
Amazon Echo Dot (4th gen) with clock: 299,99 SAR, introductory offer 259,99 SAR, White and Blue
Amazon Echo (4th gen): 479,99 SAR, introductory offer 319,99 SAR, Charcoal, White and Blue
Amazon Echo Show 5 (2nd gen): 369,99 SAR, introductory offer 229,99 SAR, Charcoal, White and Blue
Amazon Echo Show 8 (2nd gen): 579,99 SAR, introductory offer 399,99 SAR, Charcoal and White
Amazon Echo Show 10 (2nd gen): 1199,99 SAR, introductory offer 1099,99 SAR, Charcoal and White
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