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Amazon Just Announced the Touchscreen Echo Nobody Asked For (gizmodo.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Amazon just announced a new grandmaster Echo gadget with the company's voice-assistant technology built in. It's called the Echo Show. It's got a touchscreen. It's got wi-fi and Bluetooth. It costs $230. And it's even creepier than its siblings. At its core, the Echo Show is just a regular Echo with a 7-inch screen. That screen lets you watch YouTube videos and see the weather forecast after you've asked for it. The new gadget also lets you make calls, video calls, and send text messages to other people using Echos or to mobile devices with the Alexa app installed. Thanks to Alexa integration with gadgets from Arlo and Ring, you can also see what your nanny cam sees. But check this out: the Echo Show also has a 5-megapixel, front-facing camera. So now, instead of your Echo just listening to your commands, it can watch you as well. The Echo Show joins the screen-free Echo Look as the second Amazon Echo device to feature a camera. On a sidenote, Amazon said it will bring the voice-calling ability to all other Echo devices.
This could be a boon to the economy! How many streaming web cams could Amazon Video host? Read your EULA carefully because participation might not be optional.
When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras
I asked for a pony and a flying car too...
We need a TV sized Echo with display so we can call it Telescreen.
Everyone needs one, at least all party members.
Wow. It can almost do what a smartphone can.
"Posting an article that nobody asked for" title would be a silly header same with this news article. I don't need a news article to hype or give me their narrow mind opinion, just give me the facts
https://www.cnet.com/news/amazon-echo-show-alexa-is-a-giant-phone-for-your-kitchen-counter/
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/05/amazon-echo-show-price-specs-release-date/
https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/09/amazon-unveils-the-230-echo-show-with-a-screen-for-calls-shipping-june-28/
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39853718
Amazon should just be making theses things free and REQUIRED with your amazon prime account.
Obama's legacy: (N)othing (S)ecure (A)nywhere and (T)error (S)imulation (A)dministration
Most people want to give the finger to the Echo, not finger a touchscreen on the Echo.
It's funny, Back as far as the 1960s we saw previews for video phones, but reaction has almost always been flat. Initially it certainly would have been expensive, but had video phones become popular the sheer economy of scale probably would have brought prices down.
The only time I've seen video phones regularly used has been in the workplace, and basically as a test/pilot. Instead of conventional VOIP voice-only phones, a few employees were provided with models that could also do video. Even with this capability though, it's pretty rare that video conveys any additional useful information compared to just audio. Both callers are acquainted with the other so it's not like it's some kind of get-to-know-you exercise, and often the brief phone call is there to clarify something that was discussed by e-mail, where it's simpler to have the back-and-forth exchange to quickly clarify the matter.
The home might actually be a better medium for video chat, especially for loved-ones that are long-distance to each other and rarely get to see each other, but in the home the use of the video call requires the parties to maintain the level of decency that they feel is appropriate for being seen, while audio-only doesn't have that restriction. That's before even considering the privacy issues.
We've had laptops with the capability for a decade, we've had broadband market penetration for fifteen years, but apparently people don't want to appear on-camera to other people or else they want control more than the vendors are willing to provide.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
I suspect the people who think it's a great idea to have an always-on microphone in their house will not suddenly start objecting just because a camera is added to the device.
#DeleteChrome
This is a feature request for Jeff Bezos. It's what he wanted in his own house. Sometimes Amazon builds stuff specifically for him and tries to turn it into a product. Another example is that the keyboard on the first few generations of Kindle were there specifically at his request.
My 12 year old son thinks talking computers are the bomb. He always asks if we can get an Echo or a Google Home whenever he sees the commercials. If he gets ahold of an iPhone, he will go to town asking Siri questions. It's his default method of looking things up.
(No, he doesn't have his own phone, and no I don't encourage and actively discourage it so much my wife thinks I'm an asshole about it).
I always explain that these things are always listening and it's like having a stranger in our house listening to everything we say. Totally not OK.
But I think their real goal isn't adults who were raised reading 1984 in school. It's kids, who think that talking to corporate electronic systems is normal and have no sense of electronic privacy.
Thank you for linking some other sources here as I certainly prefer to get my journalism from less tarnished or bought-and-paid-for sources.
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
My phone can already do this, so can my tablet, and I can bring them in any room I want. The only people who would need this is people who don't have a phone and spend every moment using this service in a single room.
What exactly is the point of spending $200+ for that?
...but look at it now.
