Why Amazon went all-in on balls for its new line of speakers

"But from my own discussions with the design team, it's clear that what Amazon has created are not just new voice assistants, or even mix-and-matachable speakers capable of creating a 3D soundscape for movies and music in your home. What these new Echo products are supposed to do is enable a more intuitive (and intimate, and surveillant) AI for home tomorrow-one that doesn't just hear what you say, but senses what you do."

"This is not the first time that Amazon has snuck Alexa into a little speaker ball. Its existing Echo Dot is already exactly that. But the Dot's sound quality is middling at best. If you wanted something that sounded better from Amazon, you had to buy a larger Echo Studio: a big cylinder. When Amazon talked to its own customers, people often said it was just too large for them to buy. And that's because our entire culture has been wooed by tiny Bluetooth speakers"

"Amazon's goal was to make a more competitive wave of smaller Echos that still sounded superb-even if that meant they cost more. So they doubled down on space efficient spherical designs across the new Echo line. To a casual observer, nothing looks all that new. But once you actually remove the original Dot's candy shell, it's clear just how differently the new Echos are built compared to the old ones."

Amazon spent three years rethinking audio engineering to pursue home theater quality using compact spherical Echo designs. The product lineup includes an Echo Dot Max ($99), an Echo Studio ($199), and an Echo Show with a tablet starting at $179 attached to a sphere. The engineering focus produced smaller speakers that still deliver superior audio compared with earlier Dots and the larger cylinder Studio. Customer feedback favored acceptable sound from small devices, prompting Amazon to prioritize space-efficient spherical construction. The new Echo units aim to create immersive 3D soundscapes and to enable more intuitive, intimate, and surveillant home AI that senses actions as well as speech.

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