Amazon Just Became the Everywhere Store

Alexa is coming for your eyes, ears, hands, and… dog?

Amazon vice president Dave Limp gave an early look at the Echo Frames at Amazon’s annual hardware event on September 25, 2019. Photo: Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance/Getty

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)