Alexa look at my cock.
Why can't companies/projects stick to what they were initially created for? C'mon, Amazon. First it was the Kindle (great product), then you just *had* to turn it into a full featured tablet. Now this?
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
.... and yet here we are. With bit of a lower price point, I see this having great potential.
If you watch the video for this on the Amazon site, it is being aimed directly at parents and grandparents. Imagine three of these being sold each time someone has their first kid. The parents will get one so they can check the feed from the monitor in the kid's bedroom and each set of grandparents will get one so they can see and talk to their new grandchild.
And as of today, Amazon is also adding the ability for existing Alexa devices to call each other. This will be a boon to those of us who have elderly parents. Instead of paying a monthly fee to some third party monitoring company, we'll be able to order Alexa devices and put them in each room in our parent's home. That way, they can easily contact us in case of a medical emergency ("I've fallen and I can't get up.") I'm going to get a six pack of the Dots for my Mom for Mother's Day. Hopefully she never needs to use them, but for a one-time cost of US$250, the peace of mind will be worth the relatively minor expense.
Nobody asked for the screen-less Echo either, so it's business as usual for Amazon.
P.S.: E-ink has amazing new color displays! We want a color e-paper Kindle already!
#DeleteFacebook
They're going nuts the same way Microsoft went nuts. Microsoft realised they were way behind Google in the data collection game and made a huge grab with Windows 10. Now Amazon is doing the same thing with this crap.
Sony Dash failed. Funnily enough it terminates in July 2017. Chumby never took off. Amazon sells a $49 tablet but they think a $230 device is a good idea? Vidcam was a smart idea about 20 years ago, not sure it's needed now. I'm not entirely opposed to the device, but even $199 would seem alot, you could just get a $200 Chormebook. Maybe this is just an early adopter tax and it will be $149 this holiday? I can imagine this selling over the holiday for $149 for gifts even if people didn't know why they were buying it besides "just b/c it's new tech at $149." But I don't see it taking off. OTOH, maybe it sells better than normal Echo so they ditch that and this becomes ubiquitous? Well once it hits $149 anyway.
It just fits with Slashdot's history of technology predictions.
iPod: The MP3 player nobody asked for.
iPhone: The phone nobody asked for.
Amazon AWS: The server service nobody asked for.
Amazon Echo: The device nobody asked for.
Tesla: The electric car nobody asked for.
that nobody asked for
Actually, the CIA asked.
Proud neuron in the Slashdot hivemind since 2002.
Reduce the probability of a drop.. slap on a GadgetGrip Max!
Have you fscked your local propeller head today?
Yeah, people don't want this, they want a faster horse. Who's the moron that came up with this automobile thing? It's totally stupid.
..... it's got electrolytes
New Coke, Zune, Facebook phone, Fire phone, Twitter Peak, Nexus Q, Echo Touch.
Your sig here!
I am actually a pretty big fan of this. My family will enjoy them. Will have to see if first generation lives up to expectations... but I can put this in the kids playroom and they can tell it what music to play all day (they currently do with the echo).
Justin
Why is google lagging behind here? If google has a touch/tap/voice activated assistant that was as good as amazon echo, on the phone, we wouldn't be having this discussion. You don't need to have a permanently listening/seeing device, you can activate it with just a push of a button on the device that you have handy anyway.
On the other side, Amazon echo can easily build the wakeup word detection and the rule engine right into the device without the need to go to the cloud every time. Most of the echo owner I know mostly use it for few canned request/responses. It can go to the web when it needs to go.
No one asked for the iPhone either. I don't assume this will be a successful device at all, but as the saying goes: If Henry Ford asked what people wanted they would have said faster horses.
That has got to be one of the luddite article in years. The author has to be someone who is completely tech ignorant.
They talk about how it cannot work as a baby monitor and then not allow someone to eavesdrop. Really simple with roles. Then it goes one on other claims which are not based on any provided information but the non-technical author cannot understand how some technology would implement it.
Seriously, this needs to be on an incline so that they camera is looking at the ceiling and top part of a wall.
But, I hope that Google is smart enough to create a clone in which the camera and display are separate.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Well, nobody asked for Amazon Prime, either.
Jeff Bezos: Nobody asked for one of our most popular services
Kriston
Or more like Dick Tracy's intercom.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
A listening device with a screen. GENIUS!
Did you see the video commercial? MY GOD, I have never seen such a bad thing. American marketing plain sucks. It looks like 1980 commercials.