echo
Amazon details its low-bandwidth Sidewalk neighborhood network, coming to Echo and Tile devices soon
Last year, Amazon announced its Sidewalk network, a new low-bandwidth, long-distance wireless protocol it developed to help connect smart devices inside and — maybe even more importantly — outside of…
Amazon is making it easier for Alexa device owners to use Routines. The feature, which has been around for years, allows Alexa users to combine multiple tasks into a single…
Echo Looks will cease functioning in July, as Amazon discontinues the camera
Introduced in mid-2017, the Look was one of the more obscure — and, honestly, kind of bizarre — entries in the Echo line. It was a small camera designed to…
Smart speaker sales reached new record of 146.9M in 2019, up 70% from 2018
Global smart speaker sales hit a record high last year with shipments of 146.9 million units, up 70% over 2018, according to a recent report on the state of the…
Nearly 70% of US smart speaker owners use Amazon Echo devices
Amazon’s dominant position in the U.S. smart speaker market will continue through this year and the next, with rivals like Google and Apple only making slight dents in Amazon Echo…
Robots were everywhere at CES, as has been the case for at least a decade. But there’s a different tenor to the robots shown off at the recent annual consumer…
Amazon drives deeper into cars with new Alexa partners, Echo Auto expansion
Amazon is no longer content trying to dominate the home. The ecommerce giant made several announcements Monday ahead of CES 2020 that target the car, including partnerships with Lamborghini and…
Amazon’s original Echo Wall Clock was mostly fine. Some consumers ran into connectivity issues with the device, but it was mostly okay. It’s one of the most passive members of…
Apple and Spotify’s podcasts come to Echo devices in the US
Amazon Alexa can now play podcasts from Apple, making Amazon’s line of Echo devices the first third-party clients to support the Apple Podcasts service without using AirPlay. Before, this level…
A general lack of judgment has always been one of the strongest appeals of smart assistants. Whatever bad pop song or terrible online video you play for the 10,000th time…
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Amazon’s new Fire TV Blaster works with Echo to control your TV, soundbar, cable box and more
Amazon already offers Alexa voice control to TV owners through its Fire TV devices, by way of a voice remote or by pairing an Echo device with a Fire TV,…
Amazon kickstarted the smart speaker market with the original Echo, way back in late-2014. Like many of the company’s hardware offerings, it was very much a utilitarian device. The first…
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Amazon Echo Buds review
It’s a wonder that Echo Buds didn’t arrive sooner. Earbuds (I still can’t write “hearables” without cringing a bit) are the clearest path to making Alexa work outside of the home. Amazon, after all, has been unable to crack the smartphone category. Half a decade later, the Fire Phone is little more than a historical…
Amazon seemingly didn’t realize what it had on its hands with the original Echo. Released five and a half years back for a select number of Amazon Prime users, the…
It’s been a busy couple of months for smart speakers — Amazon released a bunch just this week, including updated versions of its existing Echo hardware and a new Echo…
Is Amazon’s Alexa ready to leave home and become a wearable voice assistant?
Amazon’s device event today played host to a dizzying number of product announcements, of all stripes — but notably, there are three brand new ways to wear Alexa on your…
The Alexa microwave admittedly seemed a bit goofy when Amazon introduced it at an event this time last year. But low-cost coupled with the company’s built-in promotional machine have made…
Echo Flex is a small, $25 Echo that plugs directly into the wall
I think we’re on Echo device number seven for the morning? Echo Flex is one of the more interesting additions at this morning’s big event in Seattle. For those cases…
Out of all the hardware announced so far at this morning’s big Amazon event, the Echo Glow is perhaps the oddest entry. It’s a $30 colorful glowing sphere. Why? Because…
Starting today, there really is an Echo Show for every need. In amongst this morning’s deluge of Alexa hardware, Amazon announced yet another version of the smart screen. As the…
Amazon unveils the $199 Echo Studio, its answer to the Apple HomePod and Google Home Max
Today at a special event, Amazon unveiled a bevy of new Echo devices, including several aimed a bit upmarket. The Echo Studio is Amazon’s answer to the Google Nest Max and…
Amazon’s just getting started with the new hardware this morning. In addition to the Echo Dot with Clock (which, as mentioned, is an Echo Dot that has a clock), the…
Amazon’s new Echo Dot with Clock is a new Echo Dot that has a clock
Today’s deluge of Amazon hardware kicked off with a new addition to the Echo Dot line, the Echo Dot with Clock. That’s it. That’s the name. It is, as advertised,…
Amazon’s Echo Show can now identify household pantry items held in front of its camera
Amazon is introducing a new feature to its Alexa Show device designed to help blind and other low-vision customers identify common household pantry items by holding them in front of…
Google falls to third place in worldwide smart speaker market
The global smart speaker market grew 55.4% in the second quarter to reach 26.1 million shipments, according to a new report from Canalys. Amazon continued to lead the race, accounting…
The renaissance of silicon will create industry giants
With the end of Moore’s Law, new semiconductors are required for a cloud-native, data-dominated, AI-powered, IoT world. The rise of new players will put silicon back into Silicon Valley.
Amazon’s lead EU data regulator is asking questions about Alexa privacy
Amazon’s lead data regulator in Europe, Luxembourg’s National Commission for Data Protection, has raised privacy concerns about its use of manual human reviews of Alexa AI voice assistant recordings. A…
TD Ameritrade has integrated with in-vehicle software platforms Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and Amazon’s Echo Auto to give customers the ability to check their stock portfolio or get the latest…
Amazon Prime Day’s top device deals include discounted Echo speakers and Fire TVs
Amazon’s list of Prime Day deals has finally dropped. The retailer’s Black Friday-style sale for its Prime members is one of the biggest online shopping days of the year, as…
