Thursday, August 31, 2017

Amazon Alexa Welcomes Nickelodeon's The SpongeBob Challenge Kid Skill

Original Nickelodeon Press Release via ToonZone News:

AMAZON ALEXA WELCOMES NICKELODEON’S THE SPONGEBOB CHALLENGE KID SKILL



NEW YORK–Aug. 31, 2017–Kids can interact with their favorite characters from Bikini Bottom like never before as Nickelodeon unveils The SpongeBob Challenge, part of the inaugural kid skills available now on the Amazon Echo and other Alexa-enabled devices. In The SpongeBob Challenge memory game, kids will be transported into the center of the SpongeBob SquarePants series itself, where they will become a new Krusty Krab restaurant employee tasked with taking increasingly complicated food orders and then relaying those orders to the staff, including SpongeBob, Squidward and Mr. Krabs.

Parents and their children can enable the skill by saying, “Alexa, start The SpongeBob Challenge” or using the Alexa app.


“Nickelodeon is at the forefront of where kids will be playing next and our collaboration with Amazon to create The SpongeBob Challenge is the latest example of that,” said Matthew Evans, Executive Vice President, Strategy, New Business & Digital, Nickelodeon Group. “This brand-new kid skill combines our deep understanding of kids, and how they engage with technology, with one of our most iconic properties, SpongeBob SquarePants.”

“We’re excited for Nickelodeon to bring a skill to Alexa,” said Rob Pulciani, Director Amazon Alexa. “Now, kids can just ask Alexa to interact with some of their most beloved characters like SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs, and we think families will love playing and learning together with The SpongeBob Challenge skill for Alexa.”

Featuring over 70 unique characters and 80 challenges across 25 levels, The SpongeBob Challenge recreates the soundscape and iconic environment of Bikini Bottom while promoting memory recall, verbal skills and listening comprehension. When The SpongeBob Challenge skill is enabled on Alexa, kids will work at the Krusty Krab and take orders from the colorful residents of Bikini Bottom.

Nickelodeon has launched 65 apps, which have over 112 million collective downloads to date, including top-performing titles like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rooftop Run, SpongeBob Moves In, PAW Patrol: Rescue Run, Blaze and the Monster Machines and Game Shakers: Sky Whale.

Nickelodeon, now in its 38th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, digital, recreation, books and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in more than 90 million households and has been the number-one-rated kids’ basic cable network for 22 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB).

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Amazon is also launching its own Storytime skill that features bedtime stories for kids ages 5 to 12. The collection will include short stories read by Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants, and Aidy Bryant from Saturday Night Live from the Amazon Rapids library. Audible short stories will be added in the future.

Storytime content is free and doesn’t require an Amazon Rapids or Audible subscription, though Audible does plan to contribute short stories in the future. (“Alexa, read me a bedtime story.”)

"It is important for us to invest in new technologies that are of interest to kids like home assistants," said Matthew Evans, Nickelodeon Group's executive vice president of digital and new business, told CNBC. "It is a natural way for kids to interact with and navigate their world, and talking with and hearing their favorite characters is fun."

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