Tag: Echo Show

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Amazon’s new Echo Show up close and hands-on

The Show was far and away the Echo product most in need of a makeover. The original device, introduced two years back, was far more concerned with function than form. That, of course, is in line with many of the company’s hardware offerings, which are often designed to simply show what things like Alexa are capable of.

The original Show was big and boxy, with an out of whack body-to-display ratio that took up a lot of space on whatever desk or kitchen counter it might be placed. The refreshed version is far more aesthetically pleasing than its predecessor. That’s important, because unlike products like the Echo or Echo Dot, you can’t exactly stash the product away if you intend on interacting with the display.

While the new smaller design and cloth backing are certainly an upgrade, Lenovo still leads the design pack with its simply titled Smart Display for Google Assistant. Google made the right choice here by leading with hardware partnerships to bring its concept to market. That said, the product should look at home in most kitchens.

Even more important than design language are the surface-level hardware upgrades. Screen size was one of my chief complaints with the original Show, and this generation effectively doubles it. Like Google’s Smart Displays, the product really does appear to be a tablet affixed to a speaker backing.

One of the features of the new Show is that it supports multi-touch. That’s certainly a handy and much welcome addition, though honestly, you’ll ultimately get limited use out of it. After all, the product is designed to be a voice device first and foremost, so the vast majority of interactions you’ll have with the thing won’t involve actually touching it.

That said, there are some compelling new additions that certainly benefit from the feature — including the integration of the Firefox browser. Of course, touch typing on a screen like this is a pain, so you’re probably not going to spend that much time doing it.

Of course, the ongoing Amazon/Google battle means no native YouTube support. Amazon’s found a workaround in the form of a desktop shortcut. The browser means you should also be able to access videos that way — a kind of workaround until the company inevitably launches its own competitor.

The sound has also been greatly improved here, as evidenced by today’s showcase. It’s still not good enough to serve as your primary listening device — of course, the company’s got the workaround for that, in the form of the Sub and Link. Or you can go the Sonos route, but this is an Alexa family, damn it.

Like its predecessor, the new device will run you $230.

Check out our full coverage from the event here.

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Amazon’s Alexa is coming to Sony smart TVs and Lenovo Smart Tabs

Amazon wants Alexa to interact with as many people as possible, including the ability to show them things. And that means freeing the virtual assistant from the confines of Amazon’s screen-supporting smart speaker Echo Show or Fire TV — devices that give Alexa a face (and of course a voice).

The company announced Thursday at its big hardware event that it’s releasing a “smart screen” software development kit, which will allow developers to bring Echo Show-like functionality to other non-Amazon pieces of hardware. That could mean integrating Alexa into a smart TV or even a refrigerator; as long as there’s a display, developers can integrate Alexa into the device.

And there are already two companies that are integrating the SDK into devices. Amazon announced that Lenovo and Sony will be bringing Alexa to their devices through the smart screen SDK. Alexa will be available on Lenovo Smart Tabs, a new line of Android tablets, in the “not so distant future,” according to Amazon.

Meanwhile, Sony will integrate the SDK on all of its Alexa-capable televisions, starting with the music and smart home camera feature this year. Sony will integrate Alexa into other feature that can show you things in the first half of next year.

Check out our full coverage from the event here.

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Amazon intros a new Echo Show with built-in smart home hub

Today’s Amazon event is full of surprises, but you could have predicted this one from a mile away. The Echo show is a couple of years old now, and honestly, the hardware was never really that spectacular in the first place. Well, Amazon just introduced a new version of the screen-sporting smart speaker, which features a much nicer design and more.

Like the rest of the company’s recently introduced Echo products, the new device features a more premium cloth design, similar to Google’s Home products and the Apple HomePod. The screen size has been doubled to 10 inches, while the speaker has been tweaked to now feature real-time Dolby processing.

The product features an eight-microphone array and will integrate Microsoft’s Skype for non-proprietary chatting. The company has also added third-party browsers, including Firefox, further blurring the line between the display-enabled smart speaker and the company’s Fire tablet offerings.

There are various other fun new skills for the refreshed product, including a Battleship game. The product will also integrate with Amazon’s security offerings through the camera and new doorbell API.

The newly designed Show should help Amazon compete with the various third-party Smart Displays introduced for Google Assistant, along with a proprietary Google device expected to be announced next month.

Like its predecessor, the product runs $229. Pre-orders open today. It will start shipping next month.

Check out our full coverage from the event here.

