BBC develops a voice-activated assistant in a bid to rival Amazon's Alexa or Apple's Siri

The BBC is developing a voice-activated electronic assistant in an attempt to rival Amazon's Alexa or Apple's Siri. It will similarly be styled as a character – currently dubbed'Auntie' by insiders in a nod to the BBC's longstanding nickname – but will be renamed before launch to make it more'modern-sounding'. The assistant would be available to download free on smartphones and smart TVs in the UK. It would allow users to seek information across the internet by issuing a verbal instruction. The BBC is developing a voice-activated electronic assistant in an attempt to rival Amazon's Alexa (pictured) For example, users could ask the app to get weather reports, play the most recent episode of The Archers or work out the quickest route to work.