It’s almost time to meet the new Alexa.
Amazon is holding a Devices event today at 10AM ET / 3PM GMT. Typically, these events are used to reveal the latest Alexa-enabled devices, as well as improvements to Amazon’s voice assistant.
But today we think the focus is going to be mostly on Alexa and its new AI capabilities. Amazon needs to prove that it can better compete with the likes of Gemini Live and ChatGPT Voice.
When Amazon sent out its invites for the event, there were five versions, each with a different background. When strung together, they spell out “Alexa,” so it would be pretty wild if that wasn’t a focus of the event.
We’re also reasonably certain we’ll see new Echo devices. It’s been a while since we’ve had a new entry on the best smart speakers and best smart displays.
Amazon Devices event: Date and time
Amazon’s Devices event is on February 26, and will start at 10 am ET. As with most Devices events, this one will not be livestreamed by Amazon, but we’ll provide updates here, so be sure to bookmark this page for all the latest news.
Leading up to the event itself, we’ll also be providing analysis and context around Amazon’s events and products.
I’m the U.S. Editor-in-Chief for Tom’s Guide, and have been attending Amazon’s Devices and services events for more than a decade. I was even there for the launch of the Amazon Fire Phone in 2014. I’ll be at tomorrow’s event, too.
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Here’s what the new Alexa will do?
Heading up to the Amazon event there’s been several reports detailing the capabilities for the new Alexa.
According to Reuters, “the new Alexa AI service will be able to respond to multiple prompts in sequence and, company executives have said, even act as an ‘agent’ by taking actions for users without their direct involvement. That contrasts with the current iteration which generally handles only a single request at a time.”
That sounds promising, but this new service could reportedly cost as much at $10 a month. Don’t worry. Apparently, will be keeping “Classic Alexa” around for free.
When will we actually get the new Alexa?
While we expect to get a ton of details today about the new Alexa and its AI capabilities, it may not actually roll out to consumers for a while.
According to a recent report from The Washington Post, the new version of Alexa was expected to release this month. But it’s now ben pushed to the end of March.
This is reportedly due to Alexa giving incorrect answers to questions and possible hallucinations. In other words, Alexa has a ton of brand equity and Amazon is trying to make sure it gets the new version just right.
Could we see new Echo Frames?
Hi, this is global editor in chief Mark Spoonauer, and I’ll be your guide on our Amazon event live blog for a bit.
There’s no question that the Meta Ray-Ban glasses have stole the thunder from Amazon’s Echo Frames, which are now on their third generation. You may not even know that Amazon had Alexa-powered smart glasses.
In our review we liked the longer battery life and find my glasses feature, but the Echo Frames are not nearly as capable as the Meta Ray-Bans when it comes to AI features, whether it’s AI vision, helping you remember things or even helping you pick out an outfit.
This could be a chance for a rebirth for the the Echo Frames with a new Alexa inside.
A rumored paid tier for Alexa AI
If Alexa goes all-in on generative AI then it wouldn’t be surprising to see Amazon couple it with a paid-for subscription price. Rumors (discussed at length on the Alexa subreddit) have suggested Amazon could charge between $5 and $10 a month (around £5-£10 in the U.K.) for full access to an AI-powered Alexa.
The obvious question then becomes whether or not access to Alexa AI would be included or in addition to an Amazon Prime membership. Prime members already benefit from the obvious — like fast and free shipping, access to Prime Video and Prime Day retail events. Adding a ChatGPT-rivaling AI service to the mix could be another big reason for people to stay signed up.
It pays to be polite to your new Alexa AI
According to a new study from Future (the parent company of Tom’s Guide), “more than 55% of respondents say they consistently use polite language when interacting with AI, up from 49% in the previous survey.”
One thing this got me thinking about, especially with the memory collection of generative AI (and inevitably Alexa) is how it could impact its future decisions. With that in mind, I gave ChatGPT the classic trolley car test and…well… Let’s just say it pays to be nice.
Any predicted no-shows?
Kindles are one of the biggest backbones of Amazon, but don’t expect them at this event.
Normally, you see the big A give these their own special event. And given that Amazon announced four new Kindles in October: the Kindle Scribe, the Kindle Colorsoft, the Kindle (2024), and the Kindle Paperwhite (2024), it’s highly likely that there won’t be any new e-readers.
Now if there’s going to be AI updates to the Kindle…that’s a different story.
What generative AI in Alexa could mean
Everybody’s doing generative AI, but what’s important is that it’s not just a gimmick for the sake of being there. So what could it provide to the Alexa ecosystem? Let me get my pondering hat on and figure this out.
