USA TODAY US Edition

Alexa gets a face

Amazon’s new ‘Echo Show’ is here,

- Edward C. Baig and Elizabeth Weise @edbaig, @eweise USA TODAY

Amazon wants Alexa to be able to show as well as tell.

On Tuesday, the Internet’s powerhouse retailer announced the aptly named Echo Show, a new speaker where Amazon’s increasing­ly popular digital assistant can lend a voice — and helping hand.

As with the original Echo speaker where Alexa got its start, Echo Show contains an array of microphone­s that are always listening for the “Alexa” wake word.

What sets Echo Show apart is the addition of a 7-inch color touchscree­n, coupled with a front-facing (5-megapixel) camera. The product, available in white or black, resembles an old kitchen countertop TV set. It must be plugged in. According to Amazon, you can comfortabl­y view the screen from about 7 feet away, even in a bright environmen­t.

Such a screen lets you eyeball a weather forecast, peek at pictures, watch Prime movies, play

Jeopardy!, follow song lyrics, and — this will be the killer selling point for some — show off the newborn to grandma. In some respects, Echo Show will be an answer to Skype or FaceTime.

You can preorder Echo Show starting now for $229.99; it ships June 28. Amazon is taking $100 off the total price for people who buy a pair to encourage customers to engage in two-way video exchanges, by gifting friends and family with the second device.

Amazon has been leaning on its vocal digital assistant to spread the company’s artificial intelligen­ce system everywhere, certainly beyond the original Echo speaker, into phones, appliances and other products. There are now some 12,000 Alexa “skills.” Just last month, Amazon unveiled Echo Look, for now an invitation-only version of Echo that aims to help you pick out stylish outfits to wear. And competitio­n in the space is heating up, with Google Home and its own vocal Google Assistant, plus a new entry from Microsoft and Harman Kardon called Invoke, which leverages Microsoft’s Cortana.

It’s not much of a stretch to consider various ways in which someone with an Echo Show could benefit from the presence of a screen.

Instead of just having Alexa announce the results of a ball game, for example, you can watch highlights or check out a box score. Rather than have Alexa read your upcoming appointmen­ts, it can show you your calendar. And if Echo Show is in the kitchen, Alexa might help you prepare a feast on command: “Alexa, show roast turkey recipes on You Tube.”

Of course, Amazon being Amazon, you can also use Echo Show to buy ingredient­s for your meal, not to mention the myriad other items you can purchase through the retailer.

And you can control a gaggle of third-party smart Internet connected appliances in and around your home, such as the Ring Video Doorbell that could take the mystery out of who rang your bell: “Alexa, show the front door camera.”

One of the most compelling features is known as “Drop In,” letting folks remotely do just that with designated people who have been “white-listed” who also have an Echo Show. If you put them on this list, they can drop in on you; you can only drop in on them if they in turn approve you. There is no limit to the number of people who can be approved from Drop In, and you can whitelist someone from Echo Show or the Alexa app.

After summoning Alexa to drop in on a friend, say, you’ll initially see the person you’re trying to communicat­e with behind “frosted glass,” a view that remains for 10 seconds, after which the frost automatica­lly disappears. The other person has the option to reject a Drop In call altogether or to continue the conversati­on in an audio-only mode. You can always turn on a “do not disturb” setting during which you won’t be interrupte­d at all.

As Amazon puts it, this is the equivalent to giving grandma or your next-door neighbors the keys to your kitchen door, so it’s meant for people you’re really ready to welcome in any time they care to stop by.

 ?? AMAZON ??
AMAZON
 ?? Echo Show has a 7-inch touchscree­n. AMAZON ?? As Amazon puts it, this is the equivalent to giving grandma or your next-door neighbors the keys to your kitchen door.
Echo Show has a 7-inch touchscree­n. AMAZON As Amazon puts it, this is the equivalent to giving grandma or your next-door neighbors the keys to your kitchen door.
 ?? AMAZON ?? According to Amazon, you can comfortabl­y view the Echo Show screen from about 7 feet away.
AMAZON According to Amazon, you can comfortabl­y view the Echo Show screen from about 7 feet away.

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