Amazon wearables launch with Echo Frames smart glasses, Echo Loop ring

Posted:
in General Discussion edited November 2020
Alongside a host of other announcements, Amazon has debuted smart glasses called Echo Frames and a ring named the Echo Loop, all aimed at integrating Alexa further into people's lives.

Exploded view of Amazon's Echo Loop smart ring
Exploded view of Amazon's Echo Loop smart ring


The Echo Frames are audio-only, with no camera or screen. The eyeglasses weigh 31 grams, and will allow the user to connect to Amazon services including Alexa at a tap.

The glasses use directional microphones and speakers that focus the audio input and output toward the user. The software for the frames will have a "VIP filter" to keep notifications to a bare minimum while you're wearing the glasses.

Smart specs! Echo Frames let you use @alexa99 on the go and keep your hands, ears, and eyes free. https://t.co/ugT22XhFIn pic.twitter.com/aku0fCuwbV

-- Amazon News (@amazonnews)
Echo Frames will retail for a $179.99 "special invite price" and will be limited to only those that Amazon allows to purchase at launch. A timetable for release is not yet available.

The Echo Loop finger ring has a titanium frame, with two microphones activated by a press of a button on the bottom. The ring will notify users of a notification with a small motor in the device.

The Echo Loop has a similar invite-only purchase process, and will sell in "limited quantities" for $129.99.

The new Echo Loop ring is enabled with @alexa99 to provide more information at your fingertips - literally. https://t.co/ugT22XhFIn pic.twitter.com/xOr4lgvFtV

-- Amazon News (@amazonnews)
Both systems need to be tethered to a smartphone -- iPhone included -- to function.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    Amazon wants to turn us into this:



    Complete with invasive spying, and advertisements as we regenerate...
    tmaygilly33jahbladerandominternetpersonviclauyyclolliverwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 15
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,189member
    Bone conduction headphones like AfterShokz offer a far better and cheaper solution. More private and less obtrusive.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 15
    Yuck.

    YMMV.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 15
    So a glasses form factor but no video/visual capabilities for input or output?  Because people love wearing glasses?
    king editor the gratelolliverAppleExposedllamawatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 15
    I see there’s also an Alexa microwave...
  • Reply 6 of 15
    JapheyJaphey Posts: 1,767member
    Smart rings are the obvious next step in wearables. There are already a few on the market and I guarantee Apple is working on them as we speak. But Amazon? No thank you. The last thing I need is for them to know every time I use the restroom or have (ahem) alone time with my girlfriend. Then have to deal with the constant bombardment of “suggestions” for appropriate toilet paper, candles, scented oils, and maybe a playlist of smooth-jazz to enhance the mood. I hate smooth jazz. 
    I think a better use for rings would be smart home control, television navigation, locking/unlocking your doors, ApplePay, etc. But this blatant attempt at total surveillance by Amazon is both arrogant and appalling. 
    randominternetpersonkevin keegilly33watto_cobrabadmonk
  • Reply 7 of 15
    So a glasses form factor but no video/visual capabilities for input or output?  Because people love wearing glasses?
    Apparently you can add a prescription, in which case I can see people using this over earbuds, but for others why would you? 

    Also, a talking ring? Please tell me there’s a Sauron setting. 
    king editor the graterandominternetpersongilly33beowulfschmidtwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 15
    So a glasses form factor but no video/visual capabilities for input or output?  Because people love wearing glasses?
    Actually, they make a lot of sense if one already wears glasses and are looped into the Alexa universe. It’s a pretty popular service from what I’ve heard (including people I know, not just second-hand accounts).
  • Reply 9 of 15
    So a glasses form factor but no video/visual capabilities for input or output?  Because people love wearing glasses?
    Actually, they make a lot of sense if one already wears glasses and are looped into the Alexa universe. It’s a pretty popular service from what I’ve heard (including people I know, not just second-hand accounts).
    Why do they make sense?  You still need your phone...

    What do they do better than earbuds?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 15
    AppleExposedAppleExposed Posts: 1,805unconfirmed, member
    When a shopping website is more innovative than Google.

    Well, at least Alexa is the Siri knockoff that is taking attention away from Googles crap. Gotta love fragmentation.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 15
    In the Land of Amazon where the Shadows lie.
    One Ring to spy them all, One Ring to find them,
    One Ring to sell them all and in the darkness bind them
    In the Land of Amazon where the Shadows lie.
    gilly33bestkeptsecretwatto_cobrabadmonk
  • Reply 12 of 15
    Alexa... The spy that is always listening. STASI/KGB, eat your heart out.

    Amazon to rename itself 'The Borg' in 2024 perhaps? It seems that is the way they are heading.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 15
    I'll wait for the Apple EarRing, thanks.  Get my ears pierced, and have Siri, my phone, and all my music with me all the time...
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 15
    Next up – Alexa implants.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 15
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,350member
    cpsro said:
    Bone conduction headphones like AfterShokz offer a far better and cheaper solution. More private and less obtrusive.
    No, not really. Equal on a good day, Maybe better for music than the glasses, but that would probably be about it. 


    So a glasses form factor but no video/visual capabilities for input or output?  Because people love wearing glasses?
    Tint the lenses to a desired degree and you have sunglasses. And there are already a lot of people wearing glasses that would make this a very logical decision.


    Why do they make sense?  You still need your phone...
    Yes, you still need your phone, just like you do with Apple non-LTE Watches, and like you do for things LTE Watches can't do. You just don't need your phone in your hand nearly as much.



    What do they do better than earbuds?
    Who knows, do you? What do you think you know about a product that's not even out yet? My guess is that they don't block your ears when they're not needed, yet unlike earbuds, they don't need to be removed when not in use, and don't interfere with person to person conversation.

    So unlike your implications, I'd say that these products are subject to individual preferences. 

    The Echo Frames look a little bulky to me, and are more Clark Kent Clunk than Cruise Wayfarers. So even with tinted lenses, I'd pass. That and I'm not that big of an Alexa user, and not at all when out of the house. Maybe that could change by the time these are iOS compatible.

    The ring is almost a different story. I don't wear them (long time habit of former work-related liability, ripped-off fingers are disconcerting) and the Loop is also a bit bulky. But when a fitness and Siri-aware device, that could change. Wearing watches since the military and for work, they're second nature and I feel naked without one. Still not a ring guy.
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