Amazon Alexa Loses Her Voice Ahead Of Apple HomePod Launch

Amazon’s personal assistant Alexa has lost her voice ahead of the launch of Apple’s HomePod smart speaker. However, there’s nothing to worry about because the e-commerce company is simply updating Alexa’s software in preparation for its rival’s new product.

Amazon recently released a sneak peek at its upcoming Super Bowl LII commercial. The 30-second clip published over YouTube shows a dramatic turn of events starting with a female user asking Alexa about the weather. The digital assistant manages to start its response, but then it coughs and goes silent, causing the Amazon Echo user to worry.

The teaser then cuts to a different scene showing a television reporter announcing, “Amazon’s Alexa lost her voice this morning.” An anxious Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO, is then seen approaching a group of his employees while saying, “Alexa lost her voice. How is that even possible?”

Fortunately, Alexa did not lose her voice because its the flu season. Amazon is simply being dramatic about the introduction of its new voices for the digital assistant. “We have the replacements ready. Just say the word,” an employee tells Bezos in the clip. To this, Bezos responds, ”Are you sure this is gonna work?” The employee then reassures the CEO with a nod.

Apple Insider reports that based on the teaser clip, Amazon is grabbing the chance to announce the new voices of Alexa to a wide audience during the Super Bowl LII, which is scheduled to commence with a game between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles on Feb. 4, 2018. The recently published ad confirms this by showing “2.4.18” at the end of the clip.

It’s worth noting that by doing so, Amazon is one-upping Apple who is slated to launch its HomePod smart speaker a few days after the Super Bowl on Feb. 9. HomePod is powered by the Cupertino giant’s very own Siri digital assistant. While Apple’s new product will be capable of following voice commands, it is not really directly intended to compete with Amazon’s Echo speakers for it is more of a premium, music-focused speaker that offers high quality audio playback.

As previously reported by IBTimes, HomePod will not launch with some of the features announced during its introduction at WWDC 2017. Apple is preparing post-launch updates that will introduce AirPlay 2, multiple room support and new Siri features to the HomePod’s AI platform.