"Alexa" reads out news from the NZZ with immediate effect
The NZZ Media Group is the first Swiss media company to offer content from the Neue Zürcher Zeitung for Amazon Echo. This means you can now have NZZ news read aloud by the digital voice assistant «Alexa.» Amazon Echo is currently available in Germany and Austria, but not yet in Switzerland.
"Alexa, what's new?" In response to this voice command, "Alexa," the voice behind Amazon Echo, will read out short news items from the Neue Zürcher Zeitung starting today. The NZZ media group is so far the only Swiss media company to supply Amazon Echo with news. The so-called Flash Briefings are short contents of just under two minutes. Users can choose for themselves which news providers they want to integrate into their Flash Briefing. In addition to the NZZ, content from Spiegel Online and Die Welt is also available.
"Voice control now works so well that it is slowly but surely becoming established. The topic of smart homes is also gaining in importance. It is important to us that we offer our high-quality journalistic content on all channels that our users demand, and also gain experience with new channels at an early stage in order to better understand the needs of our customers," explains Veit Dengler, CEO of the NZZ Media Group.
Amazon Echo is a digital voice assistant developed by Amazon.com. The smart home device is controlled solely by verbal commands. When it hears the activation word "Alexa," it carries out orders. For example, the device can play music, coordinate appointments or read out messages. The Amazon Echo device is currently available in Germany and Austria, but not in Switzerland.
