Amazon Alexa event — live updates and last-minute rumors
Everything you need to know about Amazon's Devices event - Alexa and more
Is it time for a new smart speaker? Amazon is holding a Devices event on Wednesday, February 26, its first since September 2023. Typically, these events are used to reveal the latest Alexa-enabled devices, as well as improvements to Amazon's voice assistant.
We went into a bit of detail as to what we think we might see at tomorrow's event in a separate post, but to summarize, we're pretty sure we're going to get an update on Alexa with new AI capabilities.
When Amazon sent out its invites for the event, there were five versions, each with a different background. When strung together, they spell out "Alexa," so it would be pretty wild if that wasn't a focus of the event.
We're also reasonably certain that we might get a new Echo device or twenty. It's been a while since we've had a new entry on the best smart speakers and best smart displays.
Amazon Devices event: Date and time
Amazon's Devices event is on February 26, and will start at 10 am ET. As with most Devices events, this one will not be livestreamed by Amazon, but we'll provide updates here, so be sure to bookmark this page for all the latest news.
Leading up to the event itself, we'll also be providing analysis and context around Amazon's events and products.
I'm the U.S. Editor-in-Chief for Tom's Guide, and have been attending Amazon's Devices and services events for more than a decade. I was even there for the launch of the Amazon Fire Phone in 2014. I'll be at tomorrow's event, too.
Will Alexa retain skills?
Assuming the event does announce an upgraded Alexa, we wonder if the smart assistant will retain some of its skills.
Currently, Alexa skills are basically audio apps that adds to the assistant's capabilities. There are tons of skills available to Alexa right now and it can be a slog to find the best Alexa Skills.
With the push toward AI and Amazon reportedly wanting a more robust Gemini-like or agentic AI assistant will these skills be folded into the LLMs used by Alexa or will they still be separate pieces that you mod on to the platform?
At the end of the day how new will Alexa actually be is the real question? What will get added and what will disappear?
For now we don't know but we expect to hear much more tomorrow.
What we don’t expect to see
One thing we’re pretty sure that won’t be announced is a new Kindle. Amazon announced four new Kindles in October: the Kindle Scribe, the Kindle Colorsoft, the Kindle (2024), and the Kindle Paperwhite (2024). The Scribe, Amazon’s only Kindle that’s compatible with a stylus, also recently got an update that makes note-taking a lot easier. Two of these made it to our list of the best Kindles.
Considering the last time Amazon updated its Kindles was 2022, we’re confident that there won’t be any new e-readers.
Here's how polite we are to digital assistants
When it comes to talking to Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant, it looks like most of us are minding our manners. According to a new study from Future (the parent company of Tom's Guide), "more than 55% of respondents say they consistently use polite language when interacting with AI, up from 49% in the previous survey." This could be a reflection of the growing sophistication of digital assistants, or our growing comfort using them in everyday situations.
Still, a good chunk of the survey respondents (20 percent) were more brusque in their dealings, while another 13 percent said that these assistants weren't worthy of politeness.
How polite (or rude) are you to Alexa?
A new Amazon Echo?
It's now been three years since the Echo Dot (5th gen) was released and four years since the 4th-gen Amazon Echo. Previously, Amazon would only wait between 2-3 years before waiting to update its flagship Alexa devices.
Sadly, Amazon discontinued the Echo Dot with Clock last year, which was one of our favorite smart speakers, and replaced it with the Echo Spot, which has a larger, more functional display, but costs $80, compared to the $50 price of the Dot with Clock.
Apart from its design going from a puck to a sphere, most changes to the Echo Dots the past few years have addressed the internals, such as adding support for eero mesh routers and compatibility with the Matter smart home standard.
However, last summer, a Wall Street Journal article reported that Amazon was losing billions on its smart speaker business, because it sold the devices at a loss, but never figured out how to monetize Alexa on the back end. So, it’s no surprise that the company has slowed down the release of new products.
Everything we saw at the last Amazon Devices event
At all of the Amazon Devices events I’ve attended, the company typically releases a dozen or more new products at one go, which can be a dizzying experience. Here’s everything that was announced the last go-round:
- Fire TV Soundbar ($119)
- Fire TV Stick 4K ($49 / AU$79) features a 1.7GHz processor, and supports Wi-Fi 6 and 4K Ultra HD streams
- Fire TV Stick 4K Max ($59 / AU$119) offers Wi-Fi 6e, 2GHz quad-core processor, Dolby Vision and HDR 10+ and Dolby Atmos Audio.
- eero Max 7 ($599) Wi-Fi 7 mesh router delivering speeds of up to 4.3 Gbps and wired speeds of up to 9.4 Gbps.
- Blink Sync Module 2 ($49) lets you place your Blink Outdoor 4 cameras further away for better coverage in large homes.
- Echo Hub ( $179 / AU$329): a smart home controller with an 8-inch screen for controlling smart home devices and viewing your security cameras.
- Echo Frames ($269): The latest generation of Amazon's smart glasses boast 6 hours of battery life, better audio and speech-processing technology. They also now come in seven different styles.
- Echo Show 8 ($149): The second-gen model now has an edge-to-edge display, a centered camera, and spatial audio. In addition, it can adapt it sound based on the room in which it’s placed.
- Echo Pop Kids ($49): The Echo Pop, but with either a Marvel-themed or Disney-themed face, and includes six months of Amazon Kids+.
- Fire HD 10 Kids and Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablets ($189)
- Blink Outdoor 4 Floodlight Camera ($129): The Blink Outdoor 4, but with two large LED panels.
- Ring Stick Up Cam Pro: This comes in three configurations - the Battery and plug-in models cost $179.99, and the Solar model is $209.99.
Meet the new boss
This Amazon Devices event will the the first hosted by Panos Panay, who took over Amazon's hardware division from Dave Limp back in 2023. Prior to Amazon, Panay worked at Microsoft, where he launched the Surface line of laptops and tablets in 2012, as well as Windows 11 in 2021. Limp has gone on to become the CEO of Blue Origin, another one of Jeff Bezos' companies.
Alexa on tap?
One of the biggest questions surrounding the event will be if we’ll see the new and improved Alexa that was teased in the September 2023 Amazon Devices event. At that gathering, which took place at Amazon’s Washington, DC headquarters, we saw an AI-enabled Alexa that was able to respond in a more conversational tone, answer more complex questions, and provide greater context and personalization. Initial rumors said that it was using an in-house AI, while a later report said that Alexa would be powered by Anthropic's Claude AI.
However, since that event, there’s been very little announced about Amazon’s assistant, except for the fact that it was being delayed, first to October 2024, and then even later, according to a report in November.
Will Amazon charge for Alexa?
Among the other rumors surrounding the new-and-improved Alexa (codenamed “Remarkable) is that it could cost anywhere from $5 to $10 per month to use. While many AIs require a subscription to use their advanced features, it will be interesting to see if everyday consumers will pay for Alexa, given that Google, Samsung, and Apple offer their AI services for free.
