Amazon unveils new Echo Spot in product refresh
Echo speaker updated to compete with Apple’s upcoming HomePod

Amazon has released its new Echo Spot smart alarm clock as it refreshes its Alexa voice assistant products.
The Echo Spot “seems to be a crossover between the Echo Dot and Echo Show”, The Verge says. It sports a 2.5-inch display and a curvier design than other products in the range.
Users “can make video calls and be connected to external speakers via cable or Bluetooth”, the website says. The device can also “double as a nursery camera.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
As well as the Spot, says Business Insider, Amazon has introduced a new variant of the Echo smart speaker called the Echo Plus.
Although it looks “identical to the original Echo” and comes with the same Alexa voice assistance functions, the new speaker “features a ZigBee hub to allow the easy connection and setup of smart home devices”, says the site.
Joining the Echo Plus is an updated version of the standard Echo that is expected to rival Apple’s HomePod smart speaker, says Tech Crunch.
The new Echo comes with “a more premium sound”, the site says, and “the second generation of Amazon’s far-field technology, the microphone array the company uses so Echo can play nicely with other devices.”
It’s available in “six different shells”, Tech Crunch says, so it “can be coordinated for various rooms in the home.”
Buyers can pick up the new Echo and Echo Plus from Amazon for £89.99 and £139.99 respectively. However, the Daily Express says the Echo Spot won’t launch in the UK until 2018.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
How to create a healthy 'germier' home
Under The Radar Exposure to a broad range of microbes can enhance our immune system, especially during childhood
-
George Floyd: Did Black Lives Matter fail?
Feature The momentum for change fades as the Black Lives Matter Plaza is scrubbed clean
-
National debt: Why Congress no longer cares
Feature Rising interest rates, tariffs and Trump's 'big, beautiful' bill could sent the national debt soaring
-
Google's new AI Mode feature hints at the next era of search
In the Spotlight The search giant is going all in on AI, much to the chagrin of the rest of the web
-
How the AI takeover might affect women more than men
The Explainer The tech boom is a blow to gender equality
-
Did you get a call from a government official? It might be an AI scam.
The Explainer Hackers may be using AI to impersonate senior government officers, said the FBI
-
What Elon Musk's Grok AI controversy reveals about chatbots
In the Spotlight The spread of misinformation is a reminder of how imperfect chatbots really are
-
Is Apple breaking up with Google?
Today's Big Question Google is the default search engine in the Safari browser. The emergence of artificial intelligence could change that.
-
Inside the FDA's plans to embrace AI agencywide
In the Spotlight Rumors are swirling about a bespoke AI chatbot being developed for the FDA by OpenAI
-
Digital consent: Law targets deepfake and revenge porn
Feature The Senate has passed a new bill that will make it a crime to share explicit AI-generated images of minors and adults without consent
-
AI hallucinations are getting worse
In the Spotlight And no one knows why it is happening