Latest news with #EchoShow
Digital Trends
12-07-2025
- Digital Trends
The 7 best Alexa features you're missing out on
'Alexa, turn on the lights.' In my home, that's one of the most common phrases you'll hear. With a full smart lighting setup all linked to the Amazon Alexa platform and two Echo Show 15s serving as hubs (one in my office, one in the kitchen), the voice assistant is a core part of how I handle everything from lights to groceries. Recommended Videos Most people know about those functions. Making a to-do list, checking the weather, and other day-to-day tasks are how Alexa is used most often, but did you realize the platform has a litany of powerful, lesser-known features? Show and Tell Show and Tell uses the Echo Show's camera to identify products and audibly announce what it is. Aimed at users with impaired vision, Show and Tell is most often used to identify daily items like pantry staples, especially those with labels. For example, it can help distinguish between a container of cumin and a container of cinnamon. Just say, 'Alexa, what am I holding?' or 'What's in my hand?' Your device will guide you through how and where to hold the item, with sound cues to indicate when you have positioned it correctly in front of the camera. Eye Gaze Most interactions with smart assistants are done through vocal commands, but a new feature called Eye Gaze allows users to control specific Alexa devices with only eye movements. This feature benefits people with vocal or mobility impairments, allowing them to trigger pre-set Alexa actions entirely hands and voice free. For now, Eye Gaze is only available on the Fire Max 11 Tablet, and only in a few countries. It's still relatively early in development, but Amazon hopes to bring the functionality to more devices in the future. Real-Time Translation While most people stick to their phones for making video calls, you can also use Alexa to chat with relatives, and she will put captions on the screen in real-time. That makes it possible to hold conversations in multiple languages at the same time, with both sides understanding the other. It also provides assistance to the hearing impaired, as real-time call captions make it easier to follow along if you aren't sure what the other person said. All you have to do is enable call captioning in the Alexa app or in the Echo Show device menu. Adaptive Listening Users that struggle with speech impairments might find they can't get the commands out fast enough for Alexa. Adaptive Listening is a feature that extends Alexa's listening window before processing the request, and it can turned on within the Alexa app or through specific Echo devices. Even people without speech difficulties report utilizing the feature, as it creates a more natural flow to the conversation versus the sometimes clipped language used when speaking with a voice assistant. Find Your Phone I'm scatterbrained, and I will often put my phone down and completely forget where it is. When it comes time to leave the house for any reason, cue a Yakety Sax montage of me checking under couch cushions, the top of bookshelves, and anywhere else I might have left it. Now I can just say, 'Alexa, find my phone.' The device starts a call, and I can listen for the sound of its vibration in the room (my phone has been on vibrate for years). There are also several Alexa Skills available that do the same thing, though I find the default feature works well enough. Whisper Mode When it's two o'clock in the morning and you just managed to get the baby back to sleep, the last thing you want is to ask Alexa a question in a normal tone of voice and wake the baby. Whisper Mode, once enabled, will let you whisper to Alexa and she will respond back in a whisper automatically. The device matches your volume, so you don't need to ask it to respond quietly. Just make sure you enable the setting first. It isn't on by default, and whispering, 'Alexa, what time is?' only to receive an answer of 'IT IS 11:55 PM' at full volume can be jarring, to say the least. Emergency Assist For years, fans wanted Amazon to add the ability for Alexa to call 911. While that still isn't possible, the Alexa Emergency Assist function can put users in touch with a trained 'Urgent Response' agent who can dispatch emergency services. The downside? This feature requires a subscription of $5.99 a month, or $59 per year. Without a subscription, you can have a single emergency contact. With Alexa Emergency Assist, you can have up to 25. It also enables other features and listens for the sound of glass breaking (like a window), carbon monoxide and smoke alarms, and more. Alexa has long been one of the most popular platforms for smart home users, and it only gets better with time. Of course, locking certain features behind a paywall with the Alexa+ subscription slowed its growth, but that's an argument for another day.
Engadget
10-07-2025
- Engadget
Prime Day has our favorite digital photo frame in stock and on sale for 20 percent off
A digital frame may seem like too obvious of a gift — but that's for a reason. They actually improve upon something we all have around our homes, allowing you to display more of your favorite photos all the time. Engadget's favorite option in this space, the Aura Carver Mat, is on sale for Prime Day, down from $179 to only $141. While many digital photo frames are a mixed bag at best, the Aura Carver Mat topped Engadget's best digital frames list because it's simple to set up and looks great. The 10.1-inch frame is made of plastic and designed to be used in landscape, and it makes for a convincing copy of traditional mat photo frames. Aura's designed the Carver to rotate through the photos you upload on its own, but there's also a built-in touch bar that can be used to swipe forwards and backwards through your collection, if you want. Buying into Aura's system means committing to a device that has to be connected to the internet to work, but Aura's app for adding photos is easy-enough to use that it should more than make up for it. You can even set the app to automatically upload new photos from a specific album if you want. That feature, along with the ability for multiple accounts to add photos to a single frame, makes the Aura Carver Mat perfect for families who might not all live in the same place. Speaking from experience, grandparents love being able to receive fresh photos of their grandkids without having to lift a finger. A $150 Amazon Echo Show 8 could make for a formidable alternative to the Aura Carver Mat, especially if you're interested in having a voice assistant on-call to control your smart home. The single-minded focus of Aura's device — especially at $141, within spitting distance of last year's $139 low — is its real charm, though, something you just won't get from an Echo Show.
