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Amazon held its fall event last week where it introduced brand new products and updates to existing products. If you already have Amazon products, your products may have become even more useful. And you may find some interesting new tech in these announcements.
Note that last week Amazon also announced a second Prime Day coming soon. So, if you’re thinking of ordering any of these products and you’re an Amazon Prime Member, you may want to wait until Prime Day on October 11 and 12.
Kindle Scribe
Kindle Scribe is a new product from Amazonthat transforms its Kindle ereader into a tablet you can write on. The Kindle Scribe uses eInk and comes with a glare-free Paperwhite 10.2-inch (25.91 cm), 300 pixels per inch (ppi) display so you can use it in bright sunlight. The pen never needs charging and the battery life of the Scribe tablet is months, according to Amazon.
Unlike Kindle ereaders, the Kindle Scribe comes with a pen/stylus that you can use to write on it. The Scribe includes a Basic Pen or you can opt for a Premium Pen that lets you push a button to activate an eraser or a highlighter. Like Kindle ereaders, you can read Kindle books on the Scribe.
You can write notes in books, PDF documents, and journals. With Send to Kindle, you can send articles and PDF documents to the Scribe, then mark them up with your pen. Beginning in early 2023, you’ll be able to use Send to Kindle within Word Documents.
Learn more at => Send to Kindle — eRead (Almost) Anything
“Kindle Scribe is the best Kindle we’ve ever built, creating a reading and writing experience that feels like real paper,” said Kevin Keith, vice president of Amazon Devices. “It’s inspired by the Kindle customers who have added billions of notes and highlights to books over the years, and it’s also ideal for reviewing and marking up documents, managing your to-do list, or doodling over a big idea. Plus, it offers all the Kindle benefits customers know and love—millions of books on demand, adjustable fonts, premium reading features, and weeks and weeks of battery life—with the benefit of a beautiful, large display.”
Kindle Scribe is available for pre-order now with delivery scheduled for late November. Storage options are 16, 32, or 64 GB. Prices begin at $339 with the Basic Pen or $369 with the Premium Pen.
Don’t miss => Amazon Introduces New and Improved Kindle Ereaders for 2022
Halo Rise
Update => As of July 31, 2023, Amazon will be discontinuing support of its Halo products. Owners of Amazon Halo products and subscribers to Halo fitness services will receive refunds.
Learn more about Amazon’s decision at: Our decision to wind down Amazon Halo
Halo Rise is another brand new product from Amazon, If you’ve been wanting a sleep monitor but don’t want to wear something on your wrist when you sleep, then Halo Rise may be for you.
Amazon’s Halo Rise is a device that sits on your nightstand to measure the quality of your sleep using low-power sensing technology. The device senses your respiration and movement patterns, without a camera or microphone. It also measures temperature, light, and humidity in the room. You can use Halo Rise to wake you up in the morning with an alarm or by turning on its Wake-up Light which simulates the sunrise. Halo Rise can sense your ideal sleep stage for getting up and adjust your alarm time accordingly.
When you wake, you can see a report of your sleep in the Halo app on your phone or ask Alexa to show you your sleep report, if you have an Echo device nearby.
Halo Rise includes a six-month membership to Amazon’s Halo health and fitness service, which is required to use Halo Rise. After that, Halo membership costs $3.99 per month.
Also see => Amazon’s New Halo Band Tracks Your Fitness and Well-Being
If you’re interested in learning more about Halo Rise or being notified when it’s available for pre-order, check out the Amazon Halo Rise page. When it arrives, Halo Rise will be priced at $139.99.
Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED Smart TV
Amazon introduced a new smart TV that is so smart, it knows when you’re in the room. The Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED Smart TV comes with Alexa built in and can stream Prime Video, Disney +, Netflix, HBO Max, Peacock, and more. You can place a Zoom call, see your Amazon Photos, and Drop In to other Echo devices from this TV.
As with other Alexa devices, you can use your voice to control this smart TV, including asking Alexa to turn on the TV, adjust the volume, change the channel, etc. The TV senses when you’re in the room and can display artwork or photos to entertain you even when you’re not watching a show.
With its HDR10+ Adaptive technology, this TV can sense the light in the room and adapt its brightness accordingly.
If you have Echo speakers in the room, you can wirelessly connect them to this Smart TV with the Alexa Home Theater feature.
The Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED Smart TV comes in 65-inch (165.1 cm) and 75-inch (190.5 cm) sizes and is available for pre-order now starting at $799.99.
Echo Dot
Amazon has upgraded its Echo Dot and Echo Dot with Clock with improved speakers for better audio, music, and vocals. This new, 5th generation Echo Dot comes with a temperature sensor that can be used with Alexa to automatically turn on a compatible ceiling fan or other Alexa devices.
Included in this Echo Dot is eero Wi-Fi that can extend your eero Wi-Fi network up to 1,000 square feet (185/81 square meters).
Find out more about eero at => eero – A Device to Rid Your Home of Wi-Fi Dead Spots
This video from amazon introduces the 5th Generation Echo Dot:
The 5th Generation Echo Dot is available in three colors for pre-order now with shipping on October 20. Priced at $49.99, the 5th-generation Echo Dot is about half the price of an eero Beacon Wi-Fi extender.
For $10 more, you can get the 5th Generation Echo Dot with Clock that also has the eero Wi-Fi extender and displays the time, weather, or title of the song that’s playing.
Updates to Existing Amazon Devices
If you have any existing Amazon devices, they may become more useful with software updates announced last week by Amazon.
Amazon’s Astro robot will soon be able to monitor for intruders, open doors, and pets.
The 4th generation Echo Dot will be getting eero Wi-Fi with a software upgrade in the coming months.
Later this year, the Echo Show 15, Amazon’s largest Echo Show, will be getting Fire TV so you’ll be able to watch streaming channels on the device.
You’ll soon be able to Shop the Look with your Echo Show. When you see someone on your Echo Show screen wearing something you like, you can ask, “Alexa, show me that shirt.” The Echo Show will then show you similar shirts for sale on Amazon.
Echo and eero devices will soon be compatible with Matter, the cross-platform standard that connects smart devices with Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant.
Your Thoughts
Were you surprised by any of Amazon’s announcements? Which of the new devices are most interesting to you? Which updates to existing Amazon devices are you most interested in?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