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Tap to Alexa brings more accessibility features to the Echo Show

Amazon announced some new features this morning aimed at bringing more accessibility to the Echo line. At the top of the list is Tap to Alexa (not to be confused with the Amazon Tap, mind), which circumvents the need to use voice to interact with the Echo Show.

The new feature essentially turns the device into a touchscreen tablet, by clicking the feature on in settings. Once enabled, users can choose from a number of shortcuts to add to the home screen. The list includes news and weather, along with customizable functions, like the ability to turn specific smart home devices on and off, using text inputs.

It’s a simple solution, but it should offer a way into the Alexa ecosystem for users unable to audio cues to interact with the system. It’s the kind of thing that Amazon could really only add once it introduced displays into the mix.

Same goes for Alexa Captioning. The feature was introduced for U.S. customers a few months back, and now it’s being rolled out to those in the U.K., Germany, Japan, India, France, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The addition will offer an on-screen text-based Alexa responses on both the Echo Show and Spot.

Taken together, the two features should help Amazon appeal to a whole new group of users.

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Amazon is turning Fire tablets into Echo Shows

Slowly but surely, Amazon’s been turning its Fire tablets into Echos. It started with push to talk Alexa function. Last year, the company added a hands-free mode for the voice assistant. Now, it’s adding Show Mode, which brings the same title card UI you get on the company’s screen-enabled smart speaker.

Better still, Amazon’s introducing a Show Mode Charging Dock, a stand that effectively transforms the Fire into a makeshift Show. Place the tablet into a dock and it starts charging and automatically flips into Show mode, so you can do all of the standard Echo activities from across the room.

The dock works with both the most recent Fire HD 8 and 10 (if I had to venture a guess, I’d say the 7 will probably be getting the functionality, as well). If you already have one of the devices, the feature will be coming through an over-the-air update starting July 2. Once it’s in place, it will play nicely with other Echos in your home, using Amazon’s ESP (“Echo Spatial Perception”) feature.

I’d have to imagine a new, less bulky version of the Show is in the works. In the meantime, this is a pretty compelling alternative — and a chance for Amazon to be a bit more competitive with the numerous third-party devices Google unveiled back at CES. The tablet+dock package is ultimately a cheaper option than the Show’s $230 price tag (though that device is discounted to $160 at the moment).

The docks themselves run $40 for the eight-inch and $55 for the 10 (both are discounted $5 for the time being). If you don’t already have the tablets on-hand, you can pick up a bundle for $110 and $190, respectively. Picking up this configuration also gives you a lot more flexibility versus just going in on the Show.

As for what the Show brings to the table? Better built-in mics and speakers are the primary answer. Ultimately, however, I suspect Amazon isn’t really concerned about some of its devices cannibalizing others, so long as it gets more Amazon products out in the world.

Posted on

Amazon is turning Fire tablets into Echo Shows

Slowly but surely, Amazon’s been turning its Fire tablets into Echos. It started with push to talk Alexa function. Last year, the company added a hands-free mode for the voice assistant. Now, it’s adding Show Mode, which brings the same title card UI you get on the company’s screen-enabled smart speaker.

Better still, Amazon’s introducing a Show Mode Charging Dock, a stand that effectively transforms the Fire into a makeshift Show. Place the tablet into a dock and it starts charging and automatically flips into Show mode, so you can do all of the standard Echo activities from across the room.

The dock works with both the most recent Fire HD 8 and 10 (if I had to venture a guess, I’d say the 7 will probably be getting the functionality, as well). If you already have one of the devices, the feature will be coming through an over-the-air update starting July 2. Once it’s in place, it will play nicely with other Echos in your home, using Amazon’s ESP (“Echo Spatial Perception”) feature.

I’d have to imagine a new, less bulky version of the Show is in the works. In the meantime, this is a pretty compelling alternative — and a chance for Amazon to be a bit more competitive with the numerous third-party devices Google unveiled back at CES. The tablet+dock package is ultimately a cheaper option than the Show’s $230 price tag (though that device is discounted to $160 at the moment).

The docks themselves run $40 for the eight-inch and $55 for the 10 (both are discounted $5 for the time being). If you don’t already have the tablets on-hand, you can pick up a bundle for $110 and $190, respectively. Picking up this configuration also gives you a lot more flexibility versus just going in on the Show.

As for what the Show brings to the table? Better built-in mics and speakers are the primary answer. Ultimately, however, I suspect Amazon isn’t really concerned about some of its devices cannibalizing others, so long as it gets more Amazon products out in the world.