The Independent
10-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Amazon Fire TV stick HD drops to lowest-ever price for Prime Day
Amazon's Prime Day sale is here, and this year it's bigger than ever. The shopping bonanza has been extended to four days instead of the usual two, and it's delivering big savings across every category, with everything from air fryers to laptops and televisions dropping in price. You'll find plenty of deals on many of Amazon's most popular own-brand products in the rest of the sale, like the Ring battery video doorbell (was £99.99, now £49.99, The Echo Show 8 (was £149.99, now £89.99, and Kindle Paperwhite (was £159.99, now £124.99, have been discounted, too. But there's one impressive deal that's really caught my eye. Right now, the Amazon Fire TV Stick HD has more than 40 per cent off, bringing the price of the no-fuss streaming dongle down to just £23.99 – which is a record low. We have everything you need to know about the offer below. However, you'll need to be quick – as the sale will end at midnight on 11 July. Whether your TV doesn't have smarts or the interface is a little slow and clunky, you can add or upgrade its capabilities cheaply with the Amazon Fire TV stick HD. The dongle and remote control let you access entertainment from all of the most popular streaming services – including Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and Apple TV+ – as well as watch live TV, listen to music and control your smart home with voice commands. More affordable than Roku's excellent streaming stick 4K (£49.99, this version of the Amazon fFre TV stick only outputs at 1080p rather than full 4K. If you want 4K, you have other good options, too. The 4K Fire TV stick is one of my favourite streaming devices, and that's also at a lowest-ever price (£39.99, However, this cheaper model is perfect if your TV is a little older or if your streaming subscription is only providing full HD video. Amazon Prime Day is a four-day sale event for Prime members. It's usually held twice a year – once in the summer and again in October to kick-start Christmas shopping. The event features deals across top brands, from Apple to Dyson, as well as offers on its bestselling own tech, including Kindle and Echo dot smart speakers.
Tom's Guide
09-07-2025
- Tom's Guide
From film cameras to coffee makers — these are the Prime Day deals you should grab to head back to college
This year, there are Amazon Prime Day deals for everyone. And if your next stop is college, you'll be glad to know you can kit out your dorm room on a budget thanks to come of the awesome deals on offer. Having graduated last year, I know that if I could go back and do it all again I would prioritize comfort and convenience when doing my shopping. It can be overwhelming to know where to begin but with these deals, you'll be ready for anything. My favorite deal here (and most necessary) has to be the Nespresso Vertuo Plus coffee machine, available for $109 at Amazon right now. This one will ensure you make it to those 9am lectures. For the rest of the college essential deals, keep scrolling. If there's one thing I remember from my college days, it's that trying to get to the 9am lecture after pulling an all-nighter is a harrowing experience. I found solace in having a coffee machine in my room. This always meant I wasn't always spending all of my money at Starbucks. Being able to roll out of bed, put a Nespresso pod in the machine, and get ready makes the early mornings so much more bearable. And beyond the early mornings, this coffee machine will also come in handy when you're pulling all-nighters before finals. It makes hot or iced coffee with ease and produces anything you could want from a single espresso to an eight-ounce coffee. It uses Nespresso aluminum pods which are fully recyclable and have a ton of flavours to choose from. The Amazon Echo Show 5 is available in three colors to complement however you decide to decorate your dorm; black, cloud blue and glacier white. The 5.5-inch display is more than enough to show you the latest news headlines at a glance, and you can even watch your favorite shows won it while you get ready for the day. There is also a built in 2MP camera that you can use as an interior security camera, and even make video calls to other Echo Show users with. I love that you can use the display as a photo frame, and select a slideshow of your favorite pictures too for when you're homesick. Despite its size, the sound is well-rounded and dang loud, and you can control the sound on screen. I can't believe the price drop on this Instant Pot because it's the appliance that does it all. And if I was headed back to college next semester, this would be a no brainer addition to my kitchen set up. Better yet, since this version is only three quarts, it's not going to take up much countertop space. It is also perfect for cooking for smaller groups of people. At this size, it is perfect for meal prepping for one, so you can make your meal for that night and then refrigerate or freeze the other portions for another day — doing this helped me save so much money when I was a student. With seven different cooking functions to choose from to make everything from soup to cake — cooking meals has never been easier or faster. The Beats Studio Pro headphones have had the price slashed by 51%, and at this price, they are the perfect addition to campus days. While I wouldn't recommend them at full price, $169 for the Beats sound profile and insanely good ANC is too good pass up. They have 24 hours of battery life with the ANC turned on, and you four hours of playback with just a 10 minute charge. This makes them perfect for anyone who's forgetful (like me) and leave it to the last second to charge their electronics. They are available in eight understated colors and designed in collaboration with Kim Kardashian. It also helps that they are some of the comfiest cans I have ever tried. You're going to want to capture all of the fun memories you make while at college, and what better way to do that than hoping on the film camera trend. Included with the Kodak film camera is a roll of Kodak Ultramax400 24exp film. The camera doubles the number of exposures too so you get 48 half-frame photos. The camera is pocket sized and weighs just 200 grams so is perfect for throwing in your bag and taking with you anywhere on campus. It is simple point-and-shoot camera so it is perfect for beginners. For more great discounts, check out our Prime Day deals live blog.
