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Amazon Echo product launch

Amazon adds wearables to voice-controlled Alexa collection

A ring, glasses and earbuds are among Amazon’s latest voice-controlled devices to offer "even more ways to add Alexa to your daily life".

Released last week, several of the products are grouped under Amazon's Echo smart speaker range. They include differently sized Echo speakers and wearables, and depend on the company's voice-activated, artificially intelligent assistant Alexa.

Amazon Echo product launch
Echo Loop ring accesses Alexa with a button and microphones       

The broad range is intended to "make your home smarter and safer, keep family and friends connected, and bring your favourite entertainment to you, wherever you are",  according to Amazon.

"Amazon introduced an all-new line-up of Echo devices that give you even more ways to add Alexa to your daily life – whether at home or on-the-go," it added.

Amazon Echo product launch
Amazon glasses are also voice-controlled to use the assistant

A black titanium ring, called Echo Loop, accesses Alexa with a button and two microphones. It can vibrate when you receive notifications or calls, and is water-resistant.

Wearers of the ring can ask Alexa to conduct a range of tasks, including calculating a tip for dinner, setting up phone calls and confirming whether the front door is locked.

Amazon Echo product launch
The collection also includes wireless earbuds that are integrated with Alexa

Another Amazon product is glasses called Echo Frames. Compatible with prescription lenses, the frames feature speakers on their sides and use the cloud-based service to make phone calls and set reminders.

Wireless Alexa-compatible earbuds have Bose noise reduction technology so "Alexa can hear you". The pods can be used to ask to play a song, book an Uber or find a restaurant nearby, as recommended by Amazon.

Also included in the launch are updated Echo speakers, including the standard and smaller Echo Dot size with new fabric colours. The Echo Show 8 is a tablet with a front camera and a speaker placed on its back.

Another speaker, Echo Studio, has a hollow slit at its base. According to Amazon, it is the "best-sounding Echo ever and the first smart speaker to deliver an immersive, three-dimensional audio experience with Dolby Atmos."

Amazon Echo product launch
Amazon's camera system called Ring listens, reports and send notifications to home owners

Rounding out the Echo products are a small, multi-colour light called Echo Glow and a plug-in smart speaker, Echo Flex, that fits into a socket or wall outlet.

A "smart" voice-controlled oven is designed to be synced to Echo to preheat, start or stop cooking. It resembles a microwave but also works like a convection oven and air fryer.

Amazon Echo product launch
Amazon created this microwave to scan packaging labels from Whole Foods

The scan-to-cook feature scans a barcode on packaged foods, including those from Amazon-owned Whole Foods, and the oven cooks them "just right", or according to the labelled instructions.

A camera system for home security, called Ring, is also included in the Amazon product launch. Security alarm kit Alexa Guard works when an Echo device detects certain sounds, such as footsteps, coughing, a smoke alarm or glass breaking, and triggers Alexa to send a phone notification.

Amazon Echo product launch
Other released include wireless speaker Echo Flex, which plugs into a wall outlet

Amazon is one of the world's top tech companies, in addition to Google, Facebook and Apple, and is led by American entrepreneur Jeff Bezos. It focuses on e-commerce and digital streaming and also owns grocery store chain Whole Foods Market.

It other ventures include plans to create prefabricated homes with Alexa built into them.

The company's headquarters are located in Seattle and feature plant-filled orbs called The Spheres, a speakeasy by Graham Baba and a sun-lit cafe called Willmott's Ghost.

Photography is courtesy of Amazon.

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Amazon Echo product launch
Amazon Echo product launch
Amazon Echo product launch