Amazon unveils Echo Show 16, Echo Time alarm clock and Alexa Home Map in smart-home push

Amazon announced five new Echo and Alexa devices on Wednesday, plus an interactive Alexa Home Map feature, with prices from $100 to $500.

Amazon announced on Wednesday a set of five new smart-home devices and a new software feature, according to CNET. The line-up includes the Echo Show 16, the Echo Time smart alarm clock, the Alexa Photo Frame, an Echo Studio with a built-in Home Camera and a sixth-generation Echo Dot, which for the first time includes a smart-home hub. CNET reports the launch came about two weeks after Apple unveiled its own HomeView smart display and HomePod Mini 2. The Verge, which published first-look videos of the products, describes the same range of devices.

The Echo Show 16 has a 16-inch screen and, compared with the Echo Show 15, offers about 10 percent more viewing area, a roughly 40 percent thinner frame and a wider-angle 13-megapixel camera with night vision, CNET reports. It costs $500, or $570 with the Nanomatte anti-glare display, with $100 off for preorders, and ships later this year. Echo Time, a camera-free alarm clock that uses sensors to detect breathing and movement and can wake users during light sleep, costs $200 and is already on sale. The Echo Dot costs $100, the Alexa Photo Frame starts at $200 and the Echo Studio with Home Camera is $250. Several features require the Alexa Plus subscription, which is included with Amazon Prime.

Amazon also introduced Alexa Home Map, an interactive 3D view of a home's interior and exterior that shows smart lights, locks, thermostats and cameras and can display the positions of people and vehicles detected by compatible Ring cameras. It will roll out in preview later this year and some features need a Ring subscription. CNET notes the Ring Familiar Faces tool it works with, which identifies recognised visitors by name, has drawn privacy criticism. The video attached to this article is The Verge's hands-on overview of the new devices, not footage of an event; all prices and features come from CNET's report and The Verge's video descriptions of Amazon's announcement.