Most of you have heard of Amazon Echo, a smart speaker developed by Amazon aimed at transforming your home into a smart home. During the past two years over 5 million units have been sold making it the best selling item on Amazon in the $100+ category.
Because Amazon foresees a bright future for many more smart products within smart homes they have been actively developing new hardware products to gain market share in this market. In this blog I would like to present some of Amazon’s newest products in their Echo Family that the company released recently.
All-new Echo 2017
This is a 2nd generation smart speaker that works via the cloud-based voice service Alexa. It can be used for a variety of activities including playing a user’s favorite music, making calls, checking calendar activities and controlling other smart home devices. Amazon improved the sound of this generation by partnering with Dolby for the audio technology. Some new features added are the ability to request an Uber, order a pizza and control your TV.
Echo Tap
A smaller version of the Echo speaker, which is a more portable and affordable version of the Echo described above. Amazon Tap is wireless and can perform the same tricks as the All-new Echo but it must be connected to Wi-Fi in order to do so.
Echo Dot
With this device Amazon supplies the same functions as with the All-new Echo but it is only as large as the top of that device. The Dot can be connected to existing speakers via Bluetooth. If a user has more Dots in one house the closest one will respond to question asked through Alexa.
Echo Plus
This device looks like the original Echo but it is built using the wireless protocol ZigBee. This protocol allows for the creation of personal area networks that work in physical ranges of approximately 10 to 20 meters.
Echo Show
The Echo Show is a touchscreen device with built-in Alexa and is capable of all functionalities the Echo 2017 offers. However, the built-in display adds a new level of interaction as it can present for example full weather reports, photos or lyrics to songs being played. It can also be used to connect to Wi-Fi-enabled security cameras and check their video feeds.
Echo Look
The Echo Look is a Wi-Fi camera that combines all Alexa functionalities mentioned earlier with hands-free photo and video. The way Amazon pitched this product is as a cloud-connected fashion consultant that allows the user to take pictures of different outfits. Based on machine learning guided by fashion experts the device then gives advice and recommendations on what to wear. Some say that this device aims to replace, at least in some situations, the tradition mirror.
Echo Spot
This device is a combination of the Echo Dot, given its small size, and Echo Show, given its functionalities. The Spot can be placed in nearly every room within a traditional house.
This article has hopefully provided you with some more insights in the range of smart home products that Amazon offers at this moment. To prevent an abundance of information for you as a reader certain products such as the Echo Buttons and Echo Connect have not been discussed.
My question to the readers is how many smart devices do you currently have in your home and are you planning to jump into this smart home trend in the nearby future?
Bibliography
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/136952-amazon-echo-original-vs-echo-tap-vs-echo-dot-vs-echo-look-vs-echo-show-vs-echo-2017-vs-echo-plus-vs-echo-spot-what-s-the-difference
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zigbee
