It’s official, Amazon’s Alexa is an Aussie citizen. Just in time for Australia Day tomorrow EFTM can reveal that the Aussie accent is now available to existing Amazon Echo devices.
Announced just a week ago the Aussie Amazon Echo devices start shipping next week, priced from $79 for the impressive Echo Dot they are sure to rival Google Home very quickly.
However one of the quirks of launching a voice controlled device in a new market is understanding the accent and speaking in that accent.
Amazon have spent a year working on the Aussie accent ready for next week’s launch and the result is pretty impressive.
There are a bunch of “fun” things you can ask Alexa to do including jokes, cricket sledges and even sing Waltzing Matilda.
In this short demo I’ve asked her to read some Wikipedia pages too so you can hear her natural language, as well as counting and of course the jokes and playing some Farnham for me.
While Echo devices with Aussie Alexa ready to roll won’t ship until next week we can reveal that the firmware update to allow her Aussie accent is available now, and the language can be changed by existing owners of an Echo device.
At this stage we’ve only tested this on two Echo Dot devices. A first generation Echo has not taken any update to allow this yet.
We purchased two Echo Dots on Gumtree this week, and both were set to the US version out of the box.
To force a firmware update on your Echo device follow these instructions:
If successful you can ask Alexa anything and hear her speaking Aussie English!
We’ll have a full review in the weeks ahead, until then – for those with an Echo – enjoy!
Trev is a Technology Commentator, Dad, Speaker and Rev Head.
He produces and hosts several popular podcasts, EFTM, Two Blokes Talking Tech, Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars, The Best Movies You’ve Never Seen, and the Private Feed. He is the resident tech expert for Triple M on radio across Australia, and is the resident Tech Expert on Channel 9’s Today Show and appears regularly on 9 News, A Current Affair and Sky News Early Edition.
Father of three, he is often found in his Man Cave.
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