Consumer goliath and household name Amazon started selling devices 15 years ago with the original Kindle and revolutionised the e-reader market which has today made them the UK’s no1 e-reading device.
Their tech and products have become a bigger focus for the business and evolved into the juggernaut it is today. Amazon has announced several new products at its annual product showcase as an invite-only, virtual event.
We were invited down to amazon towers in East London to hear what exciting new products and updates to existing ones and what else Amazon has up its sleeve.
A large focus of the event is something Amazon calls Ambient intelligence. This is intuitive tech that is there when you need it and fades into the background when you don’t. This means less screen time or having to worry about constant notifications interrupting your daily life. Amazon claims nearly all their devices will feature some form of this.
Kindle Scribe
The event kicked off with a brand new Kindle device called the Kindle Scribe. Scribe will allow users you can write on the e-reader which allows users to annotate their books, write notes and draw.
You can write sticky notes in the books you are reading which are organised in a set place and link to the pages where you took the notes.
The Scribe follows the typical Kindle minimal, sleek and slim design. The device offers a front-lit 10.2-inch screen and 300 PPI high-definition, and like all Kindle products, Scribe will have a battery life of weeks.
The Pen that is supplied with the device Amazon claims feels like a real pen it features a dedicated eraser and shortcut button and does not require a battery. Scribe is available for pre-order today for just £329.99 and will ship later this year.
Halo Rise
Millions of people have difficulty sleeping and prioritising good sleep and the second device announced is designed to tackle just that. The Halo Rise is a brand new bedside sleep tracker, light, and alarm.
It doesn't require any apps or tracking device, in fact, it tracks your sleep through respiration offering anxiety-free, low energy, contactless tracking as well as using advanced machine learning to sense movement and respiratory patterns.
The device offers accurate sleep tracking for the person closest to the device, so even having another person or pet with you in your bed shouldn't throw it off.
Halo's environmental sensors also keep track of the temperature of the room, humidity, and luminosity as all these factors impact your sleep. You then receive insight based on these readers on how to optimize your sleep.
The colour light then simulates the gradual wake-up of sunrise to offer a gentler wake-up. Halo Rise is a US only product and will cost $139.99.
Echo Studio
The Echo Studio has seen an update with a new paint job called "glacier white" and several audio enhancements.
This updated model features custom-built spatial audio processing that will enhance the sound, offer better midrange clarity, and improve bass.
The Echo Studio is available in the UK to pre-order today for £189.99 and will be available on October 20.
Echo Dot and Eco Dot with Clock
Another upgrade on one of last year's models. The new version of this device benefits from updated and enhanced audio quality now featuring a larger speaker while keeping the device the same size.
This new driver will offer twice the bass and reduced audio distortion improving the audio quality.
Improved Tap controls have been added by including an accelerometer allowing you to just tap to start and stop music. A temperature sensor has also been added to allow it to tell you a room temperature, and when configured and set up with Routens it can activate a smart fan to cool the room to your preferred setting.
The Echo Dot with clock is also getting some upgrades with high-density Dot technology added to not only improve the clarity of the dot display making it easier to see even in bright lighting conditions. This will also allow it to show more information like a music artist's name, weather forecast, and calendar events.
Eero mesh wifi systems have also been added to Echo devices further improving Wi-Fi coverage at home with each echo adding up 1000 square feet of coverage to your network. Eero functionality will also be added to any 4th generation Echo Dot with an update.
The brand new Echo Dot will be available for £54.99 and Echo Dot with Clock, available for £64.99 Now available for pre-order, and out October 20.
Echo Dot Kids
Echo Dot Kids, returns this year with two new designs: Owl and Dragon building on the success of the Tiger and Panda designs from last year.
It comes with a free suite of parental controls, a two-year worry-free guarantee, and one year of Amazon Kids+. It is £64.99 and is now available for pre-order.
Echo Auto
This is a smart speaker and Alexa assistant for your car, this device can help you play music, get directions, place calls, and listen to audiobooks while on the road. It also seamlessly picks up your music where you left off at home and can deliver notifications. With a brand, new look, and lower profile design the Echo Auto is seamless.
Amazon didn't say upgraded Echo Auto will be available or the UK pricing, however, in the US it'll cost $54.99.
Echo Show 15
Amazon's Echo Show 15 is a 15.6-inch smart display that is used at-a-glance organisation. Using Alexa-powered widgets to keep everyone on track with calendars, sticky notes, to-do lists, and reminders.
However, with a new update coming to the Echo Show 15 it will now support Fire TV allowing you to stream all your favorite shows and films rather than just being just a data screen for the home. This will come as a free update and it will bring your profile and what you've been watching over to the device so you can pick up where you left off.
The Echo Show 15 is available now for 199.99.
Fire TV Cube
Amazon also announced the new Fire TV Cube, this streaming device features 2.0Ghz Octo core processing allowing it to support 4K and super-resolution upscaling enhancing HD visual quality and even older films and shows.
This device allows you to stream thousands of films and TV episodes from Netflix, Prime Video, Now, Disney+ and more, plus listen to to songs.
Hands-free voice control is integrated and the microphone technology has been improved with the addition of a 4 microphone array that can pick up your voice even in a nosey environment.
It also includes a 360-degree IR blaster which allows you to control other devices with your voice too. Wi-Fi 6E is also supported giving the device faster connection speeds than before
It even features the addition of serval ports allowing you to plug in USB drives, an ethernet port for even faster speeds as well as HDMI in and HDMI out ports.
The HDMI input allows users to thus adding the Fire Cube's voice control to other connected devices.
For those who are hard of hearing the Fire Cube is also compatible with select hearing aids too.
The all-new Fire TV Cube is available for pre-order today for £139.99.
Fire TV Omni QLED
To finish up, Amazon announced a new version of its Omni Series QLED Fire TV. Featuring a QLED display and coming in two sized 65-inch and 75-inch options.
It includes up to 96 local dimming zones and supports HDR 10+ adaptive display, with adaptive brightness the TV can adjust the brightness and contrast to the lighting of the room.
It of course comes with integrated Alexa and voice controls allowing you to control it with just your voice and supporting Alexa features.
The presence sensors can automatically switch on the TV when you enter the room combined with the ambient light sensors are smart enough to know when you are sitting down to watch TV compared to when you are walking past it at night.
The Fire Omni QLED also has a feature called ambient experience. This is curated artwork of painters and photographers including around 1,500 landscapes that will shift when the screen is not in use making it like a changing digital picture frame.
Due to the integration of voice controls, you can request detailed information about each work of art. Alexa widgets are also supported on the new TV giving you important data at a glance.
The Fire TV Omni QLED will begin shipping on Oct 27 and US price is currently listed as $799.99 and $1,099.99.
There are lots more announcements all of which are available on amazon's Youtube channel and reviews for many of these products are more will be coming soon.
