- Amazon held a huge hardware event on Thursday where it made a slew of new announcements.
- The company unveiled new Echo devices including a completely redesigned Echo Dot with a spherical design and a Ring security camera that actually flies around your home autonomously.
- Here, we’ll tell you about all the new devices that Amazon unveiled.
Amazon held a huge hardware event on Thursday and made a slew of big announcements… but it decided not to stream the event to the public for some reason. Instead, only the media had access — if only the company had a massive cloud network that could handle all those simultaneous streams! Want to see what we saw today from Amazon’s big event? All the basics are covered down below, and you can fill in all the blanks with all the press releases that are now live on Amazon’s press center site.
All-new Echo smart speaker
Amazon’s newest Echo speaker features a completely overhauled design that looks nothing like the Echo speakers you currently know and love. Instead, it’s a spherical smart speaker powered by Amazon’s new “AZ1 Neural Edge” processor. The new model will be released soon for $99 and will come in Charcoal, Glacier White, and Twilight Blue colorways.
Echo Dot (4th generation)
Amazon’s 4th-generation Echo Dot features a spherical design just like the larger Echo smart speaker. Like the current Dots, the new models will be priced at $49.99 for the regular version and $59.99 for the new Echo Dot with Clock.
Eero 6
The latest Eero mesh Wi-Fi system is called Eero 6 and as the name suggests, the big news here is the addition of Wi-Fi 6 support. Two main versions will be made available: Eero 6 for $129.99 the Eero Pro 6 mesh system for $229.99.
Ring for cars
Ring’s first security cameras for cars aren’t your run of the mill dash cameras. The new Car Cam and Car Alarm systems work with the same app as other Ring products and each serves a different purpose. The $59.99 Car Alarm connects to your car’s diagnostic port and alerts you in the event of a break-in. The $199.99 Car Cam is a suped-up dash cam that records inside your car as well as outside, and it works while the car is parked.
Ring Always Home Cam
The Ring Always Home Cam is like nothing you’ve ever seen before. It’s a crazy new drone that flies around your house autonomously and monitors for movement while you’re away. It sends alerts and tracks motion just like you’d expect it to, and it returns to its dock on its own when it needs to charge. There’s no firm release date for the time being, but it’ll cost $249.99 when it hits Amazon’s virtual store shelves next year.
Echo Show 10
Amazon’s next-generation Echo Show 10 has a ton of new features but the biggest one comes courtesy of a ground-up redesign: it has a swiveling screen that automatically follows you around as you move. It’s an awesome new feature that ensures the content you need is always in view, and it’ll cost $249.99 when it’s released.
Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick Lite
From Amazon’s press release:
Best-Selling Fire TV Stick Now 50% More Powerful with HDR and Dolby Atmos Support—Just $39.99
The all-new Fire TV Stick features an enhanced 1.7 GHz quad-core processor that makes it 50% more powerful than the previous generation. The new Fire TV Stick delivers fast streaming in 1080p at 60fps with HDR compatibility. The dual-band, dual-antenna wifi supports 5 GHz networks for more stable streaming and fewer dropped connections. Fire TV Stick also features Dolby Atmos for immersive sound with compatible content and speakers, and an Alexa Voice Remote with dedicated power, volume, and mute buttons for easy control of TVs, soundbars, and A/V receivers. The all-new Fire TV Stick delivers improved performance while consuming 50% less power than the previous generation.
Fire TV Stick Lite—Affordable, Full-HD Streaming on Fire TV—Just $29.99
Fire TV Stick Lite is a new, even more affordable way to begin streaming in full-HD. Fire TV Stick Lite is 50% more powerful than the previous-generation Fire TV Stick and includes the most processing power of any streaming media player under $30. It features HDR support and comes with Alexa Voice Remote Lite, a new remote that allows you to use voice to find, launch, and control content.
Both models will be released in the US and a few other markets next week, and they’ll usher in a brand new Fire TV UI.
Amazon Luna cloud gaming service
That’s right, Amazon has unveiled its own gaming service to compete with similar offerings from Google, Microsoft, and more. Here are the key details from Amazon’s note to the press:
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Built using custom AWS game servers, Luna can stream games without lengthy downloads, updates, or complicated configurations
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Luna Controller connects directly to the cloud for instant play on Fire TV, PC, and Mac, as well as on web apps for iPhone and iPad, with Android coming soon
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The multi-antenna design allows for uninterrupted wifi for lower latency gaming, and the ability to seamlessly move from screen to screen
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Customers can subscribe to the Luna+ game channel as part of early access and play favorites like Resident Evil 7, Control, and many more
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Amazon also announced an agreement with Ubisoft to make the Ubisoft channel available directly through Luna
You can request early access to Luna right here on Amazon’s site, and it’ll be $5.99 per month when it launches with more than 100 games available to stream right out of the gate.
