Amazon is set to launch its Alexa Voice Service and Echo speakers in India by the end of 2017, reported The Economic Times. Alexa is an intelligent personal assistant, similar to Google Assistant, while Echo is a smart speaker that can be controlled with voice commands.
The speakers have been distributed to select company executives, business professionals and analysts in India for testing. Among their various uses, Alexa links to Amazon’s online marketplace, and Echo allows users to book flights and movie tickets or even a cab to work.
Unidentified officials said Amazon will first launch only the English interface of the two services. It will be followed by regional languages, including Hindi, Marathi and Tamil. The company’s Chennai unit is in the process of developing a multilingual interface.
“We will work around these barriers using pass-phrases and other India-specific innovations,” said a senior executive at Amazon.
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