Amazon Inc. showed off its next generation of Kindle, Ring and Echo devices, among other gadgets, at a presentation and showcase in New York.
The lineup of gadgets, all powered by artificial intelligence, includes new cameras for its Ring video monitoring device with a new AI facial recognition feature that allows users to register friends and family and notify them who is at the front door, The Associated Press reported.
Amazon unveiled four new Echo devices revamped with Alexa+ that serve up personalized insights like whether the user left the front door unlocked after midnight. The Seattle-based company also announced a series of Alexa+-infused Fire TVs that offer more personalized searches like finding a specific scene in a movie or getting commentary about last night’s football game.
Panos Panay, who joined Amazon in 2023 to lead its devices and services teams, told the audience of several hundred journalists and bloggers that Alexa+ and artificial intelligence are allowing technology to work “in the background when you don’t.”
“Products creating subtle shifts in all our behavior, driven by AI, integrated into the hardware,” said Panay, who came to Amazon after 19 years at Microsoft. “And flowing natural through the products themselves. Whether it’s a camera catching what you missed. Or your Fire TV updating you on a game. Or your Kindle remembering exactly where you left off.”
Amazon’s effort to infuse more AI into its device line-up is part of technology’s latest craze as all the industry’s major players jockey to gain the upper hand, according to the AP report.
According to the AP, Samsung and Google have been making more significant strides with the AI features on their devices than Apple has made with the iPhone, which still doesn’t have all the tools that the company promised more than a year ago. Meanwhile, OpenAI has joined forces with former Apple design guru Jony Ive to work on a wearable device built on AI technology.
