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Amazon’s September hardware: what to expect – The Verge, The Verge

Amazon’s September hardware: what to expect – The Verge, The Verge


  

Amazon ishosting an eventin Seattle on Wednesday, September 25 th, where it is expected to announce new hardware and possibly new services. The company held a similar event last September where itunleashed over 70 announcements and many new productsacross its Echo and Fire TV product lines.

It’s hard to say whether the company will do the same thing this year, as Amazon has managed to be the only tech company to keep its products from leaking ahead of their formal announcements. But since it’s hosting an event and inviting journalists out to Seattle to attend it, we expect there will be something to see. Here are our educated guesses on what we expect to be announced, what might be a maybe, and what is probably off the table.

Likely stuff: new Echo devices, Ring products

Last year, Amazon refreshed theEcho Dot, Echo Plus, and Echo Showat its September event . What it didn’t update was thestandard Echo, so it’s possible that we’ll see a new version of that announced this year. Also long in the tooth is theEcho Spot, though it’s not clear if Amazon intends to just quietly sunset that model in lieu of theEcho Show 5or if it will update it with a newer version.

  

                                                
The Echo and Ring devices announced at Amazon’s 2018 hardware event.
Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge           
  

Amazon recently announced a new“lossless” tier for its music streaming servicethat provides a higher-quality stream with better-sounding music. It would make sense for the company to come out with a higher-quality speaker that can actually do justice to this lossless stream, as you’re not likely to notice a difference with the current Echo lineup.Bloombergreported earlier this yearthat Amazon was working on such a thing.

Also possibly on the table are Alexa-powered earbuds, which werereportedly in the works earlier this year. This would be the first portable first-party Alexa device from Amazon, not counting theEcho Auto, and it would mark a big step for the line if it comes to fruition.

Amazon’s Ring brand of video doorbells and home security devices was a part of last year event, and according toDigital Trends, it will make an appearance this year, too. What that might entail is anyone’s guess. Ring tends to release things at an irregular cadence, and most of its current products are fairly recent.

Finally, Amazon’s weirdest announcement last year wasa microwave that you could link to an Echo deviceand control with your voice. It’s possible that the company could come out with a similarly unexpected appliance this year, perhapsa wheeled robot device that’s also reportedly in the worksbyBloomberg.

Maybe stuff: FireTV products and services, Fire tablets

Fire TV updates were a big part of last year event. Amazon announced theFire TV Recast, a DVR for over-the-air television. It’s possible the company will announce new Fire TV products this year as well, either through updates to existing devices like the Fire TV Stick line, which is currently available in either HD or 4K models, or entirely new devices that we haven’t seen the company produce yet.

It’s not likely that we’ll see much news on theFire TV Cube, nor is it likely that we’ll see newFire TV partner television sets, as both of those were just refreshed at IFA a few weeks ago.

  

                                                
Amazon Fire TV Cube.
Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge           
  

Amazon could announce an expansion of its Prime Video service, maybe even with new content or channels, since Apple and Disney will both be releasing their own streaming services this fall. But we don’t have any solid intel on whether this will happen or what it might amount to.

Another thing on the maybe pile is an update to the Fire tablet line. TheFire HD 10is two years old and could be up for a refresh. Amazon’s most popular tablet, the Fire HD 7, wasjust refreshed this summerso we’d be surprised to see a new model of that this week.

Don’t expect it: new Kindle devices

One thing Amazon has been consistent with is keeping its Echo and Fire device announcements separate from its Kindle announcements, and we see no reason for that to change this time around. Both theentry-level Kindleand thehigh-end Kindle Oasiswere refreshed earlier this year, while thepopular Kindle Paperwhitegot a bump late last year, so we don’t expect to see new Kindle devices at this event.

We’ll be on the ground at the event in Seattle, so be sure to tune in to our live coverage to see what Amazon does this time around.

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