Amazon outs new Echo models

Amazon continues to buckle down on its Echo line and adds four new options for consumers to choose from. The first one is a new take to the original Amazon Echo. This time, it takes the fight to Google Home with swappable cloth or other shells that can wrap around the metal body of the Echo. It’s said to offer better sound with Dolby Audio support. It also has a dedicated bass tweeter and can handle audio playback across multiple rooms, putting it up against Sonos. It retails for US$99 (approx. CA$125).

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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