[blind-philly-comp] Re: Amazon is reportedly planning a bigger, better Echo smart speaker

From: "Merv Keck" <blind5sparrow@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <blind-philly-comp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2019 22:16:48 -0400

I have Sonos, Google, and Amazon devices all here. While I would love to see a
higher end Echo device I would admit to being a little bit shy due to past
experience with their quality of Craftmanship in the past. I’ve come to think
of them as being more of a higher end store brand. Hopefully that is changing.
I did just purchase a ten foot apple certified lightning cable for $15.95 that
was double braided and the best looking lightning cable I’ve ever seen.
Although it does seem to charge a little slower than my previous lightning
cables.

One thing I can say about Google and Sonos is they are much more finicky on my
unique type of Enterprise level network this apartment Community employs than
the amazon devices tend to be. I currently have about $1300 of paper weights in
Sonos devices not to mention a useless apple TV right now because of Spectrum
using a crazy kind of server in our community that about 15 of my 21 devices
will not connect to including several accessibility devices. But all of the
Amazon devices connect with no issues. I’m just not sure how far I trust their
quality assurance team.

Merv

From: blind-philly-comp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-philly-comp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of David Goldfield
Sent: Friday, July 12, 2019 9:27 PM
To: blind-philly-comp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-philly-comp] Amazon is reportedly planning a bigger, better
Echo smart speaker

Digital Trends - Friday, July 12, 2019 at 11:03 AM

Amazon is reportedly planning a bigger, better Echo smart speaker

Amazon is planning a new version of its popular Echo smart speaker, according
to a report by Bloomberg. Scheduled for a possible 2020 release, the new model
is said to be larger than the current version
<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-12/amazon-plans-high-end-echo-ramps-up-work-on-alexa-home-robot>
, with more internal speaker components, yet it will still retain the Echo’s
distinctive cylindrical shape. The smart speaker category has become highly
competitive since Amazon launched the first version of the Echo in 2015, with
new entries from both high-tech companies like Apple and Google, as well as
brands that hail from the traditional audio market, such as JBL and Sonos.

The current Echo and Echo Plus now sit between inexpensive, yet small smart
speakers like its own Echo Dot, and the Google Home Mini, and larger, more
expensive models like Apple’s HomePod
<https://www.digitaltrends.com/smart-home-reviews/apple-homepod-review/> , the
Google Home Max
<https://www.digitaltrends.com/smart-home-reviews/google-home-max-review/> ,
and the Sonos One
<https://www.digitaltrends.com/wireless-speaker-reviews/sonos-one-review/> .
It’s these larger, better-sounding smart speakers that Amazon is likely
targeting with a revamped Echo, given that listening to music is among the most
popular smart speaker-based activities. In fact, it’s so popular that Amazon
Music was recently credited with being the fastest growing streaming music
service
<https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/07/amazon-music-unlimited-is-growing-faster-than-apple-music-or-spotify-report-says/>
  — largely on the strength of its Echo product line, which is configured to
use Amazon Music out of the box, and the free tier of Amazon Music
<https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/amazon-free-music-streaming-service-news/>
  it launched in April 2019.

To make a dent in this higher-end side of the smart speaker market, Amazon is
going to have to create a speaker that sounds significantly better than the
current $100 Echo, while being mindful that the Sonos One, at $200, is not only
an excellent speaker, it also gives users the ability to pick their preferred
voice assistant. Users can choose either Amazon’s Alexa or the Google
Assistant, making the Sonos One and Sonos Beam, the only smart speaker products
to do so. Apple’s $300 HomePod, while a solid performer in the audio
department, represents less of a threat given that it is only compatible with
Apple’s Siri, and currently only supports Apple Music. Echo products offer a
variety of music services, as does Sonos. Current Echo users can supplement the
low-end of their device’s audio performance by adding a $130 Echo Sub
<https://www.digitaltrends.com/smart-home-reviews/amazon-echo-sub-review/> .

If the new Echo speaker is a genuine heavy-hitter as far as audio quality goes,
it could be a sign that Amazon is indeed going to add a higher-quality tier to
its Amazon Music Unlimited service
<https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/amazon-music-hi-fi-hi-res-streaming-audio/>
, which would compete with Tidal and Quobuz. Offering that higher tier to
buyers of the new Echo speaker at no additional cost could be a very attractive
offer for fans of hi-res music.

Editors' Recommendations

https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/amazon-planning-bigger-echo-smart-speaker/

     David Goldfield

Assistive Technology Specialist

Feel free to visit my Web site

WWW.DavidGoldfield.info <http://WWW.DavidGoldfield.info>

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[blind-philly-comp] Re: Amazon is reportedly planning a bigger, better Echo smart speaker

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