Amazon's latest Echo and Echo Dot speakers will get the ultrasound feature starting this week. The feature can detect the occupancy in your home, and you can turn it on and off and connect it to other devices like your Fire TV and lights.
Amazon Echo's New Feature
The feature was first mentioned at Amazon's September event. The Echo and Echo Dot fourth-generation speakers can now use ultrasound waves to detect people in your room, according to The Verge.
You can turn it on and off whenever you need to via the Alexa App. You can also set up the occupancy routines to use this new feature to do other things like turn the lights on when you enter your room and turn it off again once you leave.
You could also have Alexa play music or switch to your favorite radio station when mention is detected near the Echo device during a specific time, and then turn off the music once you've left the room.
The function can be found under Motion Detection in the Alexa apps settings in your Echo device. You can toggle the capability anytime and turn it on and off.
The feature is the same as the motion-sensing feature added to the Echo Show device. However, those rely on the cameras to know if there is someone in the room, according to CNET.
The Echo speakers are not equipped with any cameras. Instead, the device detects people's movements by emitting an inaudible ultrasound wave that reflects off any objects near its proximity before traveling back to the microphone of Echo.
Google also uses the ultrasound feature in its Google Nest and Nest Mini speakers to detect how close a person is to the speaker and provide different interfaces.
For example, you can see the volume controls on the Mini speakers. Currently, you can't use ultrasound sensing to turn on the Google Home Routines.
A couple of stand-alone motion sensors work with Alexa to trigger Routines, including those made by Agara, Phillips Hue, and Centralite.
The new feature means that you won't need other gadgets to turn on your music or lights. It also shows Amazon's vision for the smart home device as it wants it to respond automatically to the people in the room with minimal prompts.
In order to complete its goal, Amazon will have to put some more effort into adding features to the Alexa app.
One of the latest features that were added to Alex was Routines. It can turn the lights on with the right amount of brightness based on what time of day it is used, and it can turn off once it detects that the room is empty.
In 2017, Amazon Echo got more than 10,000 skills, including dimming lights, lower temperature levels, and more.
Amazon also added a timer and reminder features in the Alexa app. The feature works just by detecting the user's voice.
Black Friday Deal for Third-Generation Model
Amazon Echo and Echo Dot are always prime candidates for Black Friday, but the tech giant is giving a great deal this year. It is now available on a two-for-one deal, according to What HiFi.
Amazon has reduced the price of a single Echo Dot to $50, but you will get two for your money if you use the code ECHODOT2FOR1 on the website.
