Amazon Echo Show (2nd Generation) release date, price, news, and features

The Amazon Echo Show 2nd Generation release date has been announced, and, really, we should have taken the hint that it was due out when Amazon briefly halved the price of its old Echo Show for Prime Day. The redesigned, yet identically-named Amazon Echo Show is ready for pre-order today at the same $230 (£220 / AU$349) price, and will start shipping next month.

The refreshed Amazon Echo Show has a more streamlined look than the original, ditching the speaker bar below the screen for just a front-facing display lined by thinner bezels. Its speakers have been moved to the rear, under nondescript fabric.

The new Echo Show promises better audio and more microphones. It has a 10-inch screen, which is larger than its 7-inch predecessor.

Echo Show (2nd Gen) release date, pre-orders and price

The 2nd Generation Amazon Echo Show will ship next month, specifically on October 11, though you can pre-order it today.

• US pre-order: Amazon Echo Show pre-orders are now open here
• UK pre-order: Amazon Echo Show UK pre-orders are now open here
• AU pre-order: Amazon Echo Show Australia pre-oders are now open here

The new Echo Show costs exactly the same as the old model, $230 (£220). We’ll add more regional prices as they are announced. It's the polar opposite of the cheap Amazon Echo Dot 3rd Generation.

Design and features

The original Amazon Echo Show looked dated when it came out in June 2017, so it’s not surprising that the new model has a more modern design, much like Google may do with its rumored Google Home Hub. The screen takes up most of the Echo Show’s front, and angles down the rear for a stylish, trapezoidal look. 

The Echo Show has an impressive eight-microphone array and ‘far-field’ technology to differentiate your voice from ambient sound. On the device’s sides under fabric wrapping, dual 2-inch Neodymium drivers and Dolby processing belt out tunes or streamed content. 

Its 10-inch HD screen has twice the area as the old model’s 7-inch display, according to Amazon. Above that is a 5MP camera supporting high-definition video calls, and sometime soon, they’ll be able to make Skype calls with the device.

Users can use the Echo Show as a hub for Zigbee-connecting smart devices. Later this year, they’ll also be able to pipe their Ring doorbell camera’s feed right to the Echo Show’s screen (Ring is an Amazon-owned brand nowadays). 

Finally, users can browse the web with Firefox. Amazon has been fighting with Google, which has unfortunately kept YouTube off its Echo Show devices, but it seems Amazon will work around that block by accessing YouTube through web browsers, a trick that’s said to be coming to older Echo Show devices, too.

Stay tuned for our hands-on Amazon Echo Show 2nd Generation review coming up next.

Contributer : Techradar - All the latest technology news https://ift.tt/2DfiXMc