Amazon Unveils Upgraded Devices With Gen AI-Powered Features

Amazon unveiled new Echo devices, Fire TV technology and eero Wi-Fi system.

Among the upgrades added to some of the devices introduced Wednesday (Sept. 20) are features powered by generative artificial intelligence (AI).

One of the new Echo devices is the Echo Show 8, a next-generation model that delivers faster responses and enables Alexa to act 40% faster on common requests, Amazon said in a Wednesday press release.

A new device, the Echo Hub, is Alexa-enabled and purpose-built to help customers manage their smart home devices, according to the release. It can be mounted on a wall or placed on a counter.

Also unveiled Wednesday were next-generation Echo Frames, which are available with five new frame styles that are lighter in weight and slimmer in appearance, the release said. These smart audio glasses with Alexa also feature improvements in battery life, custom-built speakers and speech-processing technology.

Customers will soon be able to preview new Alexa features that are powered by generative AI on all Echo devices, according to the release.

“These new Echo devices give customers more ways to experience the world’s best personal AI — and the growing generative AI capabilities that will be coming to Alexa soon — at home and on the go,” Daniel Rausch, vice president of Alexa and Fire TV, said in the release.

Wednesday’s new product introductions by Amazon also included updates and additions to its Fire TV product range, including an all-new Fire TV Soundbar and enhanced conversational voice search with generative AI, according to a separate Wednesday press release.

The generative AI-powered Fire TV experience will allow customers to discover content conversationally, the release said. For example, users will be able to ask Alexa to recommend “animated movies that are free to me.”

“We’ve leveraged our new large language model to create a much more natural and conversational way to find content using natural dialogue,” Fire TV Vice President Tapas Roy said in the release.

Also introduced Wednesday was the eero Max 7, a Wi-Fi 7 mesh system that promises greater speed, less interference from neighboring networks, and improved mesh latency, according to another Wednesday press release.

PYMNTS Intelligence has found that consumers prefer voice technology over other methods because it can complete tasks faster, easier and more efficiently.

Fifty-eight percent of consumers said using voice technology is easier and more convenient, according to “How Consumers Want to Live in the Voice Economy.”