superbowl-banner-1-cb1549131912.jpg:us

What do the Super Bowl and Amazon Beta Testing have in common?

Amazon recruited some famous friends to test new Alexa technologies.

Have you heard about some of the latest Alexa technologies that didn’t make the cut, including smart bubbles, enhanced party mode, and sub-aquatic wave form resonance? In case you missed the latest ads, Amazon’s Super Bowl commercials are back, this year with a different theme: the Amazon Beta Testing Program.

If you haven’t seen the spots yet, Alexa teams up with a host of famous friends to test a few choice beta products, which end up being a total bust. Beyond the main commercial, a series of four 11-second clips start with Alexa welcoming celebrities like Harrison Ford, Forest Whitaker, Ilana Glazer, Abbi Jacobson, and astronaut brothers Mark and Scott Kelly to the Amazon Beta Testing Program.

While interspecies language translation and voice-controlled body de-stressers are all in good fun, Alexa has come a long way since its humble beginnings. Amazon introduced Alexa more than four years ago with a vision to make life easier through the power and simplicity of voice. This year, we’ve seen the growth of Alexa soar. In fact, accordingly to the Alexa blog, the number of customers interacting with Alexa daily and those who own multiple Echo devices both doubled from 2017 to 2018.

More than 100 million devices with the Alexa smart assistant (built in) have sold since launch, but the most impressive part is what Alexa can do. With hundreds of new skills being added each year, it can be hard to keep up. You can take a closer look at many of the ways Alexa has developed over the last year.

Rest assured, an Alexa enabled toothbrush or hot tub won’t be released anytime soon, but you can count on us to relentlessly pursue our passion for innovation – as well as a good laugh.

Check out the supporting teasers on the All Things Alexa page.