Amazon has launched several of its Alexa based devices, 13 in all, in one go, at an event in Seattle. These included its regular range Echo speakers in different models and in addition, a new microwave oven and a clock that have the Alexa support.
This is a clear indication Amazon is expanding its home automation product range enabling users to get things done around their homes by simply shouting out the instructions to Alexa.
In the Amazon Echo home speakers’ range, Amazon has brought about some improvements in the entry-level device, the Echo Dot and the new one, the company claims is 70% louder the previous version. There has been a change in the fabric on the speaker as well. One can buy the Amazon Echo Dot speaker in India in October at Rs 4,499. The Echo Plus will be sold in India at Rs 14,499 and will also be available from next month.
The high-end Echo Show now sports a 10-inch display in HD quality, accompanied by 2 speakers and 8 microphones. But the interesting addition is the facility to run Skype on this display for video calling. For browsing the net, there is the Amazon Silk browser plus the Firefox browser as well. This product will be sold to buyers in India only early next year and the price indicated is Rs 16,407. The US markets may get it next month.
Amazon has also unveiled a few accessories to the Alexa speakers. These include the Echo Sub, a subwoofer. Six inches in size and 100W in power, the Echo Sub will cost Rs 12,990 in India. It is suggested that for best results, you can go in for a 2.1 configuration, where you have 2 Echo Subs with one Echo speaker. The other 2 accessories are the Echo Link and Echo Link Amp. These two are amplifiers. They are priced at $200 and $300 respectively.
AmazonBasics Microwave Oven is the new product that Amazon has brought out and it also works on Alexa only. It is not clear when the oven will be sold to Indian buyers, but in the US, it will sell at $59.99 and may ship close to the Christmas shopping season. It has an integrated replenishment feature. Obviously, Alexa will take care of this activity.
Then there is the Amazon Echo Wall Clock. Priced at $29.99 in the US, the clock is compatible with any Echo speaker and has a lot of LEDs in it.
Rounding up the devices list are Echo Input and Echo Auto, the latter, an Alexa-enabled speaker for use in cars. This car speaker also, though priced at $49 can be picked up for $25 by special invitees.
Amazon used the event to launch another of its products, the Fire TV Recast. Amazon claimed it is a DVR box than can record live TV shows and has a storage space of 500GB and capable of storing 75 hours of HD programming. It has 2 tuners; there is another that has 4 tuners and 1TB to store 150 hours-worth contents. The price for this, supposed to be a launch price is $229.