Since debuting in 2019, Amazon's Echo Studio targeted users who wanted superior audio quality from their Alexa-based smart speaker. The latest Echo Studio adds another less-expected differentiator: an integrated camera.
The Echo Studio with Home Camera, released alongside a pile of other Alexa devices today, doesn’t have many audio upgrades over the standard Echo Studio. Each speaker has one 3.75-inch high-excursion woofer and three full-range drivers. They both support Dolby Atmos and Amazon’s proprietary algorithm for adding a surround sound-like effect to stereo audio. Per the devices’ product pages, the speakers have lossless HD audio, Advanced Room Adaptation, and features for fighting noise distortion. Amazon announced the Advanced Room Adaptaion today, saying that the feature “continuously tunes the sound to your space, automatically adapting to the room's acoustics.”
Both speakers have four-microphone arrays and the same AZ3 Pro processor that Amazon introduced a year ago. The processor has an AI accelerator for using Amazon's Alexa+ generative AI chatbot.
When smart speakers first burst onto the scene, it felt like this would be the way we would all be controlling our smart homes in the future. That future never really became a reality, as smart speakers haven't really improved much over the years. It's reached the point now where your old phone or a DIY smart speaker can do a better job.
Amazon-owned Bee has launched its first new AI devices since its acquisition, including an updated wearable and a credit-card-sized recorder that attaches to smartphones. The devices can summarize conversations, create to-do lists, and integrate with Alexa and Amazon shopping, with prices starting at $74.99.
Apple’s HomeView smart display, shown with faces for a clock, FaceTime, photos, smart home controls and music. (Apple Image)
Apple is going after Amazon’s smart home business on several fronts at once.
The iPhone and iPad maker on Tuesday unveiled HomeView, a $299 smart display that competes directly with Amazon’s Echo Show, along with a lineup of cameras, a video doorbell and a smart lock made by LG Electronics. That puts Apple in the core categories of Amazon-owned Ring for the first time.
Apple also announced a new Apple TV 4K and the HomePod mini 2, which will go up against Amazon’s Fire TV and Echo speakers.
Amazon made its own move into Apple’s territory last week, unveiling premium Alexa Tablets, including a Pro model that competes more directly with the iPad.
The new Apple HomeView has a 7-inch screen and comes in a tabletop version with a speaker base and a wall-mounted version. It recognizes up to six household members by their faces and switches to each person’s messages, calendar and apps.
It runs Siri AI, Apple’s rebuilt version of its voice assistant, which the company calls “profoundly more capable and conversational.” Pre-orders started Tuesday, and the device ships Nov. 13.
Amazon’s big lead: About two-thirds of U.S. smart speaker owners have an Amazon device, compared with about a quarter for Google and 7% for Apple, according to the latest data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, covering the 12 months ending in June. Apple’s share has stayed in the mid-single digits for years.
CIRP’s Michael Levin and Josh Lowitz wrote that Apple may go after people who don’t own a smart speaker rather than try to convert Amazon and Google customers. Only 57% of recent Apple buyers have a smart speaker of any kind, the firm found.
The HomeView is aimed at people already using Apple devices. Setup and the personal features require an iPhone or iPad. It won’t be sold in the European Union because Siri AI isn’t available there.
Apple is also hinting that its AI won’t stay free. A footnote in the HomeView announcement says certain Apple Intelligence features that rely on server-side models are subject to daily limits, with expanded access “available for a fee in the future.” Amazon’s Alexa+ is free with Prime or $19.99 a month on its own.
Competition for Ring: The new Apple Home Collection, designed with LG and Schneider Electric, includes a $249.95 LG video doorbell with two cameras, LG indoor, outdoor and floodlight cameras priced from $199.95 to $399.95, and a $349.95 LG deadbolt that unlocks automatically as its owner approaches, using ultra-wideband technology.
The accessories are set for release starting in December, with some arriving in early 2027.
Camera video history requires an iCloud+ storage plan, and Apple says there’s no separate camera subscription. Apple’s retail stores will also offer installation by ADT for an extra charge.
The LG lock was announced a week after Ring unveiled its first smart lock, a $249 deadbolt with no keyhole and a hand-turned dial that revives a dead battery. It’s due in the first quarter of next year. Ring also announced five new cameras priced from $69.99 to $219.99.
The LG lock includes a backup key slot. “If you have to have a key, it’s like, well, why have a smart lock?” Ring founder Jamie Siminoff told GeekWire last week.
Although the feature has been deleted from newer models, there was a time when Amazon’s Echo devices included a 3.5 mm “aux” input jack that let you connect other audio sources to the smart speaker. Alexa would even let you switch over to an external source with a voice command — or at least, it used to.
As first reported by Reddit user [n8-sd], Amazon has started informing users that voice control over the 3.5 mm jack is no longer supported. While the physical input will still function on models equipped with it, if you want to mute the audio coming from an external device you’ll have to wade through the Alexa smartphone application to do it.
