Amazon's two years of additional sales time has given it a huge edge on the number of available Skills and smart home partnerships: It greatly outpaces Google in both of those areas.
If you're curious about the Internet of Things, the Amazon Echo affects you. Smart homes and smart offices need a main device that operates the thermostat, turns on the lights, streams video to the TV, controls the washing machine The Amazon Echo isn't just a smart home hub—it's also a digital assistant designed to do a lot of the same things as Siri , Google Assistant , Cortana , and similar technology.
It can set timers, add items to a shopping list, get movie reviews, book restaurant reservations, and do a lot of the stuff you used to have to find your smartphone for. Whether you want an Amazon Echo to set the thermostat, lock the doors, shut the blinds, or just keep a shopping list, the device can do it both at home and on the go with its mobile offerings. Amazon Echo units are hardware products, but they're inseparable from Alexa, Amazon's digital assistant. When you start using an Echo in the office or home, you're getting Alexa along with it, and Amazon knows it.
Amazon launched in Alexa for Business , which gives myriad tools to businesses that want to integrate Alexa, and Echo products, into the office. In September Amazon announced Alexa for Residential , a new program that allows property owners to not only wire Echo-enabled smart home features right into rental properties, but also to build smart skills for rental houses and apartments that let tenants put service requests in with a simple voice command.
The original Amazon Echo was released to the public in June The Dot joined it in March , and the Tap came to market in September New Skills and IoT partnerships are released fairly regularly, and large announcements can be expected at most major trade shows like CES, which Amazon Alexa dominated in Amazon revamped the Echo line with a new version of the Echo in September , along with these new products: The smart home-centered Echo Plus, the tiny Echo Spot no longer available , and the Echo Connect, which allows you to connect Alexa to a telephone landline.
In September , Amazon made another round of changes to the Echo product line, introducing new versions of products including the Echo Dot and Echo Show, as well as releasing a number of new Alexa-powered items. Along with updated versions of the Echo smart speakers covered in the tech specs section of this cheat sheet, Amazon released the following new Echo products.
Instead, it's designed to be connected to any standard speaker to turn it into an Alexa-powered smart speaker. Echo Sub : While not a standalone Echo unit, the Sub pairs with one or two Echoes to create a better sound system. It's a six-inch down-firing subwoofer that sounds like it will pack a punch, and vastly improve listening quality if your Echo serves as a home stereo system.
Echo units automatically detect them when they're on the same Wi-Fi network, and lets you specify what the Smart Plug is powering. You can then turn that old-fashioned electronic into a smart product that responds to Alexa commands. Toss popcorn in it, say "Alexa, microwave some popcorn," and it will get it done without you having to push a single button. Echo Auto : Ever wanted to ask Alexa something in the car only to realize it wasn't there with you?
The Echo Auto aims to eliminate that problem. The small dash-mounted device connects to a smartphone and piggybacks off its data connection to provide full Echo-like capabilities while on the road. Echo Studio : This new premium Echo model is designed to compete with high-end audio products like the Sonos One smart speaker.
Echo Flex : This small device plugs directly into an outlet to act as an Echo device, USB wall charger, and night light all in one. Echo Frames : Amazon's new smart glasses, these fashionable frames are less Google Glass and more a pair of glasses-mounted smart headphones. Echo Loop : This smart ring has a clickable button that can be used to call Alexa and make phone calls to one pre-programmed contact. It also has a tiny speaker built in that you can hear by putting the ring close to your ear.
In , Amazon updated the Echo line by introducing a new design for the standard Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Kids Edition, transforming it into a sphere instead of the cylindrical Echo or puck-like Dot. Amazon also launched a new version of the Echo Show, making it the company's first motorized display that turns to face the user by using the AZ1 Neural Edge processor to look for human shapes.
Along with new Echo units, Amazon also released the following Echo-compatible products in September There are a number of third-party smart speakers that aren't manufactured by Amazon but partner with them so that they can use Alexa. I'm not including them here since they aren't direct competitors. Amazon Echo's main competitor is Google Home. The hardware specs for the Google Home are similar to the Echo, and functionality of the device is very similar as well.
The biggest difference between the Echo and Google Home may be both product's suitability for business use. Amazon might have an advantage when it comes to hardware integrations and market share, but Google's ecosystem is much larger, offers a wider range of products suitable for business, and has more room to grow. It's important to remember that Amazon is an online marketplace, and Echo will always serve that purpose.
Google, on the other hand, is in the information business, which may give it an edge as the battle for smart home and digital assistant supremacy continues. It's also worth mentioning the Apple HomePod , Apple's Siri-powered entry into the smart speaker market. If your interest in smart speakers is primarily driven by their business applications, the HomePod may not be the best investment--while it does have some business uses, it is primarily designed for home use.
All of the Echo devices are available on Amazon and at major electronics retailers. Once you purchase an Echo, it's simple to get it going—just install the app, turn on the Echo, and follow the onscreen instructions. Connection errors are infrequent and, as long as you don't move the Echo outside of Wi-Fi range, you shouldn't need to deal with any problems.
Anyone can request an invite, but Amazon said only a limited number of devices are available and not all requests will be approved. Be sure to check the links to those products in this guide to see the latest availability status. Stay informed about smart cities tech, which includes innovations in IoT, 5G, security, data analytics, mobile apps, and more.
Editor's note: This has been updated to add the newest information and products. Brandon writes about apps and software for TechRepublic. The new spherical Amazon Echo was announced Sept. More about Innovation Seeing is believing: AR and VR bring the future of space exploration to life in 3D Gartner: 3 themes to watch in emerging technologies Expert: Now is the time to prepare for the quantum computing revolution NFTs cheat sheet: Everything you need to know about non-fungible tokens free PDF.
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What Is the Amazon Echo? Plus and More There are a handful of different Echo models that you can choose from.
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