What We Learned From Amazon’s Big Hardware Announcements

Smart ovens, headphones, jewelry — and even smart eyeglasses — hint at Alexa’s future and more.

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) held an event on Sept. 25, and it had some pretty big new releases ready. The company showed off 15 new products, and it gave tech investors a glimpse of where Amazon is headed.

Amazon’s business is about more than just hardware, but last Wednesday’s event made it clear that the company still sees a big role for hardware in its future.

Alexa is on the go

Amazon’s Alexa has always had a fair bit in common with Apple‘s Siri and Alphabet‘s Google Assistant. But there were also differences in use cases. End users tend to use voice assistants on mobile devices, a trend that seems extremely likely to be driven by Google Assistant and Siri, since so many smartphones come with those services on board. Alexa has thus far lived primarily on devices for the home, most notably Amazon’s Echo line of smart speakers.

Amazon’s big hardware event included the unveiling of several products that promise to make Alexa more mobile. Wireless headphones (the Echo Buds), smart eyeglasses (Echo Frames), and smart jewelry (Echo Loop, a smart ring) will give Alexa a free-range future. It will still be tough for Alexa to compete with Siri and Google Assistant in areas like navigation, but getting users accustomed to have Alexa on the go should help give it a foothold outside of the home.

Getting framed

Of the on-the-go Alexa devices, the Echo Frames are easily the most interesting. They’re extremely reminiscent of the infamous Google Glass, which had a rough public run and now exist only in an Enterprise Edition. Still, Amazon seems ready to give smart eyeglasses another chance — a limited chance, anyway.

Like Google did, Amazon is starting with a pilot program of sorts. Echo Frames will initially be available by invitation-only. They’ll cost just $179.99 by invitation and $249.99 thereafter, a far cry from Google Glass’ initial price of $1,500 (though it’s not yet clear if Amazon is selling its debut smart eyeglasses at a loss).

Amazon’s Alexa experiments don’t always have obvious near-term payoffs, and investors shouldn’t expect to see many Echo Frames on the street anytime soon. Still, this program suggests that Amazon sees a future for smart eyeglasses. Joining the race now may make a big difference if and when they become useful enough to go mainstream.

Chef Alexa

Amazon is clearly interested in taking Alexa outside of the home to compete with on-the-go assistants like the iOS-native Siri. But the company is also making sure not to cede the home space to competitors like Google, which offers an Echo-like smart speaker in Google Home and which already supports some smart-home features.

One advantage for Alexa in the smart-home space is that Amazon sells its own smart appliances and other smart-home products. It offers smart clocks, for instance, as well as smart microwaves. The company’s latest announcement included minor upgrades to some home goods and one big reveal: the Alexa smart oven. It’s Amazon’s newest, biggest, and priciest ($249.99) smart-home device yet, though it’s still a microwave-like countertop device rather than the sort of thing homeowners once bought at Sears.

Amazon seems to have a keen eye for where smart devices will be most useful: using a smart clock to set a timer or instructing a digital assistant to heat the oven for you both have a common-sense convenience that is lacking in, for instance, smart refrigerators that users can tweet from.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium service or advisor. We’re Motley! Questioning an investing thesis — even one of our own — helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer, so we sometimes publish articles that may not be in line with recommendations, rankings or other content.

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Stephen Lovely owns shares of Amazon and Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, and Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple, long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple, short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple, and long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

More on Tech Stocks

A data center engineer works on a laptop at a server farm.
Tech Stocks

3 No-Brainer Data Centre Stocks to Buy With $500 Right Now

Data centres are going to be a huge growth opportunity in the next decade. And these are the top buys.

Read more »

The virtual button with the letters AI in a circle hovering above a keyboard, about to be clicked by a cursor.
Tech Stocks

Is OpenText Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold for 2025?

OpenText stock has fallen in the last few years, but that could mean this top tech stock remains an undervalued…

Read more »

AI microchip
Tech Stocks

Celestica Stock: Buy, Sell, or Hold?

Celestica's stock price has rallied 950% in the last five years. Will the AI boom send it even higher in…

Read more »

data analyze research
Tech Stocks

2 Ridiculously Cheap Growth Stocks to Buy Hand Over Fist in 2024

Well Health Technologies is a cheap growth stock to buy for its record-breaking results, massive revenue growth, and profitability.

Read more »

A worker uses a double monitor computer screen in an office.
Tech Stocks

4 Reasons to Buy Kinaxis Stock Like There’s No Tomorrow

Kinaxis stock has a strong past. But there is even more to look forward to from this top tech stock.

Read more »

The letters AI glowing on a circuit board processor.
Tech Stocks

The Future of AI: Best Canadian Stocks to Buy Now

Here are two of the best AI-focused stocks in Canada that you can consider adding to your portfolio before it’s…

Read more »

TFSA (Tax-Free Savings Account) on wooden blocks and Canadian one hundred dollar bills.
Tech Stocks

2 TFSA Stocks to Buy Right Now With $7,000

Are you looking for growth stocks that can help you maximize the tax-free withdrawals of the TFSA? This article is…

Read more »

cloud computing
Tech Stocks

3 No-Brainer Tech Stocks to Buy Right Now for Less Than $1,000

Not all tech stocks are the risky investments that many think they are. Which is why we're focusing on the…

Read more »