In a statement to Ars Technica, an Amazon rep confirmed that voice control over the auxiliary input has been removed as of the latest software version, and that their analytics showed not many people were using the feature in the first place. They also pointed out that no changes have been made to voice control of Bluetooth devices. While we don’t doubt that the total number of users that were physically plugging an audio source into their Echos was probably low in the grand scheme of things, that doesn’t really explain why such a simple feature needed to be actively removed.
Some commenters have theorized that the real reason behind the change is the fact that Amazon has no way of monitoring what users are playing over the auxiliary input. Since cataloging and selling the media consumption habits of users is big business these days, that’s a problem. While they might prefer to disable the feature entirely, they know that would stir up some bad press, so they’re opting to simply make it more annoying to use. We’re not saying we entirely buy this explanation, but it’s not the craziest thing we’ve ever heard either.
The Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro with the $89.99 Pro Pen, which Amazon designed exclusively for the 12 Pro. (Amazon Photo)
After more than a decade of focusing on low-cost devices, Amazon is taking its tablets upmarket and moving them to Android, setting up a more direct challenge to Apple’s iPad.
The company on Thursday unveiled Amazon Alexa Tablets, a new line of aluminum tablets with full access to the Google Play Store. That’s a break from Amazon’s longstanding Fire tablet line, which runs the company’s own Fire OS and relies on the Amazon Appstore for apps.
It’s the biggest change to Amazon’s tablets since Panos Panay — who previously led the Surface hardware line as part of his larger role at Microsoft — moved over to lead Amazon’s devices business in 2023.
The top model, the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, pairs a 12-inch display with a pen and a keyboard that snaps on magnetically, a setup that will look familiar to Surface Pro users.
The Alexa Tablet 12 Pro with the $149.99 Pro Keyboard and $89.99 Pro Pen. (Amazon Photo)
The 12 Pro starts at $499.99, or $549.99 with an anti-glare display Amazon calls Nanomatte. The Pro Keyboard costs $149.99 and the Pro Pen $89.99, so a base Nanomatte model with both accessories comes to nearly $790.
The other two models in the Thursday announcement are the Alexa Tablet 11, which starts at $329.99, and the Alexa Tablet 8, starting at $229.99. All three go on sale Oct. 14 in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Following Amazon’s traditional naming scheme, the numbers refer to approximate screen size, not version.
Alexa and Kindle: Alexa+, the company’s generative AI assistant, is built into all three models. A feature called On-Screen Intelligence lets Alexa read what’s on the screen and act on it, such as pulling the dates from a game schedule into a calendar and flagging conflicts.
Live sessions allow a continuous conversation without repeating the wake word, with the option to share the screen as it changes.
The Amazon Alexa Tablet lineup, from left: the 12 Pro in Graphite, the 11 in Matcha and the 8 in Rosette. (Amazon Photo)
Addressing potential privacy concerns, Amazon says the screen-reading features are off by default and require users to opt in, with a visual indicator whenever Alexa can see the screen.
Opening the Kindle app switches the tablets into a reading mode that silences notifications, reduces blue light and extends battery life to as much as 20 hours, according to a blog post by Kevin Keith, an Amazon vice president. Annotations made in books with the Pro Pen sync to Kindle Scribe.
Farewell, Fire: The new tablets don’t carry the Fire name, and Amazon’s announcement doesn’t mention Fire at all. Asked about the future of the line, an Amazon spokesperson said in an email that Fire tablets will keep working and customers will keep access to their apps and content.
“The Alexa Tablets are a new product line built for what’s next — they don’t change anything about the experience Fire tablet owners have today,” the spokesperson said, adding that Amazon will provide at least four years of support “after the last Fire tablet we sell.”
The move tests a strategy that dates back to the original Kindle Fire. Amazon kept its tablet prices low and counted on owners to buy books, videos, music and apps through its own stores.
“We want to make money when people use our devices, not when they buy our devices,” Jeff Bezos, then Amazon’s CEO, said when the company unveiled the Kindle Fire HD in 2012.
With Google Play on board, Amazon gives up some of that control while charging more for the hardware. The new tablets still put Amazon’s own services up front, including Prime Video, Kindle, Audible and Amazon Music, along with a personalized home screen that surfaces Amazon content.
The lineup puts Amazon in more direct competition with Apple, whose iPad leads the higher-end tablet market, and Samsung, the biggest seller of Android tablets. The 12 Pro will also compete with Microsoft’s Surface Pro, the device that set the template for a tablet with a snap-on keyboard and pen.
Inside the devices: All three tablets use MediaTek processors, according to the company — the Dimensity 8400 in the 12 Pro, and the MediaTek 8189 in the 11 and 8. Amazon says the 12 Pro is nearly three times faster at processing and nine times faster at graphics than any tablet it has shipped. It has up to 16GB of RAM, a 120Hz display and up to 16 hours of video playback.
Amazon worked with Corning on the Nanomatte glass, which uses a photolithography process to etch a texture into the glass aligned with the pixels beneath it. Conventional matte screens are sandblasted, which scatters light unevenly.
