![]() This is either a plus or a minus, depending on how you use the device, and how many people are around. That’s in keeping with the company’s move away from 360-degree audio in recent Echo models. The front-firing audio also moves as the screen does. Amazon notes that existing Echo Show owners will swivel their devices around when they’re, say, using it in the kitchen to cook. The rotating feature is primarily a way to reduce user friction. That, in particular, has been a hot button topic for the company. The image it processes looks more like a blotchy heat map than anything recognizable as an individual or even, generally, a human (though it’s able to distinguish human figures from pets). Notably, the tracking feature uses a vague outline of a person, rather than any sort of facial tracking. Here you can limit the applications it will use to follow you, require voice to use the feature or disable it entirely. There’s also a “Motion Preferences” option. You can adjust these later in settings, as well. Keep in mind, the system really has no notion of what constitutes “straight ahead, until you adjust the setting sliders accordingly. ![]() ![]() It’s fine.Īmazon will walk you through the feature during setup, including which direction you want the screen facing as a default and how much rotation it offers on either side. It’s probably something I could get used to over time, but with the relatively limited amount I’m going to spend with it, I prefer to use the product in a stationary manner, manually swiveling the display and flipping the screen angle up and down as needed. I’ve placed the Show on my desk next to the computer where I’m typing this, and I’ve mostly disabled the feature. Having used the product for several days, I would say the feature feels unnecessary in most cases - and downright unnerving in some. When the device physically follows you around the room, however, this stuff is top of mind. These things are a part of the social media and services we regularly use. After all, we’ve got cameras on pretty much everything now. One can inherently know and passively understand that a device is using imaging and AI for tracking, but largely effectively ignore it. The Echo uses figure tracking to make sure the display is facing you at all times when using it, drawing attention to itself in the process. The notion of creating a home device that fades into its surroundings is really out the window with that feature. Of course, for most of these products, video cameras are a given - and understandably so, with smart screens like the new Echo Show 10 edging into the teleconferencing space as the line between work and home has become far more fuzzy for many. Of course, the company included one on its larger Max device, so the option is there, if you want it. Oh, and a couple of connected lightbulbs, mostly because why not?īack when Google announced its first-party smart screen, the Home (now Nest) Hub, I thought it was a savvy decision to leave the camera off. My smoke detector is connected, for the peace of mind that comes with knowing that my home wasn’t on fire back when I used to leave it for extended stretches. I own two large smart speakers and a third smaller one, mostly for the convenience of networking streaming music across different rooms. It’s not an anti-technology stance to welcome these conversations and assess new products as we invite them into our homes.įor my part, my apartment is fairly limited when it comes to smart home tech. Questions of privacy, security and what we’re willing to give up for the sake of convenience. Every new smart home device invites new questions.
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