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Amazon Launches New $99 Echo Speaker With Better Sound and $149 Echo Plus Smart Home Hub

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At an event in Seattle this morning, Amazon unveiled its next-generation Amazon Echo speaker, which features a new smaller design and better sound than the original Echo to compete with products like Apple's upcoming HomePod.

Apple focused heavily on sound quality as a way to differentiate the HomePod from existing smart speakers like the Google Home and the Amazon Echo, with a 7 tweeter array, a 4-inch upward-facing woofer, and an A8 processor capable of advanced acoustic modeling and spatial awareness. Shortly after the HomePod was unveiled, rumors of a higher-end Echo surfaced.

amazonechoeventtechcrunch-800x538.jpg
Amazon's new Echo, image via TechCrunch​

Amazon's new Echo supports Dolby Audio and it has a dedicated woofer and tweeter, features Amazon says bring better sound. It also includes second-generation voice recognition capabilities, second-generation far-field microphone technology, and support for multi-room audio so several Echo devices can be used together.

The Echo is made from metal and is wrapped in a fabric shell, which can be swapped out with other shells for customization much like the Google Home. Amazon is offering six shells for the Echo.

Amazon plans to charge $99 for the new Echo, making it much more affordable than the HomePod, which will be priced at $349 when it launches in December. Pre-orders for the new Echo are available today.

There's also a new Echo Plus, with built-in Zigbee functionality for smart home hub functionality and all of the same improvements in the new Echo model. It's designed to work with a wide range of smart home products right out of the box, with over 100 partners signed up. Echo Plus is similar in design to the original Echo, while the new $99 Echo is smaller and shorter. Amazon is charging $149 for the Echo Plus, and it comes with a free Philips Hue bulb.

Echo Buttons, also new, are priced at $20 and are designed to allow Echo owners to play trivia games with the Echo, and the Echo Spot is a new Echo device that features a 2.5-inch circular display. It's a cross between an Echo and a smart alarm clock with a price tag of $130.

Along with the new Echo models, Amazon announced the $35 Echo Connect, a device that's designed to plug into a phone jack on one side and an Echo on the other, allowing the Echo to be used as a telephone able to accept calls from a person's standard home phone number. The Echo Connect is also available for pre-order today. Amazon Echo speakers are also gaining call functionality that will let them make phone calls to any number.

Article Link: Amazon Launches New $99 Echo Speaker With Better Sound and $149 Echo Plus Smart Home Hub
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/09/27/amazon-new-echo-speaker-better-sound/
Have not heard the HomePod yet, but I am not sure how a single woofer and tweeter can duplicate the sound field that Apple supposedly can produce. Granted I am still skeptical of Apple’s abilities, but I have been in rooms at sound labs where companies created impressive sound fields from a single device in a small location. If done properly, reflecting off of walls and such (as Apple claims they can do), can sound impressive. In the case of the demo, aim and timing was key for a good sound field.

Is it room filling concert sound? No, but, still sounded better than a single directed driver.
 
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cmwade77 said:
Laughing at the Echo connect, who still has a home phone these days? I know there are some, but really, it is very few people.
Click to expand...

Actually, I do. I work from home 95% of the time, so having a land-land (VoIP) provides more consistent sound quality plus I can use better equipment for talking. For me, having something like the Echo-Connect is a great idea!

In addition, many of us have older parents. I'll put one or two of these at my mothers house and cheerfully pay for a land-line just so I can call and she can answer without having to do anything but say "Alexa... answer". That's a HUGE safety and security feature.
 
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OldSchoolMacGuy said:
Meh. For $99 you it may have better sound than their previous speakers but it's not going to be on the level of the HomePod.

I wouldn't even go as far as to call it direct competition. Then intentions of the two devices are much different.
Click to expand...

I think the Amazon echo is primarily more of a smart speaker/assistant, as where the HomePod will be similar, but really trying to deliver a home audio experience that delivers immersive sound for music.
 
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Echo Connect? Really betting on landlines taking over again, eh? Amazon is trying to find a product that no one wants... are they laundering mob money over there or something?

"Introducing the new Echo Connect, now with real-time rotary dialing and vinyl 45 playback!"
 
OldSchoolMacGuy said:
Meh. For $99 you it may have better sound than their previous speakers but it's not going to be on the level of the HomePod.

I wouldn't even go as far as to call it direct competition. Then intentions of the two devices are much different.
Click to expand...

So you're telling us that something you haven't heard sounds better than something else you haven't heard.

That's some real valuable insight right there.
 
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Amazon is taking a different approach however - integration with Sonos. I have a nice setup throughout my house of various Sonos speakers. Alexa will integrate with Sonos soon. Most likely the announcement will be on October 4. As much as I love Apple products, nothing comes close to Sonos. I'm hoping Homepod or Siri in general with integrate with Sonos, but Amazon is already one step ahead.
 
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Whether this matches the quality of sound or not is TBD (need Homepods in the wild for any objective head-to-head eval).

IMO, the bigger question is this: which is easier:
A) put a better speaker in an Echo? or
B) make Siri better than Alexa for these kinds of purposes in HomePod?
That- to me anyway- is the biggest question about HomePod.

Apple spinning "better quality speaker" instead of maybe "smartest assistant" or some other proprietary software hook does not lay down some great hurdle for anyone like Amazon to overcome. If this speaker is:
  • not as good, how hard is it for Amazon to roll out an Echo 3 with a speaker as good and still beat the price?
  • as good, $99 vs. $349 is a massive gap... and how about Alexa vs. Siri?
  • better than HomePods, Apple needs to roll out something still in the bush to better justify the price gap.
No attack on Apple with that- just pointing out that it seems pretty unusual for Apple to make the bulk of it's price justification spin on something as easily remedied as swapping out a speaker. Usually Apple's pricing is wound into proprietary software, not commoditized hardware.

