Amazon Unveils New Hardware and Partnerships for CES 2023
This week, Amazon made some big announcements during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas. The electronics and retail giant unveiled some new hardware as well as major developments regarding its collaborations across different brands and partners.
New Hardware
Amazon announced the Ring Car Cam, which brings Ring technology to automobiles. The Ring Car Cam can be managed from the Ring App, and comes with a dual-facing camera that can record footage during trips, or even when your car is turned off. When your car is parked, Car Cam’s remain active to keep an eye out for events inside and around your vehicle, and it can even send a real-time alert to let users watch what is happening live or talk directly with anyone in the car, in addition to voice commands. It will retail for $249.99, but will be available for $199.99 for a limited time during pre-order.
The company also announced the Ring Peephole Cam that comes with pretty much all the standard video doorbell features for consumers, with the main difference being its installation set-up in the peephole on your door. It comes with a 1080p HD camera, night vision, Two-Way Talk, and Knock, and Motion Detection. It’s available now in the US for $129.99.
Features for EVs
Amazon likewise unveiled its new Alexa-enabled electric vehicle charging features, which will allow drivers to communicate with Alexa to help them find, navigate to, and pay for public charging spots using voice commands. Customers will be able to use the service to search for over 150,000 public charging stations in the U.S.
This new feature is made possible through a partnership with EVgo, one of the USA’s largest fast-charging networks, and by other operators. Customers with Alexa-enabled vehicles and Echo Auto accessories can also ask Alexa to find the closest EVgo charging station and, once they arrive, initiate and pay for their charge, just by saying, “Alexa, pay for my charge.”
Smart Collaborations
Partnering with Panasonic Automotive, Amazon also announced an update to Panasonic Automotive’s SkipGen in-vehicle infotainment system, providing customers with access to Alexa or “Hey Siri” features in Apple CarPlay. Panasonic Automotive’s SkipGen features a user-friendly experience via in-vehicle voice requests through integration with Apple CarPlay, alongside Amazon’s technologies across wake word detection, speech region detection, multiple voice assistant arbitration, and the Alexa Auto SDK.
Building on the strengths of its Alexa product, the company has also showcased partnerships with several other AI-focused brands and technology.
Amazon has also partnered with Josh.ai to provide consumers with better value and functionality across different services – Josh.ai is a home intelligence system designed to manage and control integrated devices through natural language processing, and as such Amazon will be demonstrating multi-assistant integration for Josh.ai devices, essentially combining Alexa and Josh.ai into an easily accessible service on connected devices.
Additionally, Amazon has teamed up with Hey Disney! in order to showcase the latter’s capabilities. Hey Disney! recently began appearing in limited hotel rooms at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, and will soon be available for customers in the U.S. to purchase in the Alexa Skills Store or with an Amazon Kids+ subscription.
Furthermore, Amazon announced additional Alexa Fund portfolio companies showcasing new and existing innovations at CES, including a test demo featuring Labrador’s Retriever Assistant Robot and Echo Show 10, Orbital Systems’ circular shower system, Amazon’s long-range connectivity network “Sidewalk,” as well as Matter support for iOS, Thread, additional device types like thermostats, blinds, and sensors, and compatible Echo products, to name a few.
Source: Amazon