Just five years ago, it was still science fiction that our AI-powered smart home would not only execute automations and voice commands in the background, but truly converse with us, learn from us, and proactively assist us even before we asked. Well, Amazon is now promising precisely this future with its new generation of Echo devices and the completely revamped Alexa+ service. But what exactly does this mean for our daily lives, and why is it worth paying attention to now? Let’s see!
Alexa+: The Voice Assistant That’s Truly “Smart”?
Remember when Alexa first appeared? It was exciting, but often felt like it was following a pre-programmed script. This year, Amazon introduced Alexa+, which, powered by generative artificial intelligence, can do much more. They promise that we can have detailed conversations with it and that it will be proactive (whether this improves or worsens the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) is still highly questionable). “Early Access” users reportedly talk to Alexa twice as much and entrust it with more tasks, whether it’s smart home control, calendar management, or making reservations.
This “always-on assistant” concept, which is there when you need it and retreats into the background when you don’t, embodies the true promise of the smart home for many. Doesn’t sound bad, does it?
New Hardware, New Capabilities: Echo Devices Redesigned Inside and Out
For Alexa+ to truly flourish, serious hardware support is needed. Amazon didn’t hold back, introducing four completely new or redesigned Echo devices specifically engineered for Alexa+: the Echo Dot Max, the new Echo Studio, and the Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11 smart displays.
The heart of these devices lies in the AZ3 and AZ3 Pro chips, featuring a dedicated AI chip. This technology enables much better conversation detection, background noise suppression, and a drastic improvement in wake-word recognition. The AZ3 Pro also supports more advanced language models and visual transformers, which are crucial for more complex AI tasks.
Building on this hardware foundation is the Omnisense sensor platform, which combines numerous sensors (13-megapixel camera on Echo Shows, audio, ultrasound, Wi-Fi radar, accelerometer, Wi-Fi CSI). This allows Alexa to “intelligently” react not only to your voice but also to its environment. From now on, it could be a reality that Alexa only speaks to you when you enter a room and doesn’t bother other family members, or it might speak up if the garage door is left open after 10 PM. Perhaps even whispering, just to scare you. This is truly the ambient AI that blends into the background and imperceptibly makes our lives easier. Let’s just hope the story doesn’t descend into the horror reality of the movies.
Echo Show 11 and 8, Echo Studio and Echo Dot Max
Premium Sound and Home Cinema in the Living Room
Amazon hasn’t forgotten about sound. The first Echo Dot Max, for example, promises nearly three times more intense bass than the previous generation Dot. This is achieved with two speakers, a subwoofer, and a tweeter. The new Echo Studio is 40% smaller yet offers spatial audio and Dolby Atmos support for a true cinematic experience.
What’s more, you can connect up to five Echo Studio or Echo Dot Max devices with a Fire TV Stick, creating an “immersive surround” sound system. Amazon offers this under the name “Alexa Home Theater,” promising professional sound that is a thousand times simpler and cheaper than traditional systems. Are you paying attention, Sonos?
Smart Displays, Everywhere
The Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11 feature new, modern designs and truly excellent displays. Thanks to the improvements, image quality is exceptional, with visual elements that adapt to the environment. With the 13-megapixel camera, Alexa recognizes when you approach the device and displays personalized information.
But the real strength lies in the software innovations:
- Media Control Hub: Browse music, podcasts, books in one place, and easily manage playback across multiple devices.
- Alexa+ Home: A new level of smart home control. All connected devices in one place, with Matter, Thread, and Zigbee support. Intelligent summaries of Ring camera events also appear here.
- Home Organization: Color-coded family calendars that help assign tasks and manage conflicts.
- Shopping Assistant (needless to say, this couldn’t be left out): Amazon shopping lists, delivery tracking, and intelligent gift recommendations. Of course, the full range of services may not be available in all European markets.
- Health and Wellness: With Oura (and soon Withings, Wyze) integration, Alexa provides personalized suggestions to achieve health goals, such as encouraging exercise or indicating optimal sleep times. Naturally, Amazon guarantees data privacy and security when handling this sensitive information. (Let’s hope there are no unpleasant incidents regarding data privacy, as have occurred with other smart home systems in the past).
Alexa+ Store and the Future
Amazon will soon launch the Alexa+ Store, where thousands of devices and services (TaskRabbit, Fandango, Uber, etc.) can be discovered and activated. Furthermore, major brands like Bose, Sonos, LG, Samsung, and BMW are integrating Alexa+ into their products. Whether this will be good for us, only time will tell.
What About in Europe?
Well, as is often the case, Amazon primarily focuses on the US market. The new Echo devices are already available for pre-order in the USA, and Alexa+ “Early Access” is also included. The Echo Dot Max and Echo Studio will be released on October 29th, and the Echo Show 8 and 11 on November 12th.
However, we currently have no information regarding European availability, pricing, or the exact introduction of the service in various EU countries. This is a case of “cloud dependency as the new digital leash,” which we’ve already discussed in connection with the inherent challenges of certain smart home platforms. As long as the service is not officially and fully available in a given market, despite the fantastic promises, we can only dream about it. And often, Amazon prioritizes establishing its e-commerce presence before rolling out more advanced services, meaning a broader European launch for Alexa+ could still be some time away.
Conclusion: Amazon is very serious about AI integration in the smart home. The new Echo devices and the Alexa+ service could indeed represent a breakthrough in ambient AI and proactive assistance. The support for Matter, Thread, and Zigbee in the new hubs clearly points towards open standards and interoperability, which is definitely good news for users. However, with this, “cloud dependency” reaches a new level: we are entrusting our data and our real decisions to Amazon’s server farms.
The question is when we will get all of this. Until then, we will follow the news and hope that the “for everyone” category will one day include us too!
