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Amazon is not just an online shopping site, as most people know today. It started as an online bookstore and now, it offers downloads and streaming of video, music and audiobook content, software, videogames, furniture, apparel, food, toys, jewelry, household items – in short, almost everything!
Amazon is also a notable producer of consumer electronics, especially its e-book readers. Here’s a list of technologies Amazon is offering in its product pipeline:
1. Amazon Kindle
Kindle revolutionized the practice of book reading by popularizing electronic versions of books. It’s probably the most famous electronic reader ever created in the face of the earth. The first generation Kindle was released on 2007 and got sold out five and a half hours after launching. Amazon’s Kindles remain as the best-selling e-readers up to now, most likely because it offers a huge library of content that can store thousands of e-books.
2. Amazon Fire Tablet
Amazon has its own offering of tablet computers as well. Its Fire Tablet is basically a tablet version of Kindle running on a custom version of Google’s Android operating system called Fire OS. It was first known as the Kindle Fire when the company released three generations of the tablet from 2011 to 2013. In 2014, it was named as simply Fire. You can choose from three models: Fire, Fire HD and Fire HDX. The Amazon’s line of Fire tablets is a great tablet option, especially for those who don’t prefer iOS.
3. Amazon Fire Phone
The Fire Phone was introduced in 2014 during the success of the Fire Tablet. It also ran on Fire OS and its distinguishing features were the four front-facing cameras, 3D graphics, and Firefly, a tool that lets you scan and identify thousands of items, then offering the user to buy them from Amazon. However, it was a flop mainly because of the expensive price, lack of Google apps and its exclusivity to AT&T. Amazon did not produce a new Fire Phone after that.
4. Amazon Fire TV and Fire Stick
Media streaming is definitely Amazon’s thing. With the Fire TV, which is a box-shaped device you connect to the HDMI port of your HD television, you can stream over thousands of movies and TV shows online on Amazon Instant Video, Netflix, HBO Now, Youtube.
The Fire Stick does the same purpose, but as the name suggests, it is smaller and it looks like a flash drive.
Both gadgets work with a remote control that comes with buttons or with Amazon’s voice command system, Alexa.
5. Amazon Alexa
Alexa is your smart personal assistant. It’s a voice control system integrated in Amazon’s Echo, Dot and Tap smart speakers, as well as in the latest versions of Fire Tablets, Fire TV and Fire Stick. Alexa has a female voice and can interact in English and German.
6. Amazon Echo, Dot and Tap
The Amazon Echo, or simply Echo, is the device that popularized Alexa. It is a smart, wireless, cylindrical speaker that is 9.25-inch-tall and has a 7-piece microphone array. Echo is capable of voice interaction, providing real-time information, setting alarms, playing music, creating to-do lists, streaming podcasts and many more, as long as you’re connected to Wi-Fi. Alexa is always listening through Echo, so you can tell a command from an earshot and Alexa will respond once you call her by her name “Alexa.” You can change it to “Echo,” “Amazon” or “Computer” in the settings if you want.
This gadget would be definitely helpful if you have a smart home. It acts as your home automation system in which you can say, “Alexa, turn off kitchen lights,” and your device will do it for you. You just need to connect it to your other devices and train Alexa some “skills.”
Meanwhile, the Tap is slightly smaller with a height of 6.2 inches. It has the capabilities of Echo, but you can’t say “Alexa” to wake it, but you need to press its microphone button.
As for Dot, it’s like an Alexa hub. It’s 1.6-inch short, and like Echo, you can call it “Alexa.” However, the functionality of a full-size speaker is gone, and you need to connect it to a speaker using a jack or Bluetooth. The Dot is also a lot cheaper than Echo, plus with Amazon deals, you can get it for a low, low price.
7. Amazon Dash Button
If you are running low on household supplies, a single press on a Dash Button can order products to be delivered to your doorstep for you. Yes, it is now possible! The Amazon Dash Button is a small, single-function controller that corresponds to a household product such as razors, toilet paper, laundry detergent and the like. You have to pre-set the quantity of the products and once you press the dash button, the items will be sent to your address. Amazon also partnered with home appliance companies like Samsung, Whirlpool and Bosch to use the Dash Button with.
Aren’t these devices cool and functional? Check Amazon.com and do some Amazon shopping for there are so many great reasons to buy these technologies! If you are a Prime member, finding deals on Amazon will be as quick as a flash.
