Amazon is ??? ????? ?? ???? ????? ??? ??????about to announce some new devices, but the software inside the devices might be the star of the show.
The e-commerce company sent press invites to an event on Feb. 26 hosted by SVP Panos Panay and Amazon's Devices & Services team for some big announcements. The event, which starts at 10 a.m. ET that day (but won't be livestreamed) seems like it should focus on hardware, right? Well, yes and no. Let's dig into it.
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The first thing to know about this event is that, per Engadget, Amazon sent out five separate invites to the press, which, when combined, spelled out "Alexa." That's the first clue that this event will potentially be more about software than hardware. Amazon has been working hard on an overhauled, AI-powered version of Alexa for a while now. It was supposed to launch in 2024, but that didn't happen. Instead, it got delayed into 2025.
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The new Alexa should theoretically be more conversational and capable of more specific and granular commands. However, reports from beta users indicated that the AI version of Alexa had trouble executing basic smart-home commands like turning lights on or off and would hallucinate answers to questions. That's not ideal. Hopefully, Amazon has ironed those problems out and doesn't run into the same problem Google did with its Super Bowl commercial.
A new version of Alexa most likely means new devices that support it, and that's where this becomes a de facto devices event. Amazon hasn't updated the Echo smart speaker brand in a minute, so that feels likely to show up here. Per Engadget, Amazon's Echo Buds brand of budget-friendly earbuds could also get a refresh, but that's not certain.
You shouldn't expect Kindles because Amazon released some new ones at the very end of 2024. So, in review, we're more than likely getting a new version of Alexa, with some Echo smart speakers that support it.