Hands on: Amazon's video-enabled Echo Spot
The Echo Spot is Amazon's second smartspeaker with a built-in screen and occupies a unique space in the Echo ecosystem, especially for people with an assortment of smarthome accessories.
In most respects the Spot is like any other Echo. Voice commands that work with a regular model will work here, such as alarms, timers, traffic, flash briefings, music playback, and smarthome control. You can also ask general questions, even if Alexa's knowledgebase isn't as deep as Google Assistant's.
A screen, of course, creates extra possibilities. Typically you'll just see the time, local weather, and a rotating series of "cards" with things like headlines and Alexa commands to try. Those Alexa suggestions can be handy, since even if you already own an Echo you might be a little bewildered by your new options.
These include things like clockfaces, Alexa-to-Alexa video calls, a limited assortment of video-enhanced flash briefings, and playing content from Prime Video. Due to the ongoing spat between Amazon And Google, YouTube is very conspicuously absent. That being said a round, 2.5-inch screen isn't suitable for watching more than a few minutes of video anyway.
Where it does come in handy is with Alexa-compatible security cameras and doorbells. In our test house, with an August Doorbell Cam Pro, we were able to say "show me the front door camera" and get a live feed without pulling out our iPhone. Companies like Nest, Netgear, and Logitech also support live camera feeds.
We'll have more to say in our full review, including how it can help Apple users and how it lets them down, but right now it seems as if the Spot shines brightest as a bedside clock in a well-equipped smarthome. Even if you don't have a security camera, it's nice being able to turn on the lights, check weather, or wake up to your favorite Spotify playlist without rolling out of bed.
Keep following AppleInsider to check out our review.
In most respects the Spot is like any other Echo. Voice commands that work with a regular model will work here, such as alarms, timers, traffic, flash briefings, music playback, and smarthome control. You can also ask general questions, even if Alexa's knowledgebase isn't as deep as Google Assistant's.
A screen, of course, creates extra possibilities. Typically you'll just see the time, local weather, and a rotating series of "cards" with things like headlines and Alexa commands to try. Those Alexa suggestions can be handy, since even if you already own an Echo you might be a little bewildered by your new options.
These include things like clockfaces, Alexa-to-Alexa video calls, a limited assortment of video-enhanced flash briefings, and playing content from Prime Video. Due to the ongoing spat between Amazon And Google, YouTube is very conspicuously absent. That being said a round, 2.5-inch screen isn't suitable for watching more than a few minutes of video anyway.
Where it does come in handy is with Alexa-compatible security cameras and doorbells. In our test house, with an August Doorbell Cam Pro, we were able to say "show me the front door camera" and get a live feed without pulling out our iPhone. Companies like Nest, Netgear, and Logitech also support live camera feeds.
We'll have more to say in our full review, including how it can help Apple users and how it lets them down, but right now it seems as if the Spot shines brightest as a bedside clock in a well-equipped smarthome. Even if you don't have a security camera, it's nice being able to turn on the lights, check weather, or wake up to your favorite Spotify playlist without rolling out of bed.
Keep following AppleInsider to check out our review.
Comments
Weird time to review it.
It's certainly not competing with anything Apple is offering and they may never have anything in that space. Apple will always get by just fine despite anything Amazon or Google or Facebook or Microsoft does. None of them can bring harm to Apple and if anything it would be the other way around.
But I get that living in ignorance might be consoling for some folks (and is) so if you're one of those just don't read anything here that doesn't have "Apple" in the lead line. Problem solved.
Scary that it will steal your privacy though.
You missed his 2 main points or refused to acknowledge them.
1. This is an Apple site.
2. It's a spyware device like those cheap iKnockoffs.
now, this device will definitely not be it. But Alexa is quickly becoming the defacto standard for assistants and home domotica. If they play there cards right, they might go a long way. While HomeKit is stagnant. And Google is killing it in AI. Google Assistant is actually becoming smart and useful while Siri will get Automator scripts with Siri Shortcuts in iOS 12. Yesterday I asked her to call a restaurant in my town and she created some nonsensical reminder. Hopeless. And if she gives me driving directions to the other side of the world one more time...
No, it is not.
I consider AI an Apple centric site, not an Apple only site. If it were an Apple only site we wouldn't see the presence of articles on Samsung, Google and many other companies.
Point 2 is pure paranoia. If any company were found to be spying on anyone by design through its products, once discovered, it would see its business collapse and face severe legal proceedings.
That isn't an 'if discovered', there is no way to keep such practices out of the public eye. Even government agencies have been unable to keep their spying out of the public eye.
That isn't to say there aren't security issues involved with these technologies but that is different to spying.
So how is an article about an Amazon product pertinent to an Apple user? That would be obvious from reading this thread. There are hard-core Apple users who also use Amazon Alexa devices.
Your second point was already addressed by Avon B7 and nothing more needs to be said about that. Common sense