Amazon is reported to be working on premium Echo-like smart speaker with integrated touchscreen display
Amazon’s Echo smart speaker may
be selling better than expected but
if you’re considering purchasing one this holiday season (either for yourself
or as a stocking stuffer for a loved one), you may want to read this first.
According to a
report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Amazon is developing a premium Echo-like speaker featuring a seven-inch touchscreen
display that’ll be positioned in such a way that it could easily be viewed when
it sits on a counter and the user is standing nearby.
Sources say the
display will make it easier to access things like weather forecasts, calendars,
news, appointments and more. Amazon is also testing a feature that would allow
users to pin photos and the like on the device’s screen, much like how people
affix pictures and drawings to their refrigerator doors using magnets.
In addition to the display, the premium
Echo will employ a higher-quality speaker for audio playback. The device will
run an optimized version of Amazon’s Fire OS (the same operating system that
powers its Fire tablets and Fire TV media streamers) and like its predecessors,
it will respond to verbal commands.
The premium Echo
smart speaker could be unveiled as early as the first quarter, perhaps even at
CES 2017 in Las Vegas come January. Amazon will reportedly keep its current lineup the
$50 Dot, the $130 Tap and the $180 Echo – around after the launch.
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