Amazon Unveils New Fire TV Stick 4K, First 4K Ring Camera and More

Today, at a behind-closed-doors event in New York City, Amazon revealed a handful of new devices across its Fire TV series as well as Echo and Ring. Across its many verticals, Amazon is launching a total of 16 new devices.

During the event, the company detailed its new 4K streaming device, the Fire TV Stick 4K Select, as well as the first 4K Ring camera. Four new Echo devices are also entering the fray.

The Fire TV Stick 4K Select is the company’s “most affordable 4K streamer,” priced at $59. The device includes the faster Vega OS as well as improved content discovery tools. As detailed by Amazon, the new streaming device leverages the Vega OS. The new streaming device begins shipping “mid-October.”

In addition, Amazon is complementing its streamer with a refreshed Omni QLED series alongside the Fire TV 2 and Fire TV 4 series. The new smart TVs offer an enhanced Ambient Experience, which utilizes wireless signals to detect movement around the viewing room. The new Omni series offers an adaptive display to fine-tune the display depending on the lighting conditions. Amazon is including a new ‘Dialogue Boost’ feature, which optimizes the dialogue of content without having to fine-tune settings.

Alexa+ integrations have also been introduced. This includes asking Alexa for suggestions on what to watch. You can tailor suggestions by asking for different genres or even movies with specific plots. Alexa+ can even recognize live content like sports. Most impressively,

The new Fire TV series is available to preorder starting today, with the Omni QLED series starting at $649.

Over to Ring and Blink, Amazon’s introducing its very first 4K Ring camera. The entire series, with the Wired Video Doorbell Pro and Outdoor Camera Pro flagships, is finally adopting improved resolutions for better clarity while watching over the home. Adding ‘Retinal Vision’, the camera integrates AI to provide the best picture quality to come from the company, thus far. Retina Tuning uses AI image tuning to improve the camera. Amazon is utilizing large aperture lenses to ensure improved sharpness in the picture. Ring Retinal 2K is made available across Indoor Cam Plus and Wired Doorbell Plus.

With the ‘Familiar Faces’ feature, Ring cameras are able to recognize the faces of friends and family members, so you can be alerted to who might be at the door if you’re busy cooking dinner. Complimenting this, ‘Alexa+ Greetings’ merges the AI-powered assistant with a traditional greeter. If a Familiar Face is recognized, Alexa+ can alert you and handle the visitor differently than if the visitor is unrecognized. Familiar Faces is being made available in Canada. However, the Alexa+ integrations won’t be available until the service becomes available.

This feature rolls out to all new 4K and 2K devices in December.

The Blink lineup is also receiving a bump in resolution. Amazon announced the Blink Mini 2K+, the “most advanced” plug-in compact camera, supporting 2K resolutions. It is said to offer a long-lasting battery for uninterrupted use. Blink Arc is the company’s two-camera array, supporting a 180-degree panoramic view and 2K resolution. With a wider panoramic view, it’s now easier to monitor the home. Using two lenses, Blink Arc stitches two high-res feeds together to provide a wider field of view. Now you can cover an entire driveway or backyard without the need for multiple cameras.

Preorders for the new Blink products start today, starting at $69 in Canada

Finally, Amazon is launching four new Echo devices. This includes the Echo Dot Max and Echo Studio, two devices to support enhanced bass and spatial audio. To help improve the sound quality, Amazon has designed a 3D mesh fabric that covers the device. Echo Dot Max offers a small profile and yet features two complete drivers for sound. Preserving the overall size of the Echo Dot, the new model triples sound output. The Echo Studio is designed for spatial audio and Dolby Atmos.

The new Echo lineup is powered by the new AZ3 and AZ3 processors. They process AI features, including Omnisense. Using a wide range of sensors, Alexa+ understands patterns of the home and the users to notify if anything is out of place or better curate answers.

Amazon revealed the new Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11. The new smart displays are built with a 13-megapixel camera, the best camera ever built into an Echo Show device. Complimenting the edge-to-edge glass displays, the two new Echo Show devices minimize their bezels for a larger screen area.

Echo Dot Max and Echo Studio launch on October 29, with the new Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11 following on November 12.

Despite such an emphasis on Alexa+ during the event, there’s still no word on when the improved AI assistant will become available in Canada. In the US, all Alexa+ features are available out of the box and are expected to arrive in Canada.