A surprise Amazon event has the online book retailer turned cloud and hardware giant present a list of Alexa-powered devices refreshed and new as long as your arm, with the most surprising offering being an Amazon microwave. No, really.
Released under the AmazonBasics brand, the smart microwave offers Alexa controls and a Dash button allowing one to instantly order popcorn. It does not have built-in voice control, but pairing with a nearby Echo device provides such functionality. It offers 700W of power and has a number of built-in quick-cook presets for food preparation made (even) easier.
Another oddball Amazon products is the Wall Clock-- a 10-inch, well, wall clock able to pair with Alexa devices and visualise any alarms or timers through a ring of 60 LEDs. Amazon also offers means to add more voice-controlled smarts to devices with the Echo Smart Plug, which provides voice controls to anything connected to an electrical outlet.
When it comes to actual Echo devices, Amazon has a whole range of refreshes. The Echo Dot gets a new fabric-covered look and a speaker Amazon claims is 75% louder, as does the cylindrical Echo Plus complete with a built-in ZigBee smart home hub with offline command capability, 3-inch neodymium woofer and integrated temperature sensor. The Echo Show also gets a refresh, with a 10-inch display, Skype compatibility, built-in ZigBee smart home hub and neodymium drivers.
The Echo range does get some new additions-- the Echo Auto is a device designed for, well, autos. It hooks to the car via 12V power outlet or USB port, connects to the audio system via Bluetooth or 3.5mm jack and is controlled via Alexa smartphone app, and listens to the driver with an 8-microphone array. Customers wanting to add Alexa capabilities to regular, non-smart speakers get an Echo Input attachment.
Interestingly, Amazon also wants to get into better-sounding audio hardware. The Echo Sub is a large, cylindrical subwoofer one can pair with one or two Echo speakers to create a 2.1-channel stereo system. The Echo Link connects to receivers or amplifiers to add Alexa streaming audio, as does the Echo Link Amp, only with the addition of a 60W 2-channel amplifier.
On the TV side, the Fire TV Recast adds live-recording TV capabilities. It comes in 2 versions, with either a 2-tuner 500GB model or a 4-tuner 1TB version. Both require an HDTV antenna, and can beam recordings to a Fire TV, Echo Show, Echo Spot or iOS/Android devices.
Alexa should also get further improvements in the coming months, including Skype compatibility, a "Guard" security mode for automated lighting and alerts, "Hunches" allowing the system to learn household routines and push alerts in case something is off, and a Whisper mode for users wanting to whisper to Alexa.
