Amazon Kids+: Streaming Audio and Wi-Fi in an Echo Dot and Clock-Model Smart Speaker with Eero Mesh Technology
The 4th Gen Echo Dot has long been our budget pick for the best smart speaker, offering great sound for the price and all of the Alexa smarts of the bigger, standard Amazon Echo. The promise of an even better-sounding, smarter version is compelling for new buyers, particularly the new Echo Dot with Clock Model that features a more robust display.
Not only will you get enhanced designs and better audio, but the company’s handy Eero Wi-Fi mesh technology will be built-in to at least two of the products — allowing them to double as Wi-Fi extenders for an existing Eero system.
One of the new features in the two products is the ability to use the power of a tap to do things like control music, dismiss timers or end a call. The devices let you get information quicker and send it to others at a glance. You can still see the time, but you can also see information such as the weather, calendar events and the name of a song.
The new additions of Owl and Dragon are going to get your kids excited if they like the designs of the panda and tiger. Yup, they’ll still get all the fun of using Alexa, including jokes, facts and songs, while parents can sit pretty knowing parental controls are holding strong. You can set daily time limits on the Amazon Parents dashboard for the kids, as well as watch explicit content and review their activity.
A one-year Kids+ subscription, which gives them access to ad-free books, games, videos, songs, and dedicated kids skills, is included with purchase.
Do Voice Assistants Really Need to Be Out Of This World? The Impact of Recent Budget and IO Budget Cuts on the Search for a Virtual Reality Assistant
The powerful Echo Studio is getting a boost with new spatial audio processing and a frequency range extension for deeper bass and more clarity on mid-range. That means you’ll get a better, virtual surround-sound feel for movie and TV soundtracks, and Amazon says it mirrors what you’d hear from a hi-fi stereo system for your tunes.
All of the new gadgets include a switch that will turn the microphone on and off, as well as allowing you to view and remove voice recordings. Which is great for anyone who worries that Big Brother is hanging out with Alexa.
Alexa is not the only voice assistant with an uncertain future. The program that puts the Google Assistant into smart speakers was a part of the cost cutting plan that was made in October. Both of these reprioritizations come as companies across the technosphere lay off thousands of employees. It may not be the end of an era, but it is clear that voice assistants are not a priority during an economic downturn.
Mastodon: Where are we coming from? How are we going to take more of Apple’s money? A WIRED investigation of Best Buy and Sonos
Apple has made a $450 million investment in emergency satellite tracking tech. Most of the money is going to the US company Globalstar, which operates the satellites used to transmit the messages. Apple’s SOS plan will cover the US and Canada. It’s free for two years if you buy an iPhone 14, though Apple hasn’t said how much it will charge customers after that.
The prototype of the stretchy sheet isn’t actually a real one. LG is developing the tech for South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy. The stretchy screen dream is still way off in the future, but LG says the plan is to finalize the government project by 2024. If everything goes well, the stretchy screens could be used in consumer devices.
This week on WIRED’s Gadget Lab podcast, WIRED security editor Andrew Couts joins the show to unearth Mastodon—how it works, what the vibes on the platform are like, and whether it will ever come close to recreating the controlled chaos that is (or was) Twitter.
During the holiday quarter, no new audio hardware was launched by any of the primary smart speaker rivals. And Apple’s second-generation HomePod arrived after it had already ended. But Sonos doesn’t seem all that impressed with or concerned about Apple’s resurrected $299 device. We don’t want to be too confident, evenseeing what’s emerged you know, recently from Apple I can’t be more excited about our product roadmap and our ability to take more and more of that $96 billion.
Both Best Buy and Sonos test their refurbished products before they sell them. The original accessories and cables are included along with the one-year warranty and 45 day money-back guarantee. Best Buy’s Geek Squad-certified refurbished products, meanwhile, come with a 90-day warranty unless otherwise noted. You have a period of 15 days to return, exchange or borrow them, but you can do so if you are a Totaltech or Best Buy member.
That said, it is a great buy if you want an excellent-sounding Sonos speaker you can pick up and take into your garage, living room, patio, or any other room in your home. It comes with a variety of features, not the least of which is the support for Amazon and Apple devices.
The second-generation Sonos One is a small smart speaker with a good microphone for voice control. It emits balanced full-body sound that is impressive for its size and integrates with existing Sonos products. The 2017 speaker also works with a range of music services and supports both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, however, the process for setting up voice assistants can be complicated. The One offers touch controls, too, as well as support for AirPlay 2 thanks to a post-launch software update.
The Sonos One typically sells for $219 new, but unfortunately, there are no deals available if you want to buy one by itself. However, you can purchase a two-room set in black for $419 instead of $438 from B&H Photo.
Finally, you can also save a little if you buy the Sonos Arc SL, which lacks a microphone but is $50 cheaper when you purchase it from Costco. You will have to be a member to buy it.
The Play:5 music speaker was replaced by the new Sonos Five, which is very close to its predecessor. It has the same drivers inside as the Play:5 which was perfect for large rooms or parties. There aren’t many noticeable differences. Compared to the Play:5, Sonos says its successor offers increased memory and processing power, as well as a new wireless radio. There are also all-white options. Most other speakers in the Sonos line up offer a built-in microphone and support for the voice assistants, but the Five is not one of them.
However, it’s important to note that as an older model, it lacks features the second-generation Beam offers. It does not offer second-gen model’s support for eARC HDMI port. Nevertheless, it remains a competent soundbar that’s currently available in refurbished condition from Sonos for $239 instead of $399, which is the price it sold for when it was new and more readily available.
The Move has the same sound as the One but with slightly more volume. Unlike the One, you do not need to locate the right spot in your home for it to hear it well, and it is better at distributing sound throughout a room. We also found that it sounds terrific no matter whether you’re in the living room or outside at the park.
The important holiday quarter is when many new products come to the market, and while Amazon and Google tend to focus on everything, Sonos didn’t face serious competition. The height of the consumer electronics and audio season was in fiscal Q1, and we went through it. He said that we have always fought against and do not really believe in the tradition of heavy discounts for C.E. “And then, you know, the big tech players, we just haven’t seen them active and we haven’t seen them, you know, doing anything interesting.”
There are other people that may be questioning their investments in this area, and we are investing in four new categories. We are going to raise the bar in our existing categories. I mean, we’ve got a lot going on,” Spence added.
What Are Sonos Products? Share with The Verge for Updates on the Sonos Audio Supply Chain and a Potential Revenue Driven by Multi-Device Lifestyle
Do you know more about upcoming audio products from Sonos, Amazon, or Google? I’ve revealed multiple Sonos products before their official announcement. These include the Roam, Ray, Sonos Voice Control, Sub Mini, and most recently, the upcoming Optimo speakers.
If you have more to share, you can message me discreetly and securely with Signal, because trusted sources make this reporting possible. You can email me at [email protected] or follow me on social media.
Discounts on Sonos products over the holidays helped the company deliver strong earnings and beat Wall Street expectations for the Q1 fiscal quarter. The multi-room audio leader had not been able to offer the promotions in three years, due to the supply chain problems it was suffering from at the time.
Even if some of the deals were returned to their previous prices, they were back this time. Either way, the company put greater emphasis on bundles that boost its percentage of multi-product customer households. The average number of products for each Sonos household is currently 2.98. Sonos sees a $5 billion revenue opportunity if it can successfully convert single-product customers to the multi-device lifestyle.