Amazon Just Became the Everywhere Store
Alexa is coming for your eyes, ears, hands, and… dog?
--
Amazon spent the first few minutes of a wild product launch event Wednesday making it clear that it has heard users’ privacy concerns, and it’s listening — very closely. It spent the rest of the time introducing a dozen new ways to track, surveil, and yes, listen to people, not only in their kitchens or living rooms but everywhere they go. It can even keep tabs on your dog.
By the end of the event, the privacy features felt like a distant memory.
Two weeks after Apple bored the tech world with its most tepid hardware launch event in memory, Amazon electrified it with a dizzying ensemble of new devices and features. Speaking to the tech press at its Seattle headquarters, the company unveiled:
- Echo Buds ($130 Alexa-powered earbuds)
- Echo Frames ($180 Alexa-powered eyeglass frames)
- Echo Loop (a $130 Alexa-powered finger ring)
- Echo Studio (a $200 high-end smart speaker with 3D Audio)
- Echo Show 8 (a $130 smart display)
- Echo Flex (a tiny, $30 smart speaker that attaches to a wall outlet)
- Echo Glow (a $30 multicolor smart lamp for kids)
- Alexa Smart Oven (a $250 microwave with convection and air frying)
- Ring Indoor Cam (a $60 indoor security camera)
- A new Eero WiFi Router ($100)
- Amazon Sidewalk (a new wireless mesh system for linking connected devices at long range)
- Ring Fetch (a dog tracker that uses the Sidewalk protocol)
Some of these devices, such as the Buds, Frames, and Loop, are brand new. Others, such as the Studio and Show 8, are updates to existing product lines. Sidewalk and Fetch are still in the testing phase. And believe it or not, the above is only a partial list of everything Amazon announced Wednesday — the company also had an assortment of feature updates to its Alexa voice assistant.
The common thread is that Amazon is no longer content to sell you everything from a single online store. It wants to be everywhere and see everything. That should raise the…
