Amazon has announced that Amazon Alexa and Amazon Echo are now available in Ireland. Customers in Ireland can get the Alexa experience available in the United Kingdom on the new Amazon Echo, Echo Dot and Echo Plus, with skills from local developers including RTÉ News, Ryanair, Irish Radioplayer, Dublin’s FM104, and more. Customers can order from www.amazon.co.uk/echo and pay in Euros at checkout.
Jorrit Van Der Meulen, Vice President, Amazon Devices International said of the developments: “The customer response to Alexa and Echo across the world has been incredibly positive, and we’re excited to make them available to customers in Ireland. Customers can just ask Alexa to provide information, play music, make calls, send messages, and use thousands of skills—including locally-developed skills from developers including RTÉ, Irish Radioplayer, Ryanair and more.”
Amazon has also expanded the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) and the Alexa Voice Service (AVS) to enable developers around the world to build voice experiences for Alexa customers in Ireland.
It’s slightly surprising that Alexa and Echo devices and the rest were not already available in Ireland. Not least because it is a predominantly English speaking nation with a population of 4.7 million with very close cultural and trading links with the UK, where the full gamut of services have been available for years.
Are you in the Irish Republic and will these new offerings make a difference to you?
2 Responses
there were a few kinks to work out for this irish market.
apparently whenver someone with an irish accent asks for the time, alexa replied with, “it’s guiness time”, and any mention of “guid craic” got you directions to your local drug dealer.