At Amazon ’s Fall Devices Event , the pressure sensation was on to come up with a rack up product that would daze the earthly concern the way Alexa and the Echo speaker did a decade ago . The event , held at Amazon ’s HQ2 in Arlington , VA was Amazon ’s first in - individual case since before Covid and the first chance the fellowship has had to have the technical school insistency on bridge player for in - somebody demos of fresh announced products .
Alexa and the Echo utterer line has been omnipresent for a long time , mostly known for its ability to tell you the weather , play euphony on demand , and most significantly , turn lights on and off around your house . But other Cartesian product , from Dash buttons to the Fire Phone , have been flops , and some potentially interesting inventions , like smart clocks and sassy microwaves were greeted with a collective shrug . The idea of shopping by speech via Alexa has likewise never caught on , because it exact aside your ability to comparing shop , field of study specs , or read customer reviews .
Worse , newer AI systems like ChatGPT and Google Bard make Alexa ’s conversational skills find positively naive . Apple ’s Siri has some of the same issues , feel decidedly un - AI - ish compared to its new competitors . From my personal experience , Alexa may work as it always did , but it certainly feel “ dumber ” lately , possibly because I ’m used to the amazing capabilities of the latest AI models .
The new Echo Show 8Photo: Dan Ackerman
For this pre - holiday gadget launch , I hoped Amazon would show more than novel versions of the Echo and Fire TV Stick .
Amazon exec David Limp jump-start right in , talking about how Alexa was upgrading its productive AI abilities , studying what it takes to make “ great AI , ” using multiple sensors , from microphones to cameras to proximity sensors , to create a more naturalistic conversational experience .
The young Alexa evidence off some of the same tricks we take care with ChatGPT last year , writing poem on demand or making recipe suggestions . More telling was that you may now address to Alexa without worrying that break for a 2d will clock out the conversation . Amazon ’s destination seems to be to make your relationship with Alexa less transactional , and to that effect , a conversation can continue over the form of many questions without saying the “ Alexa ” wake word again . But that also makes me worry about Alexa listening long after I want it to stop . you’re able to manually trim off the conversation with a program line at any time , but who ’s going to call up to do that ?
Updated Echo FramesPhoto: Dan Ackerman
That articulate , adding what Amazon holler “ Eye Gaze ” on the Fire Max 11 tablet is a really interesting concept , and picks up on the vision tracking that is power the next generation of VR headset , including the Apple Vision Pro and PSVR 2 . That means you could select icons on the CRT screen just by looking at them , and I consider we ’ll find center tracking become more and more democratic in the future tense .
add an Emergency Assist service for Echo devices is also interesting , set aside you to contact emergency services or an emergency middleman on demand . It feel like a admixture between the Apple Watch ’s clangour detection and the old Life Alert push pitch for yr on idiot box commercials . But it also feels unmatched to turn on for this basic service – it ’s $ 6 a calendar month or $ 60 for the year .
While Alexa may be ameliorate , the case was also about machine . What we saw included new versions of theEcho Showsmart screen / talker , a new Thomas Kyd version of the down - costEcho Pop , Modern kid - friendly versions of theFire Tabletand reworkedEcho Frames , smart - ish eyeglasses that can reduplicate as headphone . Adding a $ 120 overbold soundbar , called theFire TV Soundbar , is a salutary musical theme – anyone who use the built - in speakers on their TV is really missing out .
The Echo Pop, with kid-friendly graphicsPhoto: Dan Ackerman
The Fire TV hardware frankly already works great , there ’s not a deal you could do with it until we all , say , jump from 4 K content to 8 K content . The raw version , still name theFire TV Stick 4 K , adds good WiFi and a faster processor for $ 50 . TheFire TV Stick 4 K Maxadds HDR and Dolby Atmos support for $ 60 , and seems like the one you should get if you need a new streaming telecasting gadget .
That said , the demo of Alexa ’s better AI for substance discovery was more of a game - changer , allow you to necessitate for suggestions ground on movie musical style , even using a shadowy description of an actor . “ The actor who play the attorney in Breaking Bad , ” was the example used , bringing up Bob Odenkirk movies . need for moving picture results that I can take in with subscription I already have ( aka , “ devoid to me ” ) is ready to hand .
There ’s also some Dall - E - like generative AI art setting you may slap on your TV , and you may take to the woods AI filter on photos to make novel background . This is n’t especially raw or even that useful , but adding it to Fire television receiver products makes it front - and - center for casual entertainment consumers .
In the end , the biggest surprisal was a new function eyeshot you could use to keep in line your smart home devices . you’re able to map out where dissimilar smart lights or plugs are and control them visually from the Alexa app on your phone .
The unexampled paries - mountedEcho Hub , which appear a lot like a little version of the Each Show 15 , is another way to ensure all your smart medulla and television camera , including cameras and Matter gadget . For $ 180 , it solves a problem we ( and peradventure Amazon ) had created by mixing and play off so many dissimilar smart home twist brands with conflicting standards and perplexing setups .
But what this Amazon event was lacking was a breakthrough new hardware product , like theAstro robot from 2021 . Nor did we get a new Kindle , even though my favorite Kindle , the high - end Oasis , has n’t been updated since 2019 . rather , we aim the hope of Large Language Model AI fall in the decade - former Alexa assistant a modern makeover . painfully needed , to be sure , but not as much fun as a unexampled robot .
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