Speech recognition
Echo Show 15
The new Echo Show 15 is a bigger mountable smart home hub that emulates a painting on the wall, rather than a picture frame on your desk. It has a 15.6-inch screen which is like putting a laptop display on your wall. It doubles as a TV, but also sports a new Alexa-based interface that focuses on widgets. Any family member can add events to the built-in calendar or add sticky notes. There’s a smart home widget that shows you footage from Ring cameras or allows you to see the status of your smart home devices. So, if a light is on upstairs, you’ll see it from the screen. You can also now teach Alexa more things. You can teach it that you’re a vegetarian, so if you ask it for recipes, it will know not to serve you up a bunch of meat. The Echo Show 15 will cost $249 when it launches later this year.
Custom sound detection
Hey Disney!
You’ll be able to purchase access to “Hey Disney!” and buy a Mickey-inspired stand for your Echo Show 5. It will be interesting to see if this kind of thing trickles down to other companies.
Ring
Ring has also teamed up with router manufacturer Eero to create the Ring Alarm Pro, a combination security system and mesh network. The devices now help cover your house with surveillance as well as wifi coverage. It allows users to insert microSD cards into the camera to store them locally. The Ring Alarm Pro is available for pre-order today for $249. Lastly, Ring announced a second partnership with Home Depot to create a portable version of its security system specifically for construction sites. It can work off of a cellular network since there won’t necessarily be a wifi connection available on the site.
Ring Virtual Security Guard
Blink Video Doorbell
In addition to the typical Ring doorbells, there’s now a $49 Blink version that runs off of both wired power or battery. The Blink Floodlight Camera costs just $139, too, which is almost $100 cheaper than the pricier Ring versions.
Astro
At a glance, Astro’s primary use seems to be remote communication and surveillance. You can use it for remote care by getting a live feed from its cameras. It has a periscope camera that pops out of its head to let you see things higher up. This ties tightly into the new Alexa Together platform, which is specifically designed to let people monitor aging parents for which they care. Astro will cost $999. You can sign up today for the invite-only purchasing program. It will start shipping later this year.
