Amazon Echo Show brings chatty Alexa to a two-way, video touchscreen
Amazon wants Alexa to be able to show as well as tell.
On Tuesday, the Internet’s powerhouse retailer announced the aptly named Echo Show, a new speaker where Amazon's increasingly popular digital assistant can lend a voice—and helping hand.
As with the original Echo speaker where Alexa got its start, Echo Show contains an array of microphones that are always listening for the “Alexa” wake word.
What sets Echo Show apart is the addition of a 7-inch color touch screen, coupled with a front facing (5-megapixel) camera. The product, which comes in black or white, resembles an old kitchen counter-top TV set. It must be plugged in. According to Amazon, you can comfortably view the screen from about 7-feet away, even in a bright environment.
Such a screen lets you eyeball a weather forecast, peek at pictures, watch Prime movies, play Jeopardy, follow song lyrics, and—this will be the killer selling point for some—show off the newborn to grandma. In some respects, Echo Show will be an answer to Skype or FaceTime.
You can preorder Echo Show starting today for $229.99; it ships June 28. Amazon is taking off $100 off the total price for people who buy a pair to encourage customers to engage in two-way video exchanges, by gifting friends and family with the second device.
Amazon has been leaning on its vocal digital assistant to spread the company’s artificial intelligence system everywhere, certainly beyond the original Echo speaker, into phones, appliances and other products. There are now some 12,000 Alexa “skills.” Just last month Amazon unveiled Echo Look, a for-now an invitation only version of Echo that aims to help you pick out stylish outfits to wear. And competition in the space is heating up, with Google Home and its own vocal Google Assistant, plus a new entry from Microsoft and Harman Kardon called Invoke, which leverages Microsoft's Cortana.
It’s not much of a stretch to consider various ways in which someone with an Echo Show could benefit from the presence of a screen. Instead of just having Alexa announce the results of a ball game, for example, you can watch highlights or check out a box score. Rather than have Alexa read your upcoming appointments, it can show you your calendar. And if Echo Show is in the kitchen, Alexa might help you prepare a feast on command: “Alexa, show roast turkey recipes on You Tube.”
Of course, Amazon being Amazon, you can also use Echo Show to buy ingredients for your meal, not to mention the myriad other items you can purchase through the retailer. You can also expect to see star ratings for various products you’d purchase through Amazon on the screen; at this stage anyway, there’s no deeper dive into customer ratings.
And you can control a gaggle of third party smart Internet connected appliances in and around your home, such as the Ring Video Doorbell that could take the mystery out of who rang your bell: “Alexa, show the front door camera.”
Drop In
One of the most compelling features is known as “Drop In,” letting folks remotely do just that with designated people who have been “white-listed” who also have an Echo Show. If you put them on this list, they can drop in on you; you can only drop in on them if they in turn approve you. There is no limit to the number of people who can be approved from Drop In, and you can whitelist someone from Echo Show or the Alexa app.
After summoning Alexa to drop in on a friend, say, you’ll initially see the person you’re trying to communicate with behind “frosted glass,” a view that remains for 10 seconds, after which the frost automatically disappears. The other person has the option to reject a Drop In call altogether or to continue the conversation in an audio-only mode. You can always turn on a “do not disturb” setting during which you won’t be interrupted at all.
As Amazon puts it, this is the equivalent to giving grandma or your next door neighbors the keys to your kitchen door, so it’s meant for people you’re really ready to welcome in any time they care to stop by.
By the way, you’ll be able to Drop In from Echo Show to Echo Show, or from the Alexa app to Echo Show. You can leave a voice but not video message if you cannot get in touch with the person.
(Incidentally, beginning some time this week, Amazon will also let you call and message between Echo, Echo Dot, and the Alexa app.)
Better speakers
Echo Show will be available in white or black. On top are volume and camera/mute buttons. It takes advantage of an 8-microphone array, noise cancellation and so-called beam-forming tech. The product supports Bluetooth, so that you can stream music from your smartphone to Echo Show or from Echo Show to another Bluetooth speaker.
During a prelaunch demo, the dual 2-inch speakers sounded decent, with an emphasis on bass. They’re a step up from the Echo speakers, and seem better tuned for playing music, which more and more people use them for.
Tellingly, Amazon staffers were open that they didn’t quite know all the use cases people might come up with for Show, and they were eager to see what unfolds in the first few months it’s available.
Just as the public took to the Echo in ways that couldn’t have been predicted, the addition of the visual to its abilities should open up a whole new realm.
Email: ebaig@usatoday.com; Follow USA TODAY Personal Tech Columnist @edbaig on Twitter; and USA Tech Reporter @eweise.