2 sources 12h ago
Amazon Opens Alexa+ Early Access in Japan Alongside Echo Time and New Echo Dot
Amazon began early access to Alexa+, its generative AI personal assistant, on October 29.
Reporting from 2 sources: ASCII.jp, GIGAZINE.
Why it matters
The assistant's vague-request handling and the Echo Dot's new smart-hub role move Alexa from command-taking toward conversation and home control, while the camera-free Echo Time puts Amazon's privacy argument on the hardware itself.
Key Facts
- Amazon began early access to the generative AI assistant Alexa+ on October 29.
- The Echo Time smart clock costs 35,980 yen and has a 3.2-inch circular touchscreen.
- The new Echo Dot costs 17,980 yen and can act as a smart hub for home appliances.
- Echo Time uses ultrasound to recognize the waveform of the user's breathing and the distance to the device.
- The Echo Dot carries Amazon's AZ3 chip for conversation detection and ambient noise removal.
Two Echo devices ship with it: the Echo Time, a hemispherical smart clock with a 3.2-inch circular touchscreen at 35,980 yen, and a new Echo Dot at 17,980 yen. Both support Omnisense sensing, which uses ultrasound to read a user's breathing and distance to the device.
The Echo Time has no camera and does not support video streaming or video calls. Its Omnisense sensors combine presence detection, a room temperature sensor, and tap gestures, and an ultrasound reading of breathing lets the device detect sleep and pick a wake-up time. The display brightens toward that time, and a separately sold smart light can fill the room on cue. It comes in Graphite, Glacier White, and Coral Pink.
The new Echo Dot keeps the compact sphere and 3D-knit fabric and adds smart-hub control, which Amazon says earlier models lacked. An AZ3 chip handles conversation detection and ambient noise removal, and voice ID suggests playlists per speaker.
Written with AI by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited. See our editorial policy.
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