Amazon unveils new technology of AI-powered Kindle and different units

NEW YORK (AP) — Online juggernaut Amazon Inc. unveiled its subsequent technology of Kindle, Ring and Echo units, amongst different devices, which might be all powered by synthetic intelligence and related to Alexa+, its AI-infused private assistant, which made its debut in February.

The lineup, introduced at a presentation and showcase in New York, consists of new cameras for its Ring video monitoring machine with a brand new AI facial recognition characteristic that enables customers to register family and friends and notify them who’s on the entrance door.

Amazon unveiled 4 new Echo units revamped with Alexa+ that serve up personalised insights like whether or not the consumer left the entrance door unlocked after midnight. The Seattle-based firm additionally introduced a collection of Alexa+-infused Fire TVs that provide extra personalised searches like discovering a particular scene in a film or getting commentary about final evening’s soccer recreation.

The presentation Tuesday was the primary massive product occasion for Panos Panay, who joined Amazon in 2023 to go up the corporate’s units and companies groups after a 19-year profession at Microsoft the place he served as chief product officer.

Panay advised the viewers of a number of hundred journalists and bloggers that Alexa+ and synthetic intelligence are permitting expertise to work “within the background when you do not.”

“Products creating subtle shifts in all our behavior, driven by AI, integrated into the hardware,” Panay stated. “And flowing natural through the products themselves. Whether it’s a camera catching what you missed. Or your Fire TV updating you on a game. Or your Kindle remembering exactly where you left off.”

Amazon’s effort to infuse extra AI into its machine line-up is a part of expertise’s newest craze as all of the business’s main gamers jockey to realize the higher hand.

The battle to this point has targeted on leveraging AI to make smartphones even smarter and switch digital assistants into extra conversational and versatile companions higher geared up to assist folks handle their lives.

So far Samsung and Google have been making extra vital strides with the AI options on their units than Apple has made with the iPhone, which still doesn’t have all of the instruments that the company promised more than a year ago. Meanwhile, OpenAI has joined forces with former Apple design guru Jony Ive to work on a wearable machine constructed on AI expertise

PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore wrote in a observe Tuesday that the Amazon choices had been “a much needed refresh to the lineup, as it was starting to look a bit dated.”

“Attention to detail may not grab headlines, but it should not be overlooked, especially how the products look and feel, ” he wrote.”The latest generation of devices is designed to blend into users’ lives without them realizing they exist … Alexa+ is clearly the glue that holds the stack together…”

Here are some highlights:

A extra highly effective
doorbell:

Amazon has been increasing its dwelling security measures because the firm bought Wi-Fi-connected cameras and doorbell maker Ring in 2018. Amazon stated Tuesday that it is infusing the machine with extra expertise and upgraded cameras that can remodel the machine right into a doorbell attendant and neighborhood device for pet house owners amongst different new makes use of.

Amazon stated the ring cameras with retinal imaginative and prescient now include 2K decision for sharper element and 4K decision video. Amazon’s new AI facial recognition characteristic referred to as “Familiar Faces,” permits the consumer to register family and friends. The sensible doorbell, infused with Alexa+, can even have the ability to handle deliveries and supply directions for supply employees amongst different duties.

For pet house owners, Amazon has a brand new characteristic that helps house owners reunite misplaced canines with their households. It works like this: A neighbor stories a misplaced canine within the Ring app, which might notify folks close by with a Ring digicam. The cameras would then use AI to search for a potential match with the misplaced canine.

Ring Wired Doorbell Pro, priced at $249.99 and Wired Doorbell Plus, priced at $179.99, amongst different Ring cameras, might be obtainable for pre-order on Tuesday, Amazon stated. Ring’s “Search Party” for canines will start rolling out in November, adopted by cats and different pets. And Alexa+ Greetings and Familiar Faces might be supplied in December, the corporate stated.

An up to date lineup of Kindle Scribes:

Amazon unveiled new variations of the Kindle Scribe that the corporate touts as lighter and sooner and options an AI-powered pocket book search. One of them features a colour display.

The new Scribes characteristic bigger 11-inch, glare-free E Ink screens — up from 10.2 inches beforehand. They now weigh 400 grams in comparison with 433 grams for final 12 months’s model, the corporate stated. Executives famous that at 5.4 millimeters thick, these new variations are thinner than the iPhone Air, which measures 5.6 millimeters.

The new variations of Scribes will enable customers to entry paperwork saved on Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive, the corporate stated.

Amazon stated that later this 12 months within the U.S., Kindle Scribe might be obtainable beginning at $499.99 and Kindle Scribe Colorsoft might be supplied beginning at $629.99.

New Alexa +Empowered Echo Devices:

Amazon unveiled 4 new Echo loud speaker units — the Echo Dot Max, Echo Studio, Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11 — which might be particularly for Alexa+ and permit for extra personalised experiences.

The new providing, which begins at $99.99, comes as Amazon stories that these prospects with early entry to Alexa+ are participating with the private assistant twice as a lot and counting on it to do duties like reserving reservations and controlling sensible dwelling units.

The new options acknowledge customers and churn out personalised insights akin to an evaluation of how they slept final evening.

The firm stated that each one 4 new Echo units can be found for pre-order beginning Tuesday.

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AP Technology Writer Michael Liedtke in San Francisco contributed to this report.