Amazon’s family of smart assistants continues to grow. The devices launched, in Spain, in the last quarter of last year, were joined in the first of 2019 by the Echo Show, which we have already talked about in this Blog, and of which we have also shelled its virtues and characteristics in a video . And last week Amazon has announced another team, in this case the Echo Show 5, smaller than its predecessor and with a price that does not reach 90 euros.
The Echo Show 5 has a compact design, with a 5.5-inch screen, compared to 10 for its older brother, and Amazon says it has “crisp sound.” The user can access with it, and through voice, their favorite programs and short videos from Prime Video, or the video news from Radio Televisión Española, Xataka, MiTele Momentazos (Mediaset), among others. The new wikiHow integration will be available soon, allowing voice access to “how-to” videos, such as how to cut a pineapple or how to open an airtight jar.
Both the Echo Show 5 and Echo Show feature a Smart Home panel that provides control over other compatible smart devices, both individually and in groups. Simply say “Alexa, turn off the lights” or use the controls on the screen to adjust the brightness of the light or to turn it off. You can also view smart camera video and thermostats, or access recently used devices and control others as a group.
The Echo Show 5 also has two-way talk functionality with Ring cameras and doorbells. By simply saying “Alexa, answer the front door,” when the doorbell rings or when the camera detects movement, you can see and talk to whoever is at the front door.
They can also be customized with the Amazon Echo Show, the 10 and the new 5-inch routines. For example, turn off the bedroom lamp and play soothing sleep sounds on Amazon Music. Another option is the Alexa light alarms. The screen on the Echo Show devices begin to glow naturally and show an animation of the sunrise before the alarm stops sounding. You can also create a routine that turns on the coffee maker 10 minutes after the alarm goes off, or one that shows the weather forecast and news when the user says “Alexa, start my day.”
New watch faces; personalized home screens with family photos; new ambient light mode; shortcuts to discover everything that Alexa can do, from controlling to singing recipes, programming reminders or making different skills available are some of the new features of Echo Show 5. And, as with the Echo Show, also with the 5 you can Make video calls with other users who have an Echo Spot or Echo Show, the Alexa app, or Skype. In addition, with Echo Show 5 in the different rooms of the house, you can make Drop In or calls between Echo devices that are in other rooms.
Amazon notes that its Echo devices, including the new Show 5, “have been designed with multiple layers of privacy protection. The new Echo Show 5 includes, like the rest, a button to disconnect the microphones and the camera electronically, and has a clear visual indicator that warns when the audio or video is being transmitted to the Cloud. In addition, the Echo Show 5 incorporates a built-in camera cover so that the camera can be easily covered while still talking to Alexa. “
Amazon is also introducing new, even easier ways to delete voice recordings on all Alexa-enabled devices. All the user has to do is ask for it. Customers will soon be able to say “Alexa, delete what I just said” or “Alexa, delete everything I said today” and the respective recordings will be deleted. Additionally, the new Alexa privacy portal will offer a single source of information about the design of Echo devices, as well as the control that the user has over their experience with Alexa.
Will these measures help this type of smart devices to end up penetrating homes? Or will we continue to think that it is better not to talk to a clunker because we don’t know who is behind it and we don’t really know what they do with the information we share? And that is not to mention when we do not dialogue with these types of assistants and we believe that they are listening to us.
