Gadgetory

hey everybody welcome to the lowdown I am Robert Rosenfeld and typically what I'm talking about the tech news of the day I'm back at the studio kind of recapping from afar but today's a little bit different I am here in Seattle at Amazon HQ where the company just announced a bunch of new Alexa naval devices and even some new upgrades to the echo line that we currently have there's a lot to unpack today a lot to talk about and a lot to recap so let's get into it let's top tech here's the lowdown so one of the biggest takeaways from today's announcement is that Amazon is really looking to put Alexa into the places that they think you're gonna really use a most specifically a home in the kitchen in the living room and also in the car but let's start with the home first the biggest hardware update we saw today was to the echo show version 2 and this new versions about a 10 inch HD display that Amazon says has two times more screen real estate than on the previous version with that new and improved dual firing speakers that should do a much better job of making sure that room is filled with audio and kind of projected a little bit better than the previous version and it's also going to get some software updates here we're gonna get a browser we're gonna get some integration into streaming services like Hulu and also some streaming support for a new device called the fire TV recast but we'll get to that in a minute we also saw a few small updates come to the echo Plus and the echo dot the plus has got a new and improved audio system in it as well as a built-in temperature monitor so you can ask Alexa what the temperature is in the room and it will respond and react appropriately and also there's a new design to the echo version 3 it's got a new design with fabric around it and also it was a bit bigger than version number 2 as you can see here and Amazon says it's thanks to a bigger speaker that's going to make it 70% louder that new and improved echo show is coming with a starting price tag of 229 the new echo plus is coming in at 149 and the echo dot is remaining the same 50 bucks all shipping soon besides some updates to the existing hardware we're already seeing from Amazon the company also introduced a bunch of different software integrations that allow the Amazon echoes to work with some new announced hardware and also just kind of work together a little bit better so for example echo speakers will soon support stereo mode allowing you to basically split audio into the left and right speaker and it's gonna work nicely with the brand-new $130 echo sub that will give you a little bit more base to your music you're listening to and they'll pair with one or two echo speakers there's also the addition of the echo input to the echo link and the new echo link amp which are all going to work with your existing speakers you already have in your house whether they're wired to the ceiling or just an external system you just plug these devices and with the exception of the echo input they don't have microphones so they're gonna utilize the mics built into the echos you have around your house to basically send commands to these pieces of equipment that are hidden in closets or stowed away to execute commands and play your music through the speakers you already have another big announcement today was with a new piece of hardware called the fire TV recast this is probably the most interesting thing that Amazon announced today let me tell you why so the box essentially connects to a couple of over-the-air antennas and it's not only gonna let you record this video but you can stream that signal to your fire to leave your echo show or an iOS or Android device it's only going to work with over-the-air channels so the amount of channels you get and what's gonna be on those channels is going to be dependent on where you're located and this really isn't a replacement for YouTube TV or any kind of streaming service though it's still a really cool idea utilizing the free over-the-air channels that are already being broadcast in the fire TV recast comes with a starting price tag of 229 bucks and what that's going to get you is a 500 gigabyte drive to store all that media and also two tuners to bring in those channels and allow you to stream them to two different devices at the same time Amazon also talked a lot about the underlying technology in these new devices and how they want to make it way easier and way less frustrating free to add a new device into your smart home ecosystem they talk a lot about basically using the brainpower of a full-fledged echo device like an echo plus or an echo show to do the heavy lifting and bring devices online that are running more scaled-down versions of Alexa like one running in a clock or a microwave and yes Amazon did release both a clock and a microwave today the analog clock has LEDs built-in to basically show off when a timer is going off and yes there is support in there for multiple timers and the microwave can basically cookie your meal through the power of Alexa and voice you tell Alexi oh no microwave a potato for example and it'll cook it for the exact time it needs to cook for both of these will be joining the Amazon basics family with the clock coming in at 30 bucks in the microwave starting at 60 bucks and last but not least Amazon also introduced the brand-new echo Auto basically putting the power of Alexa into your car the echo Auto is pretty simple it's got the same eight mics built into it that are also in the echo show and it's location-aware so knows where you are when you are at a specific place and allows you to run routines like turning off the lights when you leave home without ever having to do anything more than just programming at once it can help you navigate through third-party apps like Google Maps or ways by using the screen on your phone once you trigger it through Alexa the echo Auto is gonna cost $49.99 at launch it's on an invite-only basis right now and starting sooner and starts rolling up to that program it's gonna cost $24.99 so that was just a very quick very abbreviated recap of what Amazon announced today there are way more details to talk about here and we'll have the full coverage over at TechnoBuffalo comm and what do you guys think of all that was announced today are you gonna go buy that new microwave you're looking into that clock or maybe a new echo upgraded device for around your home we have a comment down below and let us know free chance to be featured in the next episode low down I am Robert Rosenthal from TechnoBuffalo I'll see you back here on Tuesday