Amazon today announced that Alexa, the brain that powers the Echo device family, is coming to the United Arab Emirates, offering customers an all-new, localized language experience in Khaleeji Arabic as well as in English, new features built with Gulf customers in mind, new smart home integrations with many 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, set timers and alarms, provide sports scores, control lights 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 United Arab Emirates, Alexa delivers a localized experience, including a Khaleeji Arabic voice with a personality that will surprise and delight customers—local pronunciations and intonation; local knowledge; and nearly 200 Alexa skills from regional developers and brands including skills from Etisalat, Expo 2020, Domino’s, Fatafeat, Careem, Emirates NBD, DEWA, and more. Customers can also use Alexa in English and enjoy popular features such as setting timers, adding reminders, creating To-Do-Lists, sharing announcements, and more.
“We’re incredibly excited to bring Alexa and the Echo family of devices to the United Arab Emirates,” said Tom Taylor, Senior Vice President, Amazon Alexa. “The team has worked hard to create an all-new Khaleeji Arabic experience designed from the ground up for Arabic-speaking customers and to optimize the Alexa experience in English for English-speakers to enjoy.”
“On our way to becoming a world leader in Artificial Intelligence, we welcome Alexa to the United Arab Emirates”, said Omar Bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications. “Much like AI is at the core of Alexa’s personality, we are working on doing the same for the entire nation – building an AI-driven economy that contributes significantly to education, government development, and the happiness of our community.”
