Telefonica Takes Aura AI Tool Into 6 Markets Light Reading

MWC 2018 -- Telef--nica has launched its voice-activated "cognitive" assistant Aura in the six markets of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Spain and the UK after teaming up with tech giants including Facebook, Google and Microsoft on the new platform. First announced at last year's Mobile World Congress, Aura works much like Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri and Microsoft's Cortana, allowing customers to request information and control devices through voice commands. Powered by artificial intelligence, the Aura technology will be available through apps that Telef--nica's customers can download onto their mobile devices. Unlike the digital assistants from Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Google, however, Aura has been designed around the communications services that Telef--nica provides to its customers. "It is a new customer relationship model based on cognitive intelligence and a one-stop shop for navigating through different channels," said Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete, Telef--nica's CEO, during a press conference earlier today.