Screenshot by CNET
Today’s event helps Amazon generate buzz as we roll into the holiday shopping season, and for the first time, Prime Day (The annual sale is usually held in July, but this year is slated to start on Oct. 13.) That means Alexa everywhere and addressing privacy concerns, which were a big storyline in 2019 for both Ring and Alexa. In a life-at-home existence, with millions of us hunkered down for the long haul, the connected house concepts that Amazon has been developing for years have become more critical than ever. This year, Amazon will likely work to address the unique needs of today’s customers while keeping an eye toward a post-pandemic future. And you never know when Amazon will pull a suprise microwave out of its hat.
The event, which started at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, is invite-only, but you can follow our real-time Twitter feed and coverage across CNET.
The company’s Echo and Fire TV products will be its first to earn sustainability badges and it’s’ working on reducing power consumption across devices with a new low-power mode, an energy dashboard integrated with Alexa and its pledging to build solar and wind farms to generate energy that matches the consumption of all its devices.
Amazon Luna
$6/month
The company launches a cloud-gaming service on top of Amazon Web Services that runs on PCs, Fire TVs and more (on a Luna Plus game channel).
It has a custom $50 controller that connects directly to the cloud rather than the local device.
Amazon gets into game streaming with Luna
Amazon
Echo
$100
Redesigned with a new spherical shape and adapts to the acoustics of the room. It’s also a Sidewalk bridge and includes neural network technology to accelerate tasks.
Echo Dot 4th gen
$50
Gets the same redesign as the spherical Echo.
Echo Dot Kids Edition 2020
Gets the same redesign as the spherical Echo, and now has a $60 kids edition with some kid-friendly features, including voice profiles for them and Sidekick, which lets Alexa read to them.
Amazon
Amazon announces revamped Echo Dot with Clock speaker
Echo Dot with clock
$60
The Dot. With a clock.
Eero 6
$130
Amazon’s mesh network, now with Wi-Fi 6 and ZigBee support.
Amazon unveils new Eero mesh routers that support Wi-Fi 6
Eero Pro 6
$230
Screenshot by CNET
‘Alexa, I’m getting pulled over,’ Ring debuts dashcam with Traffic Stop mode
Ring Car Connect
$200
Debuting with Tesla.
Ring’s flying Always Home Cam robot camera monitors more of your home
Ring Always Home Cam
$250
Autonomous camera that can fly within your home on a preprogrammed route or fly to a motion detection area.
Amazon announces the Echo Show 10
Echo Show 10
$250
It now has Zigbee and Sidewalk hubs, and is much quieter. There’s a built-in camera shutter. All Echo and Alexa’s will have a command to review privacy settings and “delete everything I’ve ever said.” It will also support Hulu, Netflix and Prime Video.
Fire TV Stick Lite streamer costs $30 basic version, $40 for the 4K version
Fire TV Stick
$40
It’s more powerful than before but uses less power.
Fire TV Stick Lite
$30
Watch this:
Amazon Prime Day 2020: Everything you need to know
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