Amazon is also releasing Amazon Kids Tablets in 8.7-inch and 11-inch sizes, bundled with a kid-proof case and a year of Amazon Kids+, its subscription service for children’s books, videos and games.
The tablets go on sale Oct. 19 in the U.K., Germany, France, Italy and Spain, and will also be sold at Best Buy and Target.
The new Ring Smart Lock, right, next to one of the company’s video doorbells. (Ring Image)
Ring is moving from the doorbell to the deadbolt.
The Amazon-owned company on Wednesday announced its first smart lock, a $249 deadbolt with no keyhole and a dial that recharges a dead battery by hand.
Jamie Siminoff, Ring’s founder and chief inventor, said the dial solves the problem that has kept smart locks from catching on the way video doorbells have: when the battery dies, the owner can be locked out. That’s why many smart locks still come with a key.
“If you have to have a key, it’s like, well, why have a smart lock?” Siminoff said in an interview before the announcement.
Twisting the dial somewhere around five to 10 times (depending on how far and how fast it’s turned), generates enough power to turn the lock back on. The light turns green when it’s ready, and the owner can then get in with a fingerprint, the keypad or the Ring app.
Other smart locks offer backups such as terminals for a 9-volt battery or a USB-C port. Those don’t help someone standing at the door at 1 a.m. without a battery or a cable, Siminoff pointed out.
The Ring Smart Lock is due to ship in the first quarter of next year. It runs on a standard Ring battery pack that should last about a year, Siminoff said, and none of its features requires a subscription.
It connects through Amazon Sidewalk, a shared network powered by nearby Amazon devices, and works with Alexa for voice commands and connections to other smart home devices.
The landscape: Ring is entering a market that includes established lock makers such as Schlage, Yale and Aqara. Apple is also preparing its own smart home push, which will include a smart deadbolt lock, video doorbell and security cameras developed with LG Electronics and sold under the LG brand, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
Apple plans to introduce its own smart home devices Oct. 13, and the LG products aren’t expected to reach consumers for at least a few more months, according to the report. The LG lock supports ultra-wideband, a technology that lets a door unlock automatically as its owner approaches, Bloomberg reported.
Why Ring waited: Siminoff’s first video doorbell, the Doorbot, went on sale in 2013 in a bundle with a smart lock from another company, he said. Ring has since integrated its products with other companies’ locks.
Ring could have put its name on a lock and sold plenty of them, Siminoff said, but he didn’t think the company belonged in the business until it had something different to offer.
The parts inside the new lock are mostly off the shelf, he said, including the components that generate power. The invention was putting them together, and Siminoff said he’s annoyed with himself for not doing it years ago.
Jamie Siminoff, Ring’s founder and chief inventor. (Ring Photo)
“I literally can’t believe that I just didn’t look at this and just fix the damn thing,” he said.
Siminoff, who returned to lead Ring last year, said he worked out the idea on his own computer at night using Amazon’s AI tools, estimating the number of cranks, the cost and whether the parts would fit before handing it to Ring’s engineers. A few years ago, he said, answering those questions would have taken five to 10 engineers and six months.
Privacy and the front door: The lock arrives after a difficult stretch for Ring on privacy. A Super Bowl ad in February for Search Party, a feature that uses AI to scan footage from neighbors’ outdoor cameras for lost dogs, drew a backlash from critics who asked what would stop the same technology from being used to find people.
Days later, Ring canceled a planned partnership with Flock Safety, the license-plate-recognition company, that would have let police using Flock’s platform request video from Ring users. Ring said at the time that the integration never launched and no customer videos were shared.
Asked what he would say to customers wary of giving Ring control of the door itself, Siminoff pointed to Throw Away the Key Encryption, or TAKE, which Ring started rolling out in September and says will become its default. Ring deletes its copies of the encryption keys, the digital codes needed to view customers’ videos, after using them, leaving the keys on customers’ own devices.
“You do not need to compromise on privacy in order to have security,” he said.
At launch, the lock and Ring’s cameras will work together in limited ways. The lock’s activity will show up in the Ring app alongside the company’s doorbells, cameras and alarms, and an owner who sees a visitor on a doorbell camera can unlock the door from the app.
The lock won’t open on its own when a Ring camera recognizes a face. Siminoff said deeper connections between the lock and the cameras haven’t been built, and Ring wants to take the time to get them right.
The lock has no camera of its own. “I think the lock should be a lock and should stay a lock,” he said.
He was also cautious about Amazon delivery drivers using the lock to leave packages inside. Garage delivery is a growing business for the company, he said, calling the garage “the airlock,” a semi-public space between the outside world and the fully private house.
“I still don’t see a world at scale where people are entering homes without the homeowner there,” he said. “It’s not a technology thing. It’s a human thing.”
Ring will expand to other types of locks and other countries if the deadbolt sells, Siminoff said, and tie the lock more closely to its doorbells. He said he’d take on other parts of the door, even the hinge, if he found a way to improve them.
“I never thought we’d do a lock,” he said. “I really didn’t.”
Login
