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Amazon has another Echo sale with up to $60 off
To get November (and the holiday shopping season) off to a flying start, Amazon has put many of its Echo devices on sale, including some of its more recent Alexa-powered gizmos. For instance, you can snag yourself or a loved one an Echo Show 5, which Amazon revealed in May, for $60 (down from $90).
Amazon Alexa auditors could reportedly access user locations
It emerged earlier this month that thousands of Amazon employees are reviewing some Alexa recordings (which are captured after you've said the wake word). The auditors transcribe, annotate and analyze a selection of commands to help improve Alexa. But it seems these workers could view users' personal information too, according to Bloomberg. At least some employees are said to have had access to location data, addresses and phone numbers.
Smart displays came into their own in 2018
When Amazon first debuted the Echo Show last year, plenty of people, us included, mocked its unusual design. More than that, we wondered if adding a display to a smart speaker makes sense, or if it was just another one of Amazon's gimmicks. It turns out, however, that being able to see the result of your queries is actually quite helpful; it's easier to glance at your entire shopping list than it is to have Alexa read it line by line. Amazon later followed up with the Echo Spot bedside clock, which offers the same features in a smaller design.
Apple Music now streams on Echo speakers
Apple Music support on Echo speakers is here earlier than expected. Users in the United States have been able to connect their Apple Music account in the Alexa app and play music through Amazon's line of smart speakers, according to 9to5Mac. The feature wasn't scheduled to be available until December 17th.
Alexa's one-way intercom feature arrives on Fire TV Cube
If you have several Echo (or Sonos One or Beam) devices around your home, you might already be aware of the Alexa Announcements feature -- speak into one device and the others broadcast that message over their speakers. To knit its ecosystem closer together, Amazon is bringing the one-way intercom tool to the Fire TV Cube.
All of Amazon's new Echo speakers reviewed
Amazon may have defined the smart speaker category with the Echo and its successors, but many competitors have the company beat in one specific way: audio quality. Amazon says the No. 1 activity for Echo users is playing music, but anyone who has used an Echo knows that the sound quality is nothing to write home about. Amazon must have recognized this, because improved speakers in the new Echo Dot and Echo Plus were a major talking point when they were announced in September. Reading between the lines, it seems safe to say that Amazon believes its Echo speakers can be the centerpiece of a respectable home-audio setup. How else would you explain the new $129 Echo Sub, a device that does nothing aside from wirelessly pair with another Echo device to bring the bass?
Amazon is discounting Echo and Fire devices for Black Friday
You're probably familiar with the 12 days of Christmas, but how about the seven days of Black Friday? Amazon is getting the savings started early by cutting the prices on its own devices starting November 16th. The sale will run through Black Friday, November 23rd, and features some pretty steep discounts on Amazon's line of smart speakers, tablets and other devices.
Amazon's Alexa 'whisper mode' starts rolling out today
One of the new features introduced at last month's Amazon hardware event was the ability to whisper to your Amazon Echo device -- and have Alexa whisper back to you. Amazon confirmed to Engadget that this feature, called "whisper mode," is now rolling out to US users.
Amazon and SiriusXM team up to offer free service and Echo Dots
Amazon and SiriumXM have partnered up to bring together streaming radio and the Amazon Echo. Echo owners can enjoy a three-month trial of SiriusXM for free. And anyone who signs up for a new SiriusXM All Access or SiriusXM Premier subscription will get an Echo Dot for free. Current customers who upgrade from SiriusXM Select to Sirius XM All Access will also receive an Echo Dot for free.
Amazon Music Unlimited is now available in Canada
Today, Amazon announced the expansion of its Music Unlimited service to Canada. Listeners can sign up for a free 90-day trial; after that period has passed, Prime members will pay CDN $8 per month or CDN $79 per year to continue service. The family plan costs CDN $15 per month, whether you have a Prime membership or not. It's CDN $149 per year for Prime members. Non-Prime members will pay CDN $10 per month. Subscribers can also opt for a single device plan for CDN $4 per month, which will allow Unlimited subscribers to listen to their music on one Echo device.
