In this episode, Teri covers the recent Amazon event which took place on September 20, 2018 at the Amazon headquarters in Seattle, Washington. There were ton of announcements. Read on for all the news!
Amazon introduced a slew of new Alexa enabled products, along with several software updates, at an event on Thursday, further sealing the company’s commitment to bring its voice assistant to more devices in your home. Some of the products were updates to existing Echo devices, while others were brand new.
Amazon Alexa already has a significant presence in people’s homes, thanks to the strong ecosystem of developers and manufacturers who are incorporating Amazon’s voice assistant into their devices. Currently, there are now over 50,000 Alexa skills and 20,000 Alexa enabled products, according to Amazon’s smart home VP Daniel Rausch. Meanwhile, as voice control and conversational computing is becoming the norm, Alexa is demonstrating a robust presence in homes, offices, and even in cars.
The new assortment of products ranges from microwaves and clocks to car gadgets and security devices, as well as upgrades to Amazon’s iconic Echo speaker. New ways to add Alexa to third-party devices was also introduced by the company.
David Limp, Amazon’s SVP of devices & services, spoke to reporters at the event, which was held at Amazon headquarters in Seattle. Limp asked reporters to “imagine a future that has thousands of devices in your home.” Amazon plans not just to roll out new products, but to accomplish that by enabling more integrations with other product manufacturers and delivering new home services.
“We’ve always in our design group focused on products that sort of disappear into the background,” Limp said. “We don’t think of them as show pieces or pieces of furniture, but as we’ve had more and more devices in the home, we’ve discovered that people do put them in lots of different rooms, lots of different decors, so we wanted to make them fit in more there and disappear.”
While Amazon introduced a number of other devices in the United States, the 5 new Alexa enabled products that are available in Canada are:
- All-new Echo Show (2nd Gen) – Premium sound and a vibrant 10.1” HD screen
- All-new Echo Dot (3rd gen) – Smart speaker with Alexa
- Echo Sub – Powerful subwoofer for your Echo
- All-new Echo Plus (2nd gen) – Premium sound with built-in smart home hub
- Amazon Smart Plug, works with Alexa
All New Echo Show (2nd Gen)
The updated Echo Show features a new 10.1” HD screen that offers much more display room than last year’s 7-inch display. It doubles as a smart home hub and the sound is supposed to be improved with “real-time Dolby sound processing,” according to Limp.
The new Echo Show also has a web browser that enables Amazon to show you YouTube videos without the need for a YouTube app running natively on the device. Last year, Google discontinued YouTube on Amazon devices, and Amazon doesn’t sell Google hardware on its website.
All-new Echo Dot (3rd gen)
The Echo Dot, which is Amazon’s best-selling speaker ever, is also the most popular voice-controlled speaker, and “75,000 five-star reviews back that up,” according to Limp. Even so, he said, “The team went back to the drawing board for this one” for a new design and improved sound.
The new Echo Dot is bigger than its predecessor, and unlike the plastic exterior found on the previous Echo Dots, the new Dot dons a more attractive design, with a fabric cover on the outside. It now has a rounded top and no sharp edges. It comes in 3 new and interesting colours: Charcoal, heather grey, and sandstone. The previous Dot was available only in white or black finish.
The new Dot is 70% louder and delivers clearer sound. Its 4 far-field microphones allow Alexa to hear a user from across the room. While compatible Echo devices in different rooms can be connected to it, users can also connect to other speakers via Bluetooth or with a 3.5mm audio cable.
Amazon will start shipping these next month to countries where Alexa is already available.
Echo Sub
The Echo Sub is a new addition to the Echo family that’s aimed at producing room-filling sound. Its looks may remind you of Apples’s HomePod, but it’s all about that bass. The giant speaker can be paired to one or 2 Echos to get a more robust sound system. When the Echo Sub is paired with two Echo devices, it will create a 2.1 stereo system.
It delivers down-firing, 100W deep bass sound through a 6-inch woofer. To set it up, users plug it in, open the Alexa App and wirelessly connect to the Echo devices that control music. They also work in Amazon’s multi-room setup as groups.
All-new Echo Plus (2nd gen)
The new Echo Plus now is your best bet if you want a quality smart home hub. It now has something called “Smart Home Local Voice Control,” which means it runs certain commands for smart-home devices locally.
The new Echo Plus also promises cleaner sound and better bass. It too flaunts a fabric design on the outside, as well as an internal temperature sensor. The all-new Echo Plus will be built on last year’s smart-home hub and will have lock controls so that home commands can still work in case there’s no WiFi available.
The premium speaker featured in it will deliver a 360-degree sound, as well as a built-in Zigbee smart home hub and temperature sensor. With seven microphones, beamforming technology and noise cancellation, the new Echo Plus will be able to hear a user from any direction.
Amazon Smart Plug
The Amazon Smart Plug will give Alexa brains to your dumb devices. It allows users to plug appliances directly into it, and it will automatically sync with an existing Echo. Limp showed a demo of the plug where he set up a smart lamp in 20 seconds using only voice commands. The Smart Plug can be used to schedule your coffee machine, lights or appliances to turn on and off automatically. The devices can also be controlled remotely. All you need to do is simply plug it in and use your Alexa app or Alexa-powered device to control it. No smart home hub required.
For more information on the top Alexa-controlled and Alexa-enable devices available in Canada, click here!
List of resources mentioned in this episode:
- Echo Devices on Amazon.ca
- Alexa-Enabled and Controlled Devices in Canada
- Shopping on Amazon.ca
- Please leave a review on iTunes
- The Alexa Conference, presented by VoiceFirst.FM
- use promo code ALEXAINCANADA for 20% off
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