KT's 'Gigasini' Equipped with 'Alexa'... Supports Korean and English Simultaneously

Giga Genie 3 First Applied... Full Expansion to 3.1 Million Households in the First Half of the Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] KT's artificial intelligence (AI) speaker ‘Giga Genie’ has become capable of English communication through its integration with Amazon's AI speaker ‘Alexa.’

On the 10th, KT announced the launch of ‘Giga Genie Dual Brain AI,’ an AI service combining Giga Genie and Amazon Alexa.

Giga Genie Dual Brain AI is a service that allows users to use both KT’s Giga Genie and Amazon Alexa AI on a single Giga Genie device. Customers using ‘Giga Genie 3’ can use the service without purchasing additional devices or services. No software upgrade is required; only an Amazon account connection is needed.

When users say ‘Genie-ya’ on Giga Genie, they can use the Korean Giga Genie service, and when they say ‘Alexa,’ they can use Amazon Alexa’s English service. The LED lights up white when using Giga Genie and blue when using Alexa. To enhance Alexa’s usability in Korea, KT also added a ‘Display Card’ feature that allows users to check information not only by voice but also on the screen.

Amazon Alexa offers not only basic conversations and information searches but also kids, smart home, and entertainment services. It supports over 130,000 service apps and 140,000 Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Users can listen to overseas radio streaming services such as TuneIn, including music, news, sports broadcasts, and podcasts, as well as CNN, Fox, and TED. Amazon’s premium audiobook service ‘Audible’ is also available. Alexa can control overseas direct-purchase home appliances such as Dyson.

KT plans to complete the installation of Dual Brain AI on Giga Genie 1 and Giga Genie 2 by the first half of the year. Currently, there are about 3.1 million Giga Genie customers. Upon product launch, KT will promote Alexa usage methods through KT’s blog, YouTube, and homepage.

Since May, KT and Amazon have signed a strategic collaboration agreement and, as members of the ‘VII (Voice Interoperability Initiative),’ have jointly developed Dual Brain devices and services. With the launch of Giga Genie Dual Brain AI, the two companies plan to expand cooperation on Amazon services beyond devices to premium content such as Spotify in the future.

Choi Joon-ki, Head of KT AI/Big Data Business Division, said, “The meeting of KT Giga Genie, which has rich AI service content based on a screen UI, and Amazon Alexa, which provides the most third-party services, is highly anticipated going forward,” adding, “Starting with the Giga Genie Dual Brain AI service, KT will continue to expand the collaboration domains and service scope with Amazon.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.