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How’s your Spanish, Alexa? Some Amazon Echo devices pick up a new language

ññAmazon announced that several Echo devices and a specially tailored version of Alexa are available for sale to customers in Mexico.

Effective immediately, customers can pre-order the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Plus, Echo Spot, and the Amazon Smart Plug. Orders will start shipping next week.

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Alexa will sound different in products sold to customers in Mexico than in Echo devices in the U.S. The voice assistant has a new voice and understands and speaks using the Mexican or Latin American variation of Spanish. Latin American Spanish differs from the Castilian Spanish dialect spoken in most of Spain and the Caribbean dialect spoken in Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and along the east coast of Mexico and Central America.

The new Alexa products don’t just speak the language; they also are equipped with local knowledge for the Mexican market.

“We’ve built an entirely new experience from the ground up that honors Mexican culture, enabling customers just to ask to play their favorite music, get the news and weather, control their smart home, set reminders, enjoy local skills, and more,” said Toni Reid, vice president of Amazon Alexa.

Hundreds of local skills from companies such as Cinépolis, Domino’s, Maratón, Philips Hue, Aeroméxico, Grupo Televisa, and more are ready for customers as soon as they set up the new Echo devices with Alexa built in.

Because Echo devices are, at their core, smart speakers, familiar audio-centric third-party companies including Sonos, Bose, Harman Kardon, and Jabra have also introduced devices for Mexican customers with Alexa built in.

Mexico now joins the growing list of Alexa-enabled countries, which currently includes the United States, France, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India, Ireland, and Canada.

Amazon also announced the launch of Amazon Music including Music Unlimited for customers in Mexico.

“With today’s launch in Mexico, we’re bringing our customers an incredible selection of music including hand-curated global and local content created for music lovers in Mexico,” said Federico Pedersen, head of music for Mexico.

“Soon millions of songs will be paired with a brand-new way of listening to music through voice on Alexa, delivering a host of brand-new ways to ask for music,” Pedersen continued. “We can’t wait for customers to begin their listening experience with Amazon Music.”

Bruce Brown
Digital Trends Contributing Editor Bruce Brown is a member of the Smart Homes and Commerce teams. Bruce uses smart devices…
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