CNBC’s Todd Haselton is live at Amazon’s product event in Seattle. The company announced new Echo products, the best-selling speaker of all time. It is expected to announce new Alexa-enabled hardware, including audio gear, and perhaps an in-car device and microwave oven.
Executives at Amazon ‘s secret event at its headquarters in Seattle on Thursday announced a new suite of Echo products, further cementing the company’s commitment to the voice assistant space.
The company announced a brand new Echo Dot, its most popular Echo speaker. The Echo Dot is best selling speaker of all-time, according to Amazon senior vice president of devices and services David Lim.
The new product, which will cost $49.99, will be 70 percent louder and have clearer sound. It will have a completely new industrial design, and the fabric face will come in multiple colors. Orders for the new Echo Dot start on Thursday, and it will ship next month to every country Alexa is available.
Amazon also announced a new Echo Plus, which has cleaner sound and better bass. It too will have a fabric design, as well as an internal temperature sensor inside. This new model will build on last year’s smart home hub, and will add lock controls so you can control your home even if your WiFi goes down. It will cost $149, with orders starting Thursday. It will ship later this month.
Echo products are expanding to work with other devices. A new Echo Input will give Alexa-capabilities to existing speakers, microphones and Bluetooth devices. Amazon will sell the product with partners, including Bose, for $34.99. The company also announced the Echo Link Amp and Echo Link, which can couple with higher-end speakers. The Echo Link Amp will be available for $199 later this year, and the Echo Link for $299 early next year.
Echo will also soon be able to handle left and right inputs for stereo sound. To improve the listening experience, Amazon announced an Echo Sub to add additional bass. It will ship this month for $129.99. Pre-orders begin Thursday.
Other new devices include a $25 Alexa smart plug. The device will allow users to plug items directly into it, and it will automatically sync with an existing Echo. A demo of the product allowed Limp to set up a smart lamp in 20 seconds using only voice commands.
Thursday’s announcements also included new abilities for Alexa. It will soon be able to understand when a person is whispering, and will reply in a whisper. The company will also add more podcasts for kids as part of Kids FreeTime for Alexa, as well as more than 1000 Audible audiobooks for children. A new skill called Alexa Hunches allows Alexa to intuitively put routine things a user asks for together. For example, if you tell Alexa «good night,» and the command usually turns off the lights, Alexa will also check other «good night»-related features including seeing if your doors are unlocked. It will then make other recommendations based on its «hunches.»
In addition, Amazon is making it easier to set up devices by allowing users to save all network configurations online through a feature called WiFi simple setup. A new device will boot up, previously recorded settings, and set itself up. The ability to integrate with third-party devices will be added soon.
CNBC reported earlier this week that Amazon is gearing up to launch at least eight new Alexa-powered gadgets by year-end, including a smart microwave, speaker amplifier, a receiver, a sub-woofer and a gadget for cars. We’re expecting at least some of these products to be unveiled Thursday.
