Alexa is getting a masculine counterpart after all these years. Amazon recently rolled out Ziggy with a new, more masculine-sounding voice. Find out how you can change and mix up these different option settings on your Amazon Echo.
"Hey, Ziggy"
Amazon has already released other voice options--voices lent by celebrities Samuel L. Jackson, Melissa McCarthy and Shaquille O'Neal. However, these don't completely replace Alexa, as their voices are only available for a few select responses like for the weather, timers, and some goofy personality-specific questions, Cnet said..
The Amazon Echo also has several other "names" it responds to, including "Amazon," "Echo," and "Computer" besides the classic "Alexa."
"Ziggy" is now the new option.
The new masculine-sounding voice is not exclusive to the Ziggy name change, Cnet pointed out.
Users are free to mix and remix the options however they want because the voice and the wake word or name are not linked to the other. So you can call for Ziggy and Alexa's voice will respond, or you can call for Alexa and the new masculine voice will respond. As Alexa said it "As an AI, I don't have a gender."
Amazon has rolled out male voice options to its virtual assistant Alexa and the update also includes a wake word ZIGGY for it, just to cover the A->Z style branding from their logo.#amazon #alexa #AI pic.twitter.com/cotkoIDBpM
— TechNotes (@technotesblog) July 25, 2021
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How to Change Alexa on Amazon Echo
To try out the new settings Amazon rolled out, you can switch two settings: Echo's wake word and Echo's voice. Find out how you can do both.
How to change Echo's wake word to "Ziggy"
You can change which words trigger the Amazon Echo to turn on by simply saying "Alexa, change your wake word," or whatever its current wake word is. Alexa will respond with choices and you just have to select one, Cnet instructed.
You can also head over the Alexa app, select Devices on the bottom of the menu bar, select Echo & Alexa at the top then tap the name of the device you wish to change the wake word to. Tap on the Settings icon on the upper right-hand corner then select Wake Word and tap on the one you would like to use.
Confirm the change and after a few minutes, your settings changes will be complete.
How to switch Echo's voice
Simply say the command "Alexa, change your voice." If you have more than one Amazon Echo, Alexa will ask you to specify which device, The Verge said. After selecting the name of the device, Alexa should then respond with the new voice and confirm that this is how the Echo will sound moving forward. If the change is not successful, Alexa will respond with its regular voice letting you know of the error.
On the Alexa App, you can perform the same change by heading over to Devices on the bottom of the menu bar, selecting Echo & Alexa in the top left, and tapping on the device you want to change Alexa's voice on. Tap on the Settings icon in the upper right and scroll down to the option for Alexa's Voice and select it.
From there, you can choose the Original feminine Alexa voice or the New masculine "Ziggy" voice.
For the Celebrity voice options, those are activated with the command "Alexa, introduce me to [name of celebrity]. Each celebrity voice costs $5.
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