Tom's Guide
09-07-2025
- Business
- Tom's Guide
Amazon Echo Show Prime Day deals — I found 4 deals with up to 40% off, and one even has early access to Alexa+
We're keeping a close eye on the best Prime Day deals to make sure you don't miss any of the best savings. While you can find deals on everything from socks to air fryers, I'm most impressed by the savings on Amazon smart speakers; specifically the Echo Shows. My house is kitted out from top to bottom with Amazon Alexa Smart speakers, but I've had my eyes on the Amazon Echo Shows for some time now, and the Prime Day deals mean this is the perfect time for an upgrade. Right now, there are some of the best deals I have seen on these display speakers, and there's something to suit everyone. My favorite has to be the Amazon Echo Show 8 for just $109 at Amazon with a saving of 27% from $149, and it even has early access to Alexa+. For a rundown of the best Prime Day Amazon Echo Show deals, keep scrolling! The Amazon Echo Show 5 is available in three colors to complement any home interior; black, cloud blue and glacier white. The 5.5-inch display is more than enough to show you the latest news headlines at a glance, and if you have other Amazon devices like a Ring Doorbell, you can view the cameras and respond directly from the Echo. There is also a built in 2MP camera that you can use as an interior security camera, and even keep an eye on your pets when you pop out to the grocery store. I love than you can use the display as a photo frame, and select a slideshow of your favorite pictures to pop up in any room. While it is smaller than the Echo Show 8, it still delivers everything you need and more. Despite its size, the sound is still well rounded and dang loud! I love that I can control the music just by asking Alexa, or just tapping the screen, rather than having to rely on my phone. This is the newest version of the Amazon Echo Show 8 and it has had some major upgrades. There is improved audio, including spatial audio, and room acoustic sensing to get the most out of your favorite music. The processor has been improved for faster responses from the display, making the overall experience so much smoother. As an added bonus, you're also getting early access to Alexa+ when you buy the Echo Show 8. There are only two color choices with the Show 8; charcoal or glacier white, but both are understated. The HD touchscreen on the Echo Show 8 is also bigger than the Show 5 at eight-inches. The camera has also had a major upgrade and is now 13MP, making it easier to stay connected and make calls with other Echo Show users (this is one of my favorite features). Pairing with your smart home hub also couldn't be easier as it supports Bluetooth and WiFi to manage any cameras or lighting you may have by using Alexa voice commands. And perhaps best of all, you can watch your favorite shows by connecting to Prime Video or Netflix, so you can keep up with your latest binge watch while getting on with your day. This is the iteration of the Echo Show 5 just for Kids. It has all the same features as the regular Echo Show with calling enabled and access to streaming for TV and music. But is also has learn and play functions, so kids can even ask Alexa for help with their homework. Included in this awesome Prime Day deal is a 1-year subscription to Amazon Kids+, which includes kid-friendly songs, shows and audio books. With parental controls, usage limits can be set, and Alexa with also filter any explicit lyrics in songs that are playing. It's a really cool first step into the world of independence for kids. Okay, I hear ya! This technically isn't an Echo Show, but it does have a cute display screen with the time and weather forecast. At $44, this compact speaker is an absolute steal. I have one on my nightstand at home and I can enjoy pretty great audio while the display screen shows me what's playing. This is a feature I actually love since it's a little like having the vinyl case propped up next to the record player (except not at all). Having Alexa just a shout away when I wake up in the morning is also super convenient. I have set a wake up routine so Alexa wakes me up with music, instantly putting me in a better mood than when I used the harsh alarm from my phone. While you don't get the headlines or vibrant images of the Echo Show models, the Echo Spot is more than enough to have on your nightstand, and it actually makes everything so much easier. It also comes in three colors, black, glacier white and ocean blue, to go with whatever room decor you have. For more great discounts, check out our Prime Day deals live blog.
