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Amazon announced five new smart home devices and the Alexa Home Map feature on Wednesday, expanding its Alexa-powered lineup across sleep tracking, home displays, photo sharing, audio and smart-home control. Some devices are available now, while the Echo Show 16 is available for preorder and is expected to ship later this year; rollout details for Home Map remain limited.
Amazon announced five new smart home devices and a new Alexa feature on Wednesday, adding products for sleep tracking, family organization, photo display, home monitoring and connected-device control. Some devices are available now, while the Echo Show 16 is on preorder for shipment later this year; Amazon has not specified when Alexa Home Map will roll out.
The lineup includes Echo Time, a camera-free Alexa Plus alarm clock with sleep-tracking sensors and optional alarms designed to wake users during light sleep. It is available for $200; its adjustable stand costs $40 separately. The Amazon Kids Echo Time, which includes a year of Kids Plus and parental controls through the Parent Dashboard, starts at $210.
The new Echo Show 16 has a 16-inch high-definition screen, Fire TV and a 13-megapixel wide-angle camera with night vision. Amazon says it offers 10% more viewing area and a frame about 40% thinner than the Echo Show 15. It costs $500, or $570 for the anti-glare Nanomatte version, with stands sold separately. Preorders are open, and Amazon says it will ship later this year.
Amazon also introduced the Alexa Photo Frame, a 10-inch touchscreen that syncs photos from Amazon Photos and starts at $200, including 90 days of Alexa Plus. The Echo Studio with Home Camera costs $250 and combines a speaker with a camera and Live View; the standard Echo Studio remains available for $220. The sixth-generation Echo Dot costs $100 and adds a built-in smart-home hub, according to Amazon, a feature also relevant to smart-home infrastructure. Its Kids version starts at $110 and includes a year of Kids Plus. The fifth announcement is Alexa Home Map, an interactive 3D map feature for compatible apps, Echo and Alexa devices, and Fire TVs.
More Alexa Devices, More Home Data
The announcement extends Amazon’s smart-home range beyond speakers and screens, bringing sleep sensing, household routines and home monitoring into separate products. For customers already using Alexa, the Dot’s built-in hub could reduce the need for a separate hub to control compatible devices, while the Show 16 adds a larger shared screen for schedules, media and smart-home controls.
Some features also rely on subscriptions or Amazon’s services. Alexa Plus is required for certain functions and is included with Prime, which Amazon lists at $15 per month or $139 per year. The Kids devices use Kids Plus, and the Photo Frame is tied to Amazon Photos. The extent to which these products work without subscriptions or outside Amazon’s ecosystem is not detailed in the supplied announcement.
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A Broader Alexa Product Lineup
The announcements follow Apple’s unveiling of its HomeView smart display and HomePod Mini 2 about two weeks earlier, according to the CNET report. Amazon’s response spans more categories than speakers and displays alone, including an alarm clock built around sleep features and a dedicated photo frame.
Amazon describes Echo Time’s sensors as using Omnisense technology to monitor room temperature, presence, proximity and breathing. The company also says the device received the National Sleep Foundation’s SleepMark, an award for products that meet evidence-based sleep standards. These are product details and claims reported by CNET; the source material does not provide independent test results for the sleep features.
“Echo Time’s optional smart alarms can detect when a user is in light sleep and wake them within 10 to 60 minutes of the scheduled alarm.”
— Amazon, as reported by CNET
Rollout and Feature Limits
Alexa Home Map has no stated rollout date in the source material, and Amazon’s description does not specify which compatible apps or device models will support it at launch. The details of how its 3D map is created, what information it stores and how users manage that data are also not given.
The Echo Studio’s planned ability to pair with a Home Camera and Fire TV for video calls on a larger screen is described as a future capability, but Amazon has not announced a date. The source also does not detail regional availability, all subscription requirements by feature, or how Echo Time’s sleep readings compare with clinical or other independent measurements.
Preorders and Feature Rollouts
Customers can order the Echo Studio with Home Camera, Echo Time, Echo Dot and the Alexa Photo Frame now, according to the report. The Echo Show 16 is available for preorder and is expected to ship later this year. Amazon has not provided a timing schedule for Alexa Home Map or the larger-screen video-call integration, so those release dates remain pending.
As products reach users, more information should emerge about availability by market, compatibility with existing smart-home equipment and which functions require Alexa Plus or Kids Plus. The announcement does not provide a separate launch timetable for each Home Map-compatible device or service.
Key Questions
What did Amazon announce?
Amazon announced five smart home devices—Echo Time, Amazon Kids Echo Time, Echo Show 16, Alexa Photo Frame, Echo Studio with Home Camera and the sixth-generation Echo Dot, including Kids versions where offered—and the Alexa Home Map feature. The source groups the products as five new device announcements, with some family variants listed separately.
Which new Amazon devices are available now?
The report says Echo Time, Echo Studio with Home Camera, Echo Dot and Alexa Photo Frame are available now. The Echo Show 16 is available for preorder and is expected to ship later this year.
How much does the Echo Show 16 cost?
The standard Echo Show 16 costs $500. The anti-glare Nanomatte model costs $570. The standard stand is $70 and the flexible swivel-and-tilt stand is $125; both are sold separately.
When will Alexa Home Map launch?
Amazon has not announced a launch date in the source material. The feature is described as coming to compatible apps, Echo and Alexa devices, and Fire TVs.
Do the new devices require a subscription?
Some functions require Alexa Plus, which Amazon says is included with Prime. The Kids devices use Kids Plus; the Kids Echo Time and Kids Echo Dot include a one-year subscription. The announcement does not list every feature that requires a subscription.
Source: cnet.com
