Amazon's most anticipated event this year: the unveiling of AI-powered Alexa assistant, new speakers, tablets, routers, and other hardware.

On Wednesday, September 20th, in Eastern Time, Amazon held its most anticipated product launch event of the year. With the help of generative artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, the Alexa voice assistant, new Echo speakers, computers, glasses, televisions, and other hardware made their debut, aiming to attract buyers with a full range of new products before the arrival of major holiday shopping seasons such as "Black Friday," Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Alexa Provides ChatGPT-like Conversational Interaction and Hands-free Emergency Assistance Services

Amazon announced that nearly 1 billion Alexa devices have been sold and will launch a "preview" version of Alexa based on generative AI in the United States. The new version of Alexa will be equipped with new features powered by generative AI technology. Alexa devices will provide incoming call translation functionality.

Amazon stated that the new Alexa system will focus on conversational interfaces, real-world applications, personalization, individualization, and privacy. Dave Limp, Senior Vice President of Amazon Devices and Services, said that users can now have "human-like interaction" with Alexa.

Amazon demonstrated on-site how the new Alexa interface can engage in live conversations with users, similar to the interaction in ChatGPT. Through conversations with users, the system learns about their preferences, such as their favorite sports team. Based on previous conversations, Alexa can understand the user's routine requests for devices without the need for users to provide context or wake words.

Similar to ChatGPT, the Alexa system can also send text messages on behalf of users. For example, a screen-based Alexa can invite a user's friends to watch a game.

Amazon also introduced a feature called "Emergency Assistance," which allows users to initiate hands-free emergency assistance calls through Alexa. The service costs $5.99 per month or $59 per year.

While Alexa cannot directly dial 911 for help, it can automatically contact the user's pre-set emergency contacts to seek assistance and inform them which device the call is coming from. Users can save basic information such as home address, access codes, medications being taken, and any potential allergies in advance, so that this information can be provided to emergency responders when using the emergency assistance service.

The Echo 8 speaker is priced at approximately $150, and the Fire Kids tablet starts at around $190.

Amazon launches the redesigned Echo 8 with upgraded speakers, priced at $149.99 and shipping starting from October.

The Echo 8 utilizes computer vision to adjust its interface based on the distance between the user and the screen. When the user is far from the speaker, the Echo 8's weather app displays the temperature, and when the user approaches it, the weather forecast for the remaining day is shown.

The new interface speeds up the response time of Alexa, the voice assistant of Echo 8, by 40% and introduces new sustainable features, including packaging recycling.

Amazon also introduces new speakers and tablets for children, namely Echo Dot Pop and Fire Kids. The new 10-inch tablet for children will be available in October, starting at $189.99. There are standard versions of Fire HD 10 Kids and Fire HD 10 Kids Pro, which are suitable for older children.

Compared to the previous generation, the new Fire HD 10 Kids is approximately 25% faster. Both devices are equipped with a 10.1-inch 1080p display, 3GB of RAM, and a battery life of up to 13 hours.

The smart home controller Echo Hub is priced at around $180

Amazon releases its first true smart home controller, Echo Hub, priced at $179.99. It features an 8-inch touchscreen and is a thinner version of Echo Show 8 or a smaller version of Show 15. It can be placed flush with the wall or supported on a table or shelf with a stand.

Although it looks similar to a tablet, Echo Hub runs on the same operating system as the new Show 5, with a different processor and no camera.

The new router Eero Max 7 starts at around $600, and the Fire TV Stick 4K streaming player starts at around $50

Amazon introduces the new router Eero Max 7, starting at $599.99, with built-in Zigbee and Thread routing. It has two 10GB Ethernet ports for wired connections with a speed of up to 9.4Gbps, and the router can connect up to 200 devices simultaneously.

Amazon has launched new streaming media players - the upgraded Fire TV Stick 4K and Fire TV Stick 4K Max, priced at $49.99 and $59.99 respectively. New Fire TV buyers will receive six months of free MGM+ service.

The standard version of Fire TV Stick 4K offers a 30% improvement in performance compared to the previous generation, supporting Wi-Fi 6 network and 4K streaming, as well as Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HDR10 Plus. The Max version, in addition to the features of the standard version, supports Wi-Fi 6E network and has double the storage space, now at 16GB.

Amazon stated that over 200 million Fire TV devices have been sold and an improved version of Fire TV search interaction will be launched later this year.

Outdoor security camera Blink Sync Module Pro is priced at approximately $50, and the smart glasses Echo Frames start at around $270.

The new wireless home security camera Blink, launched by Amazon, has added a sync module that extends the battery life of this outdoor camera to four years. The Blink Sync Module Pro expands the range of Blink cameras beyond Wi-Fi and will be available for $49.99, launching early next year.

Amazon has also introduced the new Echo Frames smart glasses, equipped with Alexa assistant, improved battery performance, and a battery life of up to 6 hours. They will be available later, starting at $269.99.