Alexa is down across the UK and parts of Europe
Alexa appears to be down in the UK and parts of Europe with Twitter and Down Detector users reporting widespread disruptions with Amazon's digital assistant. The problem seems to have started at 8am local time (3AM Eastern) this morning and still hasn't been resolved. Engadget can confirm the issue having tried a few commands with an Echo, only for it to display a red ring and respond: "sorry I'm having trouble understanding right now please try again later." Others have noted that some Echo devices aren't working altogether. We've reached out to Amazon -- which is urging users on Twitter to restart their Echo speakers to no luck -- and will update this article with its response.
Amazon's new Echo Plus has a better speaker and temperature sensor
The rumors of a big Amazon hardware event were true, and we're getting a look at all the Alexa-focused devices the company is showing off for the upcoming holiday season. Even though it's only been a year since Amazon released the Echo Plus -- a more expensive version of its standard speaker with a smart hub built in -- the company is announcing a new version today. It still has the smart hub, but Amazon says it'll be a lot better for music playback, something that's been a theme throughout many of the announcements the company has made so far.
Amazon's Echo Sub adds some much-needed bass to its smart speakers
The Echo is a fine enough smart speaker, but what it's lacking is any sort of oomph in terms of sound quality. That's why Amazon will release the Echo Sub this October. The diminutive bass-maker features 100W of power, a 6-inch downward firing woofer and will work when paired with either a lone Echo or a pair, for a true 2.1 stereo setup. The stereo pairing feature is brand new, as well. Prior, you could only group separate Echo devices together for multi-room listening. More than that, Amazon is opening up its multi-room API to third parties.
Google Home Mini was the top selling smart speaker in Q2
Alexa had better watch out: Google, not Amazon, had the bestselling smart speaker worldwide in Q2 of 2018. The Google Home Mini had a 20 percent market share during that quarter, selling 2.3 million units. It was followed closely by the Amazon Echo Dot, at 2.2 million. Rounding out the top five were the Amazon Echo, Alibaba Tmail Genie and Google Home.
Amazon’s Echo Show can use Getty Images to answer your questions
This week, Getty Images announced a new partnership with Amazon that will allow the online retail giant to use images from Getty's vast image catalog on its Echo devices with a screen. While Alexa was previously able to deliver verbal answers to questions, such as "Who won the Best Actress Oscar this year," now the device will be able to show a picture to accompany the answer.
After Math: What could go wrong?
It's been a week of risk in the tech world, and I don't just mean Elon Musk's recent Twitter-on-acid experiment. Best Buy is wagering $800 million on a company that teaches your grandparents how gadgets work, Saint Louis University is peppering its dorms with Echos for some reason, and Reebok is hoping folks won't be too tempted to eat their vegetable-based sneakers.
Galaxy Home is Samsung's Bixby-powered smart speaker
Samsung has been developing a speaker based on its own digital assistant, Bixby, for awhile. But today, we're getting our first look at it. During the company's Galaxy Note 9 event in New York City, Samsung finally revealed the Galaxy Home smart speaker, a clear rival to the Apple HomePod, the Google Home and the Amazon Echo line. The device, which features the rumored tripod design with a round body, is powered by Harman's AKG audio and was engineered to "make music sound amazing."
Alexa can crank the bass on your Echo when you ask
Amazon is giving you more control over audio with an Alexa update that lets you adjust the equalizer and sound modes using your voice. So if you think the music you're listening to on your Amazon Echo could use a touch more low end, asking Alexa to increase the bass should do just that. More specifically, the bands you can tweak are bass, midrange and treble. Alexa can also switch your Echo to a number of EQ presets as well, including for movies, music, sports and TV.
Amazon's Prime Day still broke records, despite glitches
Amazon's Prime Day this year may have been riddled with errors and sad 404 dogs. However, the company is touting record sales, calling it "the biggest shopping event in Amazon history" as compared to other 36-hour periods, such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday and last year's Prime Day.
Amazon Echo Look review: Good selfie taker, so-so stylist
Walking into my closet can sometimes feel like visiting Narnia. There are beautiful, whimsical friends in there, alongside a dizzying array of outdated pieces and random monstrosities from the early aughts. I'm someone who would benefit from Amazon's Echo Look, a stand-alone camera designed to snap photos of your outfits of the day and recommend clothes that suit your style. Aside from the chance to get reacquainted with my clothes, I also relished the excuse to take full-length selfies every day, all in the name of improving my already excellent taste.
