SEATTLE _ Amazon has unveiled a new Echo device with a video screen, adding another dimension to its voice-activated digital assistant Alexa and stepping up its game amid stiffening competition from tech rivals.
Unlike its round predecessors, the new Echo Show is angular. It features a screen that Amazon says provides visibility across a room for images that accompany Alexa's voice responses. It allows users to see photos, song lyrics, calendar appointments, video feeds and even make video calls with other users of an Echo Show or the Alexa app.
Along with the release of the new device, Seattle-based Amazon said it would start rolling out on Tuesday a free calling and messaging feature that allows existing Echo devices to make voice calls and send messages to each other and with the Alexa app.
The Echo Show costs $230 and will be released June 28.
The new device comes as Amazon's competitors, from Apple to Google, take on the market for voice-enabled artificial intelligence _ which experts say represents the future of computing _ with greater urgency. On Monday, Microsoft and Harman International unveiled a cylindrical gadget similar to the original Echo, powered by Microsoft's voice assistant, Cortana.
