Amazon unveils new Echo clock and Alexa privacy features

On Wednesday, at a press event at its Seattle headquarters, the company is expected to announce new products and services that will help it maintain its position as the market leader. (Grant Hindsley/AFP/Getty Images)

Amazon kicked off its big media event on Wednesday by introducing new features for its popular Alexa voice assistant, including an option to auto delete voice recordings in an apparent attempt to address recent privacy concerns.

The company announced at its Seattle headquarters a series of new products coming to its lineup, including a new $59 Echo dock smart speaker with a built-in clock. The device, which is now available for pre-order, displays the outside temperature and the ability to snooze it by tapping the top.

As expected, Amazon unveiled its own high-end Echo speaker, called Echo Studio, to compete with some companies such as Sonos that already offer Alexa-compatible premium speakers.

Alexa is also getting a few new bells and whistles, including "frustration detection" that can detect when users are starting to loose their nerve with the voice assistant. It will say "I must have misunderstood" before trying to fix what it got wrong. The feature will roll out first to music requests.

Alexa will get its first celebrity voice, featuring actor Samuel L. Jackson, later this year for $0.99.

Over the past five years, the market for smart speakers that use virtual assistants has ballooned. According to data from tech market researcher Canalys, companies including Amazon, Google, and Baidu shipped 26.1 million smart speakers in the second quarter of this year. Amazon is sitting on top of this market: Canalys reports Amazon shipped a quarter of these speakers, or an estimated 6.6 million between April and June.

Amazon has been working to keep its momentum: Last September, Amazon introduced Alexa-controlled products ranging from the expected (more Echo smart speakers) to the surprising (a $60 AmazonBasics microwave that can warm food via voice commands — such as, "Alexa, heat up one cup of coffee" — when used with an Echo device).

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