In the last ten years our way of living at home has changed. It has become more intelligent, intuitive, technological. And one of the main actors of this change was Amazon Alexa. With beyond 400 million devices for the smart home integrated with Alexa, Amazon’s voice assistant is increasingly becoming an aid in the lives of many users. And it will be even more so now that Amazon announced new features of Alexa for the smart home and a series of new devices: Echo Hub and Echo Show 8, the new Fire TV 4K, the eero Max 7 Mesh WiFi system and the Ring Stick Up Cam Pro.
Echo Hub, Fire TV 4K Max and other Amazon smart home innovations
Amazon has announced many new features, both hardware and software. This makes smart home devices with Amazon’s Alexa, such as the Echo Hub, even more useful.
Alexa is getting smarter
From a software point of view, one of the biggest innovations concerns the implementation of the latest one large language model (LLM)which makes speaking with Alexa even more natural and intuitive.
The new model behind Alexa, in fact, allows you to manage a wide range of house-specific variations and configurations. For example, if you want to dim the lights, you can simply say: “Alexa, there’s too much light in here” and the assistant will dim the smart light bulbs in your home.
Furthermore, you can combine several actions in a single sentence. Such as: “Alexa, close all the blinds, turn off all the lights and start the vacuum cleaner”. Furthermore, it is possible set up fully vocal routines, without the need for manual programming through the Alexa app. Just say, “Alexa, every morning at 8, play the news, open the blinds, turn on my bedroom lights, and make me coffee.” Currently, these new features are available for customers in the United States in the testing phase – but they should soon arrive in Italy too.
The new features of Alexa
Users can take full advantage of Alexa’s features, some of which are new and really interesting. With the call translation and subtitles in real time, which also supports deaf or hard of hearing users in over 10 languages. The function of Call Captioning allows you to view captions in near real time for Alexa calls, including i Drop Inimproving accessibility.
To further simplify connections with friends and family members, Amazon will introduce the widget Top Connections sui dispositivi Echo Showallowing you to easily view your favorite contacts and quickly initiate calls or Drop Ins with one tap.
Plus, you can now start routines in more ways, such as using voice commands or setting specific timesthe. This offers more flexibility in managing daily routines. Finally, the addition of quick access icons on the home screen makes it easier to access content and will be available on various devices Echo Show, including Echo Show 5.
Maximum customization
Amazon is working to make the smart home fully personalized and functional. Support for Matter in over 100 million Echo and eero devices it proves it. But Amazon also offers tools and APIs to simplify the design of devices with Alexa integration, including Dynamic Controller e Action Controller.
The goal is to make the home more proactive. For example, Echo will be able to independently adjust the lighting based on environmental conditions. New Routines will be introduced to organize your day, including Ring checks for home security.
To simplify the control of smart home devices, Amazon created Echo Hub, a control panel that supports various smart home protocols and offers an intuitive interface with a customizable 8-inch touchscreen.
Amazon Echo Hub, the whole smart home in 8 inches
Amazon announced two new Echo devices, The Echo Hub and the Echo Show 8 next generation, both integrated with Alexa to offer personalized and intuitive experiences.
The Echo Hub is a mountable control panel designed to simplify management of smart home devices and security systems. It has an 8-inch touch screen, allows you to group and manage devices, control Ring security systems, start routines and view camera streams. Thanks towith infrared technology, detects the user’s presence and adapts the display screens according to his preferences.
You can mount it on the wall or place it on a shelf with an optional accessory. Includes a built-in smart home hub with support for multiple technologies and wireless or wired Internet connectivity. The price of Echo Hub is 199.99 euros.
Echo Show 8
The new Echo Show 8 has a renewed design with soft curves, a touchscreen HD da 8 pollici and a full-screen glass frame. It also improves the processor, to take full advantage of Alexa. And the audio also outputs clearer voices and deeper bass for listening to music.
Video calls get better with one 13 megapixel camera and improved audio that reduces background noise. Additionally, it includes a built-in smart home hub with support for multiple technologies, allowing voice control of compatible lights, locks and sensors without a separate hub.
The home screen offers adaptive content based on proximity of the user to the device, ensuring a clear and detailed experience. You can customize the information displayed and access the most used widgets.
You can find it in Ice White and Anthracite at the price of 169,99 euro starting October 25, with the adjustable USB-C charging stand costing 39,99 euro.
Not only Echo Hub and Show, Amazon announces eero Max 7
Amazon also launched eero Max 7, the first mesh Wi-Fi system based on Wi-Fi 7. Uses network technology TrueMesh patented by eero together with the Wi-Fi 7 standard, it eliminates interference from nearby networks and improves mesh latency, for truly record speeds. It also has doors Ethernet da 10 e 2.5 Gigabit and can support Internet plans up to 10 Gbps. Its coverage can extend up to 232 square meters.
You can use it for solutions like augmented reality, 4K and 8K video streaming and video games. It can manage connected devices and simultaneous voice and video calls. Supports over 200 connected devices, the Matte protocol and acts as a Border Router Thread. It also has a built-in Zigbee hub.
The device will soon be available at a price of 699,99 euro for the single package.
I nuovi Fire Stick 4K e Fire Stick 4K Max
The TV is often the center of the living room and a functional smart home cannot ignore it. For this reason, Amazon has presented a series of updates for the Fire TV range, introducing the new devices Fire TV Stick 4K Max e Fire TV Stick 4K.
The Fire TV Stick 4K Max is the first to integrate Fire TV’s Ambient Mode, which turns your TV into a smart display: you can see free artwork, but also information like calendars, reminders, and smart home control. It has a processor quad-core da 2,0 GHz, support for the Wi-Fi 6E for a faster connection and less interference, resolution 4K Ultra HDsupport for audio formats Dolby Vision, HDR, HDR10+ e Dolby Atmos. It has 16 GB memory and voice remote control Alexa Enhanced Editionn, which has dedicated buttons for channels and a “Recents” button. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max at a price of 79,99 euro.
The Fire TV Stick 4K is an updated version of its predecessor, with support for the Wi-Fi 6, a 1.7 GHz quad-core processor and support for 4K Ultra HD and Dolby Atmos. It is available at a lower price of 69,99 euro.
Ring’s Stick Up Cam Pro and 3D motion
Amazon also announced improved tracking functionality 3D motion on some of its Ring security devicesincluding the popular Stick Up Cam Pro.
3D motion detection uses the radar technology to measure the distance of objects within the cameras’ field of view, allowing customers to create specific detection zones. This offers more accurate and precise motion alerts. Furthermore, this technology offers advanced features such as the top view and top view areas, allowing customers to receive alerts only when human movement is detected in specific areas.
Stick Up Cam Pro also offers a number of features, including Pre-Roll recording that captures the seconds before a motion event is triggered. And then improved audio with echo cancellation, a security siren and three power options: battery, plug-in and solar power.
The device is already available for pre-order with prices starting from €179.99 for the battery-powered and plug-in versions and €199.99 for the solar-powered model, shipments scheduled for October 18th.
These are Amazon’s latest innovations for the smart home, which is becoming increasingly flexible. You can find these products and connect them to smart lights and appliances on Amazon.