Hopefully, some real Apple magic in Homepods is still to be revealed.
 
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Hey MacRumors, can you dig deeper into some HomePod stories? Not heard much besides the leaked firmware for quite some time :D
 
ArneK said:
Well looking how 'great' Siri works on all the Apple devices it seems like Apple is building a really expensive speaker with a ****** voice assistant. Alexa is just so so much better.
Click to expand...
Every device you've used Siri on so far has had a single very tiny microphone. The HomePod has a whole bunch of larger microphones, carefully arranged to listen to anywhere in the room (the Amazon and Google speaker/assistants also have multiple microphones). Siri will hear much more clearly on the HomePod, getting rid of one of her two problems. She may still be ditzy about comprehending and answering, we don't know yet, that remains to be seen - if they have substantial improvements in that area, they may be waiting for the HomePod to reveal them.
 
CarlJ said:
Every device you've used Siri on so far has had a single very tiny microphone. The HomePod has a whole bunch of larger microphones, carefully arranged to listen to anywhere in the room (the Amazon and Google speaker/assistants also have multiple microphones). Siri will hear much more clearly on the HomePod, getting rid of one of her two problems. She may still be ditzy about comprehending and answering, we don't know yet, that remains to be seen - if they have substantial improvements in that area, they may be waiting for the HomePod to reveal them.
Click to expand...

Only time will tell! But they might as well have talked about it when talking about iPhone X or will wait for the new iOS. If they have any significant improvements whatsoever anyway...
 
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We have Iphone 6s and 7. Both have Apple Watches. both have macbook pro, Ipad Air --- so pretty much an Apple household.

BUT - we have Alexa and it works great. Way more helpful than Siri for lots questions. Very easy to do music and change stuff like lights, temperature, front door video (we got a Show too).

Why in the world Apple has taken so long to get into this space and home automation is beyond me.
 
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nostresshere said:
We have Iphone 6s and 7. Both have Apple Watches. both have macbook pro, Ipad Air --- so pretty much an Apple household.

BUT - we have Alexa and it works great. Way more helpful than Siri for lots questions. Very easy to do music and change stuff like lights, temperature, front door video (we got a Show too).

Why in the world Apple has taken so long to get into this space and home automation is beyond me.
Click to expand...

Apple always waits and releases the best version of something. They have said many times "we aren't the first, but we are the best"
 
nostresshere said:
Why in the world Apple has taken so long to get into this space and home automation is beyond me.
Click to expand...

And not only did it take them so long... Apple is entering this market with a premium priced device. In fact... it's the most expensive home-automation-speaker-thing to date!

This isn't that unusual for Apple... but still.

I just read that you can get a 3-pack of Amazon Echo 2 for only $250. :eek:

It's gonna be another Alexa Christmas...
 
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MacRumors said:



At an event in Seattle this morning, Amazon unveiled its next-generation Amazon Echo speaker, which features a new smaller design and better sound than the original Echo to compete with products like Apple's upcoming HomePod.

Apple focused heavily on sound quality as a way to differentiate the HomePod from existing smart speakers like the Google Home and the Amazon Echo, with a 7 tweeter array, a 4-inch upward-facing woofer, and an A8 processor capable of advanced acoustic modeling and spatial awareness. Shortly after the HomePod was unveiled, rumors of a higher-end Echo surfaced.

amazonechoeventtechcrunch-800x538.jpg

Amazon's new Echo, image via TechCrunch​

Amazon's new Echo supports Dolby Audio and it has a dedicated woofer and tweeter, features Amazon says bring better sound. It also includes second-generation voice recognition capabilities, second-generation far-field microphone technology, and support for multi-room audio so several Echo devices can be used together.

The Echo is made from metal and is wrapped in a fabric shell, which can be swapped out with other shells for customization much like the Google Home. Amazon is offering six shells for the Echo.

Amazon plans to charge $99 for the new Echo, making it much more affordable than the HomePod, which will be priced at $349 when it launches in December. Pre-orders for the new Echo are available today.

There's also a new Echo Plus, with built-in Zigbee functionality for smart home hub functionality and all of the same improvements in the new Echo model. It's designed to work with a wide range of smart home products right out of the box, with over 100 partners signed up. Echo Plus is similar in design to the original Echo, while the new $99 Echo is smaller and shorter. Amazon is charging $149 for the Echo Plus, and it comes with a free Hub bulb.

Echo Buttons, also new, are priced at $20 and are designed to allow Echo owners to play trivia games with the Echo, and the Echo Spot is a new Echo device that features a 2.5-inch circular display. It's a cross between an Echo and a smart alarm clock with a price tag of $130.

Along with the new Echo models, Amazon announced the $35 Echo Connect, a device that's designed to plug into a phone jack on one side and an Echo on the other, allowing the Echo to be used as a telephone able to accept calls from a person's standard home phone number. The Echo Connect is also available for pre-order today. Amazon Echo speakers are also gaining call functionality that will let them make phone calls to any number.

Article Link: Amazon Launches New $99 Echo Speaker With Better Sound and $149 Echo Plus Smart Home Hub
Click to expand...
[doublepost=1506538678][/doublepost]Paying to have yourself spied on. Sure , give me two! .......Frick Amazon and their spy device .
 
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