Tis the season - Issue #33

Tis the season for wrapping presents, holiday spirit, end of the year reviews and next year predictions. So we deliver.

Tis the season also for choosing the conferences you are attending next year. Consider The Alexa Conference, well, because it’s the biggest Alexa gathering, but also, it’s on January 15 - 17,  clock it’s ticking! You can still register, here’s a promo code for a 20% discount: ALEXASPKR226. See you there! We’ll have exciting announcements.

Google Assistant released this ad yesterday with Kevin McCallister from the movie Home Alone. With Christmas around the corner, the ad is very timely since is the highest-grossing Christmas movie of all time. As part of the release, Google also announced that for a limited time you can experience some of the most iconic moments in the movie with quotes from your favorite scenes:

Hey Google: “How much do I owe you?” and you’ll be reminded to “Keep the change, you filthy animal.”

Amazon’s Superbowl advertisement for Alexa has been revealed as YouTube’s top most viewed advertisement of the year. The ad, who first aired January this year during the SuperBowl, stars actor Anthony Hopkins, rapper Cardi B, Australian actress Rebel Wilson and British chef Gordon Ramsay. If you haven’t seen it, catch it here.

Amazon team released this week the Alexa year in review. What a year! I can’t stop commending Amazon’s work on Alexa evangelism. Their strategic work in the assistant, as well as in tools and resources for developers by far outpaces any other company out there working in smart assistants. I said earlier this year that developer’s attention is the currency for platforms, and Amazon is doing the work to keep the top position in keeping Alexa devs attention.

RAIN Agency shared their voice tech predictions for 2019. The list including Siri’s leapfrog, (fingers crossed for that), more engagement and giving new voice to politicians and voters.