Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Fionnula Hainey

Amazon announces new devices - including the Alexa smart glasses and a virtual assistant ring

Amazon has announced its latest voice-activated assistants, including Alexa smart glasses and a ring.

A new wave of devices includes the first wearable voice-activated products from the tech giant.

The smart glasses, called Echo Frames, look just like a normal pair of glasses but have Amazon Alexa built in so you can ask her questions on the go without reaching for your phone.

The product is currently only available on an invitation basis for the price of $180.

The company has also designed a ring, the Echo Loop, which vibrates when you get a notification and has a built-in microphone too.

The new devices, unveiled at an event in Seattle on Wednesday, are part of the firm's Day 1 program, which allows customers to try new products and provide feedback to Amazon before they're put on general sale.

Other products announced include earphones and a number of new Echo smart speakers.

Amazon - along with other tech firms with AI assistants - have come under scrutiny about their privacy practices in recent months following revelations about industry-wide schemes which see audio data being listened to by human staff.

Critics accused tech companies of not clearly stating that other people may hear the recordings as part of the programmes, which were carried out to help improve speech recognition technology.

In response to the outcry, Amazon said it would give users the option to opt-out of having humans analyse their audio.

Amazon devices boss Dave Limp said the company was committed to user privacy and that it was "foundational" to every device the firm makes.

He also announced several new Alexa features he said had been designed to give users more control over their data - including the ability to ask Alexa what the assistant heard and a new auto-delete tool.

Another notable announcement involved the introduction of celebrity voices to the platform, with actor Samuel L Jackson the first option to be announced, which will roll out in the United States later this year.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.