Natural interactions
At the moment, your smart home control is very much rudimentary — you have to remember the key phrases for each individual piece of connected home tech or build the logic paths to certain words to make multiple things happen.
With gen AI, the situation could be a lot more interesting. For example, you could talk about a feeling you want to evoke and watch your smart home adapt to suit without needing to give it specific instructions.
The ability to remember
You see this a lot with the memory updates ChatGPT makes with every prompt you make. It learns about you and helps with more questions in an increasingly tailored way to you.
If Alexa’s new AI injection gets a memory, this could mean more suited reactivity to your every whim and maybe even some proactivity. For example, asking for a bedtime story for my nephew could end up creating a fun verbal adventure game for him with the voice he always likes.
Potentially agentic?
Let’s think about the vastness of Amazon’s ecosystem, from the massive online store to Prime Video, Prime Music and more. So what would happen if all of this is tied together with a generative AI bow?
I know a lot of companies are actively pursuing agentic AI — be it OpenAI Operator or Rabbit R1’s LAM Playground. But if there’s any company that is in the perfect position to make this happen, it’s Amazon.
Example: say it’s figured out my routine. After a busy Friday at work, I like to grab some snacks, kick back and watch The Office (yes I’m basic — don’t judge me). Imagine if ahead of time, Amazon’s already proactively thinking about this — playing a chillhop playlist to get me through the day and asking whether I want it to order “the usual” ahead of a relaxed night in.
Could we see a new Amazon Echo today?
It’s been a while since we last saw an Echo — four years since the 4th-gen Amazon Echo to be exact. So it’s fair to say it’s growing a little stale. Because sure, the audio was good for the price and the sleek spherical design made it fit in well in any living room. But audio quality has moved forward quite significantly since then.
On one side, I get it. The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon was losing billions on its smart speakers, because the devices were sold at a loss and Alexa was never monetized properly. Maybe that’s what this event is about? Figuring out a way to make money from Alexa by giving it all the AI smarts, so the company can move forward with new hardware?
Good morning!
We’re back and it’s Alexa event day! We’re looking forward to seeing what the next generation Alexa will bring to the table. Will it compete with the likes of ChatGPT advanced voice? It’s all to play for.
And of course, Amazon’s competitive edge here is all the home devices it can be put into. It could be the equivalent of having your very own Jarvis around the home! Check back in, as I will be pulling apart all the last minute news and leaks if they come out.
Check back tomorrow for Amazon’s event
Amazon’s Devices event starts tomorrow, February 26, at 10 AM Eastern, 7 AM Pacific and 3 PM in the United Kingdom.
We’ll be following along with the event and bringing you all of the details as Amazon reveals them tomorrow.
Alexa vs Google vs Siri
This year is shaping up to be a huge year in smart home voice assistants.
Alexa may get an upgrade tomorrow and while Google isn’t expected to update the Nest lineup this year, its Gemini assistant is continuously being upgraded.
And then there’s Apple which should make a big push into smart homes with the HomePod 3, in whatever form that takes.
We’ve compared the trio before but this year should take the rivalries to a new level.
The Future may be announced but when will it arrive?
With tomorrow’s announcement we expect to learn about the future of Alexa. But when will it arrive?
A recent report from earlier this month revealed that an AI-enhanced Alexa is likely delayed to the end of March, possibly further down the calendar.
The reason appears ““due in part to the new version of the assistant giving incorrect answers to test questions, at a recent meeting, the employee said.”
The event will go on but when we’ll get to try out things announced may be some time away.
Will Alexa retain skills?
Assuming the event does announce an upgraded Alexa, we wonder if the smart assistant will retain some of its skills.
Currently, Alexa skills are basically audio apps that adds to the assistant’s capabilities. There are tons of skills available to Alexa right now and it can be a slog to find the best Alexa Skills.
With the push toward AI and Amazon reportedly wanting a more robust Gemini-like or agentic AI assistant will these skills be folded into the LLMs used by Alexa or will they still be separate pieces that you mod on to the platform?
At the end of the day how new will Alexa actually be is the real question? What will get added and what will disappear?
For now we don’t know but we expect to hear much more tomorrow.
What we don’t expect to see
One thing we’re pretty sure that won’t be announced is a new Kindle. Amazon announced four new Kindles in October: the Kindle Scribe, the Kindle Colorsoft, the Kindle (2024), and the Kindle Paperwhite (2024). The Scribe, Amazon’s only Kindle that’s compatible with a stylus, also recently got an update that makes note-taking a lot easier. Two of these made it to our list of the best Kindles.
Considering the last time Amazon updated its Kindles was 2022, we’re confident that there won’t be any new e-readers.
