What is the Amazon Echo Show?
Everything you need to know about the latest piece of smart tech available for your connected home
British consumers can today experience a new level of voice controlled media with the launch of the Amazon Echo Show.
Hot on the heels of Amazon's smart speakers, Echo and Echo Dot (see the latest Black Friday deals on these products), the Show is the first Echo product from Amazon to integrate a screen.
The product promises to bring users all the benefits of the audio-only Echos with the added benefits of video. So now you can ask "Alexa" stuff and then watch content as part of the replies. Examples cited by Amazon include video flash briefings of the news, the ability to make hands-free video calls, video recipes, seeing the lyrics on screen for your favourite songs as well as viewing photos, shopping lists and much more.
Featuring a new 8 microphone system and noise cancellation so the device can hear you even better from every direction, the Show is powered by Dolby and with multi-room music, it's possible to play music across multiple Echo devices simultaneously.
The BBC, the Telegraph and MTV are among the organisations providing video content for briefings on the device for launch, with the expectation that more will follow in the near future.
Users will also be able to use the Show as part of their smart home set-up, allowing voice activated video feeds of cameras around the house - such as by the front door and in the nursery. Partners at launch include Ring, Arlo, Philips Hue, Hive, TP-Link, Netatmo, WeMo, Smart Things, and Tado.
The new Show will also feature Alexa calling and messaging services that promise to allow users to communicate with friends and family both in the home and around the home with ease.
The device will also have access to the many thousands of Alexa skills the audio Echo, with new skills from OpenTable, Just Eat, National Rail, Mercedes, BBC News, The Telegraph, Evening Standard, LBC, MTV, 7Digital, Recipedia, Mail Recipes, Sky Sports Super 6, Liverpool FC, Arlo, Ring, and more—all optimised for the display on the Show.
