Amazon Launches Second-Gen Upgrade of Echo Dot at $49

Amazon took its Echo Dot voice control device to the next level Wednesday with the announcement of a new $49 price and beefed-up features to encourage multiple purchases in a smart home setting. Amazon described Dot as an Echo sidekick that “gives you access to all of Alexa’s capabilities,” including answering questions, playing music, turning on lights and setting timers, giving information and accessing over 3,000 Alexa skills. Version two has the same seven-mic array that's in Echo and can “hear you from across the room, even when it’s noisy or music is playing,” said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in a statement. The device uses beam-forming technology and enhanced noise cancellation to detect the wake word, “Alexa,” from across the room, said the company. The upgraded version has a more powerful speech processor said to improve on far-field speech recognition accuracy. Echo Dot can directly connect to speakers through Bluetooth or using a 3.5mm stereo cable, enabling users to add Alexa capability to a home entertainment system. For customers who have multiple Echo devices within hearing distance, Amazon’s new ESP technology intelligently calculates the clarity of the customer’s voice and determines which Echo should respond to the request, Amazon said. The smart speaker performance is said to get better over time as users speak to the device. In multi-Echo households, ESP resolves the problem of two Echo devices answering at the same time, it said. The new ESP feature will be available as a free update for all Echo devices -- including Amazon Echo and the first-generation Echo Dot -- starting in the coming weeks, Amazon said. The new Dot is available for preorder with shipping to begin next month.