Amazon Alexa: Samuel L Jackson becomes first celebrity to voice virtual assistant
Users can enable or disable explicit language
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Your support makes all the difference.Samuel L Jackson has become the first celebrity to lend his voice to Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa.
Users will be able to select the celebrity voice feature for a price of 99 cents (80 pence), according to an announcement made in Seattle by David Limp, Amazon’s senior vice president of devices and services.
While Amazon said that other celebrities will voice speech for Alexa, Jackson is the only one whose name has been unveiled so far.
According to instructions on Amazon’s website, users can “just ask and Sam will give you the weather, play your favourite music, tell jokes, and more”.
Alexa users who are interested in the add-on can ask their device: “Alexa, introduce me to Samuel L Jackson.”
They can then choose whether or not they want to enable explicit language – and can revisit that setting later on if needed.
Once that’s been done, users can give their virtual assistant some cues that will use Jackson’s voice, such as: “Alexa, ask Samuel L Jackson where he is from,” “Alexa, ask Sam to wake me up at 7am,” and “Alexa, ask Sam Jackson to sing happy birthday.”
“Samuel L Jackson can help you set a timer, serenade you with a song, tell you a funny joke, and more,” reads a description on Amazon’s website.
“Get to know him a little better by asking about his interests and career.”
A video shared by Amazon shows Jackson recording some sentences for the feature, such as: ”Today in Los Angeles it’s 85 degrees.”
Jackson isn’t the only celebrity participating in a new Amazon feature.
The company also announced a deal with the Food Network enabling users of its Echo Show to 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 demo.
Additional reporting by agencies
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