GoKawiil
Tech News
Amazon introduced five new Alexa-powered devices, headlined by two new product categories: the Alexa Photo Frame, a 10-inch digital picture display, and the Echo Time, a smart alarm clock. The Photo Frame starts at $199.99 and uses Alexa+ to automatically select and display photos based on factors like mood, lighting and season, while syncing with unlimited Amazon Photos storage for Prime members.
Amazon unveiled refreshed Echo Dot and Echo Studio smart speakers alongside new devices including a smart photo frame and a sleep-tracking alarm clock. The Echo Dot now functions as a smart home hub and Wi-Fi extender, while the $250 Echo Studio gains an optional camera that enables live video monitoring, with a camera-free version still available for $220.
Amazon announced new Echo devices on Wednesday: a redesigned Echo Dot ($100), Echo Studio With Home Camera ($250), Echo Show 16 ($500), a bedside Echo Time clock ($200), and its first Alexa Photo Frame ($200). Devices and Alexa SVP Panos Panay said the launch supports Alexa+, which he claims now has a couple hundred million users who interact with it far more than the old Alexa.
Amazon unveiled the Echo Show 16, a redesigned smart display with a 16-inch full HD screen available in standard or nanomatte finish, the glare-reducing technology first used on the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro. The device is about 40 percent thinner than the Echo Show 15, offers 10 percent more screen area, 20 percent more processing power, a new eight-woofer and two-tweeter audio system, and an upgraded 13-megapixel wide-angle camera with Visual ID recognition now working up to 17 feet away.
Amazon has released the Echo Time, a bedroom-focused smart alarm clock with a 3.2-inch customizable touchscreen offering hundreds of clock faces. It includes smart alarms that use room sensors, presence detection and ultrasound to track sleep and wake users during lighter sleep phases, and omits a camera in favor of microphone-off controls and listening indicators. The device costs $200 and comes in Graphite, Glacier White and Coral.
Amazon introduced its first digital picture frame, the Alexa Photo Frame, at a New York launch event alongside several new Echo-based devices. The 10-inch frame syncs with Amazon Photos, automatically selects what it considers the best images, and lets users ask Alexa to pull up photos of specific people, places or events. Prime members get unlimited photo storage, and the frame includes a light sensor that adjusts brightness and comes in birch or walnut wood casing.
Govee's color-changing Christmas String Lights 2 are discounted across all four sizes at Amazon and Govee's own store, with the 66-foot strand at $74.99, up to the 328-foot set at $259.99. The lights support customizable colors, over 130 preset effects, music syncing, and Matter-based voice control, and are weatherproofed for outdoor use.
Amazon announced a wave of fall hardware, including the Echo Show 16 with a 16-inch anodized aluminum display, a 13-megapixel wide-angle camera, and an upgraded Omnisense sensor platform, priced at $499.99 ($569.99 with anti-glare Nanomatte screen). It also introduced a $199.99 Alexa Photo Frame that uses Alexa Plus to surface Amazon Photos based on people and context, plus a new Echo Dot with a built-in smart home hub.
Amazon announced the Echo Show 16, a large smart display priced at $499.99 with a wall mount, or $569.99 for a Nanomatte screen option, available for preorder now with a $100 discount ahead of a later release this year. The device introduces customizable homescreens called Screen Styles, letting users choose a family organizer, smart home dashboard, Alexa widgets screen, or photo frame, with screens able to stay on continuously or activate on approach.
Amazon unveiled an updated Echo Studio with Home Camera, a $249.99 speaker featuring a built-in camera for room monitoring, showing items to Alexa, and eventually video calls on Fire TV. The speaker also adds 'Advanced Room Adaptation' and 'Adaptive Volume' audio features, while the standard camera-less Echo Studio remains available at $219.99. Amazon also refreshed the Echo Dot, now $99.99, with a custom AZ3 chip, a fourth microphone, a built-in Zigbee/Matter/Thread smart home hub, and an Eero Wi-Fi extender.
Android Authority surveyed over 1,400 readers on what matters most when choosing an Android tablet, with options including Google Play Store access, hardware quality, software support and price. Google Play Store access came out on top with 28.1% of votes, while hardware and display quality tied for second place alongside another option.
Amazon has made Alexa+, its generative AI-powered upgrade to Alexa, free for all Prime members. The assistant, built using Anthropic's large language models and Amazon's Nova AI suite, is accessible through Alexa-enabled devices, Amazon's new tablets, a mobile app, and the alexa.com website. Non-Prime users can subscribe separately to Alexa+ or try a limited free version via the app or website.