
Amazon announced a There was a Prime Early Access sale (aka Prime Day 2.0) earlier this week, but today, the company took the wraps off some of the new hardware it’s been working on for the past year. As usual, this includes the new Echo speaker, but there are also some surprises, like the Kindle Scribe — the first Kindle you can doodle on — and a bedside sleep tracker called Halo Rise.
Here’s everything Amazon announced today. Most of these new devices will ship in the US in 100% recyclable packaging.
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Kindle that can doodle
Photo: Amazon
One of our favorite things about the Kindle is that, as an ebook reader, it’s a relatively affordable disposable device. However, as Amazon adds new models, prices also start to rise. Today, Amazon introduced the first Kindle that can write. The Kindle Scribe has a 10.2-inch screen, larger than any existing Kindle. The headlamp display is otherwise similar to the Paperwhite, with 300 pixels per inch (PPI) and adjustable warm light, but it also comes with a battery-free pen. You can now annotate books, write in journals, and mark up PDFs right from your Kindle. Next year, you’ll be able to send markup documents directly from Microsoft Word.
It’ll be available before the holidays at $340 with a pen, a step above the pricey Kindle Oasis but similar to other E Ink notebook tablets like the ReMarkable 2. You also get four months of Kindle Unlimited and free cloud storage. —Adrian So
new echo speakers
Photo: Amazon
If you prefer Alexa to Google Assistant, you’re in luck — Amazon has updated five Echo devices. The Echo Dot ($50) and Echo Dot With Clock ($60) each have a new custom full-range driver for better-sounding music (with double the bass!). There’s also a neat new sensor that lets Alexa perform tasks based on the temperature of the room, so your smart fan can automatically kick in when it gets too hot. Both models also add gesture controls, so you can tap the top of the Dot to turn off the timer or control the music. The Echo Dot Kids ($60) gets a new owl and dragon design, but its internals are the same as the last fourth-generation version.