Amazon Alexa event live – latest news and rumors ahead of devices and service announcements
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It seems a lot of Reddit users are shocked at the idea of potentially paying for Alexa, which isn’t too surprising considering how many people only use its most basic features. Last summer, it emerged that Amazon had made over $25 billion in losses from its smart device business between 2017 and 2021, partly because owners prefer to use their smart speakers to set alarms and not much else.
“We worried [we’d] hired 10,000 people and we’ve built a smart timer,” one former senior employee told the Wall Street Journal.
When might Alexa 2.0 actually land?
It seems almost certain that we’ll hear about Alexa 2.0 during today’s big Amazon event – but when will it actually roll out to smart speakers? The latest rumors suggest a rollout might not happen until March 31, because Amazon needs to make some tweaks to improve the assistant’s accuracy.
That doesn’t seem like a lot of extra time to make meaningful adjustments, so I’m hoping we don’t get a vague “in the coming months” release window for the rebooted Alexa today.
But Amazon does need to get it right – it’s supposedly planning to charge $5-$10 a month (around £5-£10 / AU$8-AU$16) for full access to its AI-powered Alexa. With ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode now coming to its free tier (an announcement that was surely timed to rain on Amazon’s parade), Alexa 2.0 will need to be capable of some impressive tricks to justify that rumored cost.
As we patiently wait for Amazon to commence its first device-focussed event since 2023, we’ve been casting our predictions and throwing guesses as to what could be unveiled later today. As it stands, we’re pretty confident that the AI-infused Alexa 2.0 will receive a release date after it was teased at Amazon’s last Alexa event and like we’ve said, the voice assistant has been revolutionary in the realm of smart home tech since its inception over a decade ago. Therefore, it’s definitely time for a revamp, but the catch is that Amazon has been toying with the idea of a subscription fee for the new AI voice assistant.
Other rumors we’ve spotted also point to a new Echo smart speaker device which could serve as a new home for Alexa 2.0. Amazon’s lineup of Fire TV devices may also have their time in the spotlight at today’s event with speculations pointing to new function updates and maybe even new hardware announcements.
For a deeper insight to what Amazon could be announcing be sure to check our roundup of the four things you can expect to see at Amazon’s Alexa event!
Especially at release, Alexa was a real game-changer, but with the passage of time comes new technology and new demands on aging software. That’s certainly the case with Alexa; the voice assistant has seen many quality of life updates and new features, but it’s starting to show its age.
There’s plenty that could be improved, but I wrote yesterday about five specific features that would make Alexa 2.0 genuinely worthwhile. Check it out!
With rumors flying about Alexa 2.0’s subscription fee, we’ll hopefully be learning more later today on what that means for the original Alexa. Logic would dictate they wouldn’t fully ditch it and would leave that as the ‘basic’ option in all Echo devices, right? Right?
Anyway, for a refresher on what Alexa can do, check out our list of the Best Alexa Skills and commands.
Instead of a Devices and Services event in 2024, Amazon opted to trickle various product releases throughout the year, including a surprise launch for the all-new Echo Show 21, as well as second generations of the Echo Spot and Echo Show 15.
We’ve reviewed them all – check them out!
Welcome to our live blog coverage of Amazon’s Devices and Services event! Our very own Lance Ulanoff and Jacob Krol are on the ground in New York City to attend the event in person, and I’ll be covering all the news as we learn more from Amazon about its 2025 products.
Stay tuned, because this could be a big moment for Amazon!
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Refresh 2025-02-26T11:12:48.324Z It seems a lot of Reddit users are shocked at the idea of potentially paying for Alexa, which isn’t too surprising considering how many people only use its most basic features. Last summer, it emerged that Amazon had made over $25 billion in losses from its smart device…