Here’s how polite we are to digital assistants
When it comes to talking to Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant, it looks like most of us are minding our manners. According to a new study from Future (the parent company of Tom’s Guide), “more than 55% of respondents say they consistently use polite language when interacting with AI, up from 49% in the previous survey.” This could be a reflection of the growing sophistication of digital assistants, or our growing comfort using them in everyday situations.
Still, a good chunk of the survey respondents (20 percent) were more brusque in their dealings, while another 13 percent said that these assistants weren’t worthy of politeness.
How polite (or rude) are you to Alexa?
A new Amazon Echo?
It’s now been three years since the Echo Dot (5th gen) was released and four years since the 4th-gen Amazon Echo. Previously, Amazon would only wait between 2-3 years before waiting to update its flagship Alexa devices.
Sadly, Amazon discontinued the Echo Dot with Clock last year, which was one of our favorite smart speakers, and replaced it with the Echo Spot, which has a larger, more functional display, but costs $80, compared to the $50 price of the Dot with Clock.
Apart from its design going from a puck to a sphere, most changes to the Echo Dots the past few years have addressed the internals, such as adding support for eero mesh routers and compatibility with the Matter smart home standard.
However, last summer, a Wall Street Journal article reported that Amazon was losing billions on its smart speaker business, because it sold the devices at a loss, but never figured out how to monetize Alexa on the back end. So, it’s no surprise that the company has slowed down the release of new products.
Everything we saw at the last Amazon Devices event
At all of the Amazon Devices events I’ve attended, the company typically releases a dozen or more new products at one go, which can be a dizzying experience. Here’s everything that was announced the last go-round:
- Fire TV Soundbar ($119)
- Fire TV Stick 4K ($49 / AU$79) features a 1.7GHz processor, and supports Wi-Fi 6 and 4K Ultra HD streams
- Fire TV Stick 4K Max ($59 / AU$119) offers Wi-Fi 6e, 2GHz quad-core processor, Dolby Vision and HDR 10+ and Dolby Atmos Audio.
- eero Max 7 ($599) Wi-Fi 7 mesh router delivering speeds of up to 4.3 Gbps and wired speeds of up to 9.4 Gbps.
- Blink Sync Module 2 ($49) lets you place your Blink Outdoor 4 cameras further away for better coverage in large homes.
- Echo Hub ( $179 / AU$329): a smart home controller with an 8-inch screen for controlling smart home devices and viewing your security cameras.
- Echo Frames ($269): The latest generation of Amazon’s smart glasses boast 6 hours of battery life, better audio and speech-processing technology. They also now come in seven different styles.
- Echo Show 8 ($149): The second-gen model now has an edge-to-edge display, a centered camera, and spatial audio. In addition, it can adapt it sound based on the room in which it’s placed.
- Echo Pop Kids ($49): The Echo Pop, but with either a Marvel-themed or Disney-themed face, and includes six months of Amazon Kids+.
- Fire HD 10 Kids and Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablets ($189)
- Blink Outdoor 4 Floodlight Camera ($129): The Blink Outdoor 4, but with two large LED panels.
- Ring Stick Up Cam Pro: This comes in three configurations – the Battery and plug-in models cost $179.99, and the Solar model is $209.99.
Meet the new boss
This Amazon Devices event will the the first hosted by Panos Panay, who took over Amazon’s hardware division from Dave Limp back in 2023. Prior to Amazon, Panay worked at Microsoft, where he launched the Surface line of laptops and tablets in 2012, as well as Windows 11 in 2021. Limp has gone on to become the CEO of Blue Origin, another one of Jeff Bezos’ companies.
Alexa on tap?
One of the biggest questions surrounding the event will be if we’ll see the new and improved Alexa that was teased in the September 2023 Amazon Devices event. At that gathering, which took place at Amazon’s Washington, DC headquarters, we saw an AI-enabled Alexa that was able to respond in a more conversational tone, answer more complex questions, and provide greater context and personalization. Initial rumors said that it was using an in-house AI, while a later report said that Alexa would be powered by Anthropic’s Claude AI.
However, since that event, there’s been very little announced about Amazon’s assistant, except for the fact that it was being delayed, first to October 2024, and then even later, according to a report in November.
Will Amazon charge for Alexa?
Among the other rumors surrounding the new-and-improved Alexa (codenamed “Remarkable) is that it could cost anywhere from $5 to $10 per month to use. While many AIs require a subscription to use their advanced features, it will be interesting to see if everyday consumers will pay for Alexa, given that Google, Samsung, and Apple offer their AI services for free.