A new Amazon Echo is rumoured to have a built-in touchscreen

Amazon Echo speakers so far don’t come with speakers, but that might change. A new leaked image showing up online shows a bigger device sporting a display. This new Echo is reportedly codenamed “Knight.” If it is a new device, it’ll be like an Alexa-enabled Fire tablet with a speaker. This feature could improve the capabilities of Amazon’s Echo line and its Alexa assistant. Evan Blass (@evleaks) showed off images of the rumoured device and it comes in black (as seen above) and white. The tech company hasn’t commented yet about this rumoured device but we might hear more about it soon enough.

Source: CNET

Mercedes-Benz vehicles get Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa support

Those in the US that have a 2016 or 2017 Mercedes-Benz are getting new functionalities for its car. Mercedes-Benz is bringing support for Google Assistant via Google Home speaker and Amazon Alexa via Amazon Echo line of speakers. As the video demo shows above, you can have these smart assistants do things such as start the car, turn off any appliances left on when you leave the house, and help with navigation. The feature also brings the ability to remotely lock the car.

Aside from having the smart speakers at home, you’ll need to have an active “Mercedes me” account as well as an active Mbrace subscription that costs around US$280 per year. According to the car maker, it plans to bring Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa support to Europe later this year.

Source: Android Authority

Amazon Web Services to provide developers with free credit for storage and computing for Alexa skills

A new program from Amazon might encourage developers to keep building and working on Alexa skills. Amazon Web Services is offering US$100 promotional credit as well as another additional US$100 per month to help pay for extra cloud computing and storage costs third-party developers might incur when their Alexa skills exceed the limits of the existing AWS Free Tier. By taking extra cost out of the way, this benefits Amazon’s own Echo smart speakers that are powered by Alexa, among other Alexa-powered devices. Skills are the system’s version of apps and by having more developers work on those, it gives more options and capabilities to users, which in turn can entice more people to use Amazon Echo products over its competitors.

Source: Geekwire

Amazon rumoured to be developing Echo version with touchscreen display

In an attempt to supposedly keep at bay Google Home and Apple’s rumoured entry into the smart home speaker market, Amazon is reportedly working on a new “premium” version of the Echo speaker that has a 7-inch touchscreen display. Veering away from the cylindrical look of the Echo speakers, this rumoured device will be larger and “tilt upwards” so the screen can be read when sitting on a desk or kitchen counter. The exact design hasn’t been specified yet. But it’ll supposedly respond mostly to Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant and run on an optimized version of Amazon’s Fire OS. Adding a display is said to make it easier to access content. Audio quality will also supposedly be improved with this version. There is no confirmation yet about this plan but we’re keeping our eyes open for it.

Source: MacRumors