The 5 hottest AI features from Amazon’s September hardware reveal
Amazon showcased all kinds of new and upgraded hardware at its fall event this year, but the common theme running through almost every reveal was the enhancement and integration of AI, namely Amazon’s new Alexa+ assistant. Though AI permeated the whole event, here are five of the most striking AI features discussed that might entice you to buy Amazon’s new lineup.
New Echos, new Alexa+
The centerpiece of Alexa+ and Amazon’s AI upgrade is the new Echo Dot Max and Echo Studio smart speakers, as well as the Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11 smart displays. The Echos are built to run Alexa+, with enough power to even handle some tasks without relying on the cloud.
It’s more than just raw power. The new Echos can track conversations more deeply, remember past interactions, and sustain a more natural back‑and‑forth. You won’t feel like the AI rebooted its brain each morning. Instead, the assistant can carry threads forward and act from a more informed vantage.Alexa+ is built into the devices, too; no setup gymnastics are needed.
TV brains
Alexa+ is also coming to Fire TV, making the smart TVs a lot more like their smaller Echo Show cousins. The AI assistant adapts to more of an entertainment focus, though. The scene search feature lets viewers ask Alexa+ to skip to specific moments in a movie or show with vague references like “the big fight” or “the dating montage” without navigating manually. The Fire TVs can also use Alexa+ to follow conversations, with natural follow-ups better when asking about performers or trivia related to what’s on-screen. The new AI features will be available with the new Fire TV Stick 4K and Fire TV Omni QLED displays, as well as for users enrolled in Alexa+ early access.
Kindle’s AI secretary
The new Kindle Scribe lineup comes with its own set of new AI tools for both reading and writing on the device. The AI can read handwriting without needing to convert it to a digital format. That means you can search across any handwritten notes. For instance, you might ask the Kindle, “Where did I mention my spouse in my notes?” and see the relevant notebook entries appear.
The Kindle can also summarize your handwritten notes, find important themes, and compare across different categories. And if you need more from the notes, you can send them to Alexa+ as the basis for additional requests.
Doorbell chats
Amazon is unsurprisingly weaving Alexa+ into its other product lines, including Ring and Blink. In particular, Ring doorbells are adding the Alexa+ Greetings feature, which will allow the AI to speak directly to visitors at the door, explaining where to leave packages and even deciding if the solicitor at the door warrants letting the homeowner know about the visit. The Familiar Faces feature uses AI facial recognition to identify people you know, so your friends aren’t dismissed with the Amway salesman.
And for pet owners, the new Search Party feature uses AI and the neighborhood to find lost pets. If a dog goes missing and you report it in the Ring app, participating neighborhood cameras will analyze footage with AI-based object recognition to see if the dog has walked by and report possible sightings.
Agent Alexa+
This range of services points to how Amazon is pushing Alexa+ to act more proactively and go beyond a single action to complete a larger goal. This includes capabilities such as booking appointments, organizing calendars for multiple people, and even following up on uncertain plans.
Amazon suggests you could ask Alexa+ to “find a restaurant for dinner Friday near me, make a reservation, and schedule a ride,” and have the AI check your availability and confirm details through connected apps. The AI can personalize the process too, using past interactions, preferences, and ongoing tasks when making decisions.
The more powerful hardware makes these upgrades possible and makes Amazon’s push to unify its ecosystem under Alexa+ entirely feasible. But Alexa+ isn’t operating in a vacuum. The new devices and AI features face formidable AI competition from Microsoft, OpenAI, Google, Meta, and others. Keeping “Alexa” the default term for a smart home AI is far from assured, no matter how clever the Echo gets at running your life.
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Amazon showcased all kinds of new and upgraded hardware at its fall event this year, but the common theme running through almost every reveal was the enhancement and integration of AI, namely Amazon’s new Alexa+ assistant. Though AI permeated the whole event, here are five of the most striking AI…
