Tomorrow, Amazon will host its annual devices and facilities event, where it will unveil the newest Alexa-enabled devices, as well as new features for its voice assistant. Traditionally, this has meant new Echo speakers as well as Amazon-owned devices. And from time to time, Amazon will advertise something strange, like a drone with a flying indoor security camera or a robot patrolling your home.
The event will take place on September 20; Initially, it won’t be at Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle, but at its headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. And it looks like this will be Amazon’s last event led by Dave Limp, who has run Amazon’s Alexa department for years; Limp is retiring and will be repositioned through Microsoft’s Panos Panay, according to Bloomberg.
Tom’s Guide will be on the track to cover the event, but ahead of time, we’ll make some educated guesses about what we might see at the event.
This year’s Amazon Devices and Services event will begin at 11 a. m. ET on September 20. In previous years, it started an hour later, but that was because the event took place on the West Coast, at Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle. This year, the event will be held on the East Coast, so attendees may not have to get up as early.
The occasion itself lasts about an hour.
Unlike many of its competitors who stream their Array events, Amazon’s event is by invitation only. However, Tom’s Guide will be blogging about the event, so stay tuned for our coverage.
Unlike an Apple event, where the company will announce a handful of products, Amazon will show off more than a dozen devices, all presented in a tight presentation.
At last year’s Amazon event, the retail giant announced the Kindle Scribe, Halo Rise, Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED, new Blink and Ring security cameras, new web capabilities from Eero, an updated Echo Auto, updates for the Echo Dot and Echo Dot with Clock, a new Fire TV Cube, and a major update for the Amazon Echo Show 15.
This year could be a bit more subdued, as Amazon laid off about 2,000 more people from its devices and facilities department earlier this year. That’s the company’s percentage between its smart speakers and Alexa. And the company quite aggressively reduced devices and installations that were not working, such as Amazon Halo, Amazon Glow, and Amazon Drive.
Regardless of what we see, we expect most, if not all, products to be available on shelves, if not at the Amazon Early Access (aka Prime Day 2) sale, in October, and then before Black Friday. Regardless of what you announce, expect a big holiday shopping season: The company plans to hire up to 250,000 seasonal employees in the coming months.
Based on what we know from events beyond, as well as our wisdom on Amazon’s lineup, here’s what we expect to see this year.
Recently, Amazon has updated its flagship smart speakers every two years; Last year it updated the Echo Dot and Echo Dot with clock, so this time we expect the larger Amazon Echo to be up to date, as it has existed since 2020.
We think audio quality can improve slightly, but since it already has an Eero repeater built in and can serve as a Matter hub, we don’t know what other innovations Amazon might add. One thing we’d like to see is an Amazon Eco with clock, as the Echo Dot with clock is one of our favorite smart speakers.
Amazon hasn’t updated its streaming keys since 2021: Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Stick Lite, and Fire TV Stick are at least two years old, and the Fire TV Stick 4K Max appears to have been discontinued. so it’s a safe bet that Amazon will launch at least one new style this year. It’s also imaginable that we’ll see a new TV with Fire TV built in, like one of its flagship Omni TVs.
Another slightly old Amazon product, the existing Echo Show 8, launched in 2021, as did the Echo Show 10 and Echo Show 15. Although it is Matter, it is not the Eero mesh network. However, it will be a fairly small update.
Amazon just updated its smaller display, the Echo Show 5, so we’re expecting something new on that front.
Earlier this year, Amazon introduced the $49 Amazon Echo Buds, but it’s been two years since the company updated its Echo Buds 2, an active-noise-canceling headphone. These headphones cost just $120 at launch, far less than the maximum for most. Productive wireless headphones, but they offer a strangely clever ANC. If Amazon releases a new version, we expect that this time the battery life will be better.
While there have been many advances around AI, Amazon, Apple, and Google have not touted or implemented new AI models in their voice assistants. If Amazon did this with Alexa, it would be a primary replacement for the company. However, given that the use of voice assistants has stagnated (use them at most only to turn on smart home devices, listen to music, set timers, and check the weather), there probably wouldn’t be much appetite for devoting more resources to Alexa.
In addition to Ring and Blink, Amazon also has Eero, which is one of the most productive mesh routers. However, the last router introduced by the company was the Eero Pro 6e, released in 2022. Given that we’re starting to see the emergence of Wi-Fi 7 routers, it wouldn’t be out of place for Amazon to announce a similar device.
It doesn’t happen often, but Amazon features very random products and not all of them are marketed. In 2019, it was an Alexa-enabled microwave; In 2021, Ring Always Home Cam appeared, an indoor flying drone that responded to the sound of damaged glass or any other occasion in your home and then zoomed in to see what it was all about.
Amazon also brought Amazon Astro, a small robot that patrols your home and has a periscope-like camera that rises a few meters from its top. The Astro has a tablet with a giant front display, so it can also be used for video calls. Always Home Cam and Astro are components of Amazon’s Day 1 Edition program; You can only get the products by invitation.
This is just a glimpse of what we think we’ll see at Amazon’s event; Chances are, there’s also a new Kindle tablet, a Fire tablet, or anything else from Ring or Blink. We’ll know a lot more in a few days, so stay tuned to our live blog of the event. .
Michael A. Prospero is the American editor of Tom’s Guide. Monitor all current content and monitor the Site’s Homes, Smart Home, and Fitness/Wearables categories. In his spare time, he also tests the newest drones, electric scooters, and smart home devices. , such as video doorbells. Prior to Tom’s Guide, he was a critical editor for Laptop Magazine, a reporter for Fast Company, The Times of Trenton and, many eternities ago, an intern at George Magazine. He earned his undergraduate degree at Boston College, where he worked for the campus newspaper The Heights, and then attended Columbia University’s journalism school. When you’re not trying out the newest running watch, electric scooter, skiing, or marathon education, it’s probably the newest vacuum machine. smoker or pizza oven, to the delight or displeasure of your family.
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