Amazon Debuts Sphere-Shaped Echo Speaker, Ring Home Security Drone, Luna Cloud Gaming Service and MoreAmazon today
announced the launch of its fourth-generation Echo speaker, which features a new spherical design and improved sound performance thanks to a three-inch woofer, dual-firing tweeters, and new Dolby processing.
![" width="2000" height="1394" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-761076](https://images.macrumors.com/article-new/2020/09/sphereecho.jpg)
The $100 fabric-covered speaker comes in three colors, including black, blue, and white, and it's accompanied by a built-in smart home hub with Zigbee, Bluetooth Low Energy, and Amazon Sidewalk integration. Amazon Sidewalk extends the range of devices like the Ring and includes support for Tile devices.
![" width="2000" height="1333" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-761077](https://images.macrumors.com/article-new/2020/09/echodotkids.jpg)
The new Echo is equipped with an AZ1 Neural Edge processor that moves speech recognition on-device for faster than ever response times to requests.
Alongside the new sphere-shaped Echo, there's a spherical Echo Dot that's priced at $50 and a kid's version that comes with animal face designs and is priced at $60, along with an updated $250 Echo Show that has the same AZ1 neural processor plus a 10-inch display, the ability to pivot, and a 13-megapixel camera.
![" width="2000" height="1500" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-761078](https://images.macrumors.com/article-new/2020/09/echo10show.jpg)
A Guard Plus feature, priced at $4.99 per month, allows Alexa devices to listen for sounds like footfalls or doors opening and closing and it can play fake sounds like a dog barking to scare off intruders. Amazon also unveiled Alexa Care Hub, a feature designed to let users monitor a family member's home.
There are new
Eero 6 and Eero Pro 6 WiFi 6 mesh systems available, and for Ring, Amazon
is adding end-to-end encryption for videos. A new Ring Car Alarm is meant to be plugged into the car's OBD-II port and it includes built-in sirens and sensors to monitor for car theft.
![" width="1272" height="1098" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-761079](https://images.macrumors.com/article-new/2020/09/ringcar.jpg)
A Ring Car Cam is Amazon's new in-car security solution, and it too includes a siren and emergency crash assist functionality. The Ring Car Alarm is priced at $60, while the Ring Car Cam is priced at $200.
Also new in the Ring family is the $250 Always Home Cam, which is a drone-based security system that can fly to different places in the house from a home dock. It basically flies around the house on pre-set paths, recording while in motion.
![" width="2000" height="1125" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-761080](https://images.macrumors.com/article-new/2020/09/ringdrone.jpg)
Amazon introduced an updated $40
Fire TV Stick with HDR, Dolby Atmos Support, and an Alexa Remote, plus there's a Lite version that has a simplified remote for $30. To compete with
Apple Arcade and other streaming gaming services, Amazon's
final announcement was Luna, a game streaming service.
![" width="2000" height="1125" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-761081](https://images.macrumors.com/article-new/2020/09/lunagamingservice.jpg)
Luna works cross-platform on Macs, PCs, Fire TV, smartphones, and tablets, and it will be compatible with Apple devices, according to Amazon, because it is designed to be a web app and is not subject to Apple's rules.
![" width="2000" height="1379" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-761082](https://images.macrumors.com/article-new/2020/09/lunacontroller.jpg)
Luna will be priced at $5.99 per month, and Amazon has designed the Luna Controller, to go along with it. The $50 controller has "cloud direct technology" to cut down on latency, essentially connecting the controller directly to Amazon's servers.
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Amazon Debuts Sphere-Shaped Echo Speaker, Ring Home Security Drone, Luna Cloud Gaming Service and More