New Amazon Echo Specs Rumors: Home Speaker Assistant Will Have a Touchscreen?
Amazon is rumored to release a new, touchscreen-clad Echo home assistant speaker soon.
With the speculated touchscreen feature, the next Amazon Echo model is expected to offer video calling functions, as sources told Wall Street Journal recently.
The upcoming home assistant speaker is also regarded as Amazon's move to get ahead of other electronics manufacturers and technology firms in terms of the home assistant speakers' market competition.
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According to the report, for the past few months, the new Amazon Echo's prototype has been undergoing testing by employees. The device might also hit the market in early June.
With the touchscreen, the home assistant speaker is expected to be priced higher than $200. The said price point is not bad considering that the first Amazon Echo speaker was introduced at $180. It was followed by another Echo model with a camera, called the Echo Look, and costs $200.
The Amazon Echo was released in June 2015 in the United States, about six months after its exclusive launch on Amazon Prime. In May 2016, Google announced they were going to offer their own assistant home speaker, called Google Home (released in November 2016), which is clearly a nod to the voice-activated home assistant from Amazon.
Since the Google Home was released, the company has been expanding its function by adding more apps and compatibility support for third-party devices and platforms. This means the competition is getting more stiff for Amazon.
Added to that, there had also been rumors that Apple is joining the party with its Beats-supported home assistant dubbed as the Siri Speaker, that could be announced in the company's upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference in June at San Jose, California.
Recently, Microsoft has also announced their own voice-activated Cortana intelligence-powered home speaker named Invoke. It will be manufactured in collaboration with the renowned audio innovations company, Harman.
With the biggest electronics manufacturer catching up in the home speaker competition, getting ahead of the game with the next Echo and its rumored features is a step in the right direction for Amazon.
Meanwhile, according to Wall Street Journal, an Amazon representative declined to comment about the rumored home speaker with touchscreen display.
