Amazon Developing What Could Be Called A Home Digital Sign

November 30, 2016 by Dave Haynes

amazecho

Amazon is developing a premium Echo-like speaker with a 7-inch screen, reports Bloomberg, that could function, among other things, as something of a home-based digital sign.

The new device, reports Bloomberg, will have a touchscreen measuring about seven inches, a major departure from Amazon’s existing cylindrical home devices that are controlled and respond mostly through the company’s voice-based Alexa digital assistant, according to two people familiar with the matter. This will make it easier to access content such as weather forecasts, calendar appointments, and news, the people said. They asked not to be identified speaking about a product that has yet to be announced.

The latest Amazon speaker will be larger and tilt upwards so the screen can be seen when it sits on a counter and the user is standing, one of the people said.

I have a crappy tablet on my desk functioning as a meeting room sign, reminding me what calls I have that day, but would love to have a screen that shows more than that, and would also tie in with something like Alexa. Doing your own home-brewed kitchen digital sign takes some technical know-how, so I could see a lot of interest in this sort of thing … and if it comes out and gets traction with consumers, Google and Apple would follow.

Leave a comment