Thoughts on the new Echo system:
1. The Echo v2 & Echo Plus have a new speaker layout & upgraded far-field microphones that are better at listening from a distance. Which is great, because I usually have to raise my voice & yell at my Echo.
2. No bridge required to run Philips Hue lights on the Plus.
3. The new Echo v2 designs look great:
4. Curious about Youtube support, as that was just dropped on the Echo Show. The Echo Spot would be slick with Youtube clips! I'm sure they just have to sort out the interface stuff to get it back again.
5. I am a huge sucker for cute tech. Even if the Spot is useless, I want one lol...I mean, just look at it!
6. New TV partners for voice control using the Video Skills Kit: Hulu, PlayStation Vue, CBS All Access, Bravo, Showtime and multiple NBC apps. The Video Skills API looks super cool! I really really really hope that Roku integrates it, because (1) my family loves our Roku TV (4K TV with Roku built-in, SUPER easy to use), and (2) typing with the remote stinks, and a lot of apps (Youtube, Vimeo) don't support the keyboard app for smartphones, so it's a huge pain to search for clips you want to show off.
https://www.engadget.com/2017/06/08/amazon-alexa-voice-control-video-streaming/
7. Definitely gonna buy a pack of the buttons for my in-laws for Christmas, they love trivia games!
8. I hope the button is programmable...I love my BT.TN, but would also love to have it more tightly integrated. A simple example is laundry: I would like to press a button when I put a load in the washer, so that my Echo reminds me to take it out & put it in the dryer. I would like a second button to press when I run the dryer, so that I know when to go take it out. I'm sure we'll have washers & dryers that "work with Alexa" in the future.
9. The Echo Plus is pretty much going to murder everything out there in the smarthome field, at least, once their integration expands with hardware over the next year or two. For advanced users, Smart Things already has Echo support, so if you want to get more creative than off-the-shelf hardware, you can simply interface the STv2 Hub with Echo. Also curious to see what API's will be available!
10. I am extremely surprised that they haven't offered an integration Echo. Something that would maybe mount in the ceiling, like a smoke alarm (or perhaps baked into a ceiling fan), or a recessed wall unit. I'd imagine they'll do a wall unit for a future version of the Show.
11. Overall, I'd say Amazon killed it. I am extremely happy with my current Echo & Echo Dots...the quality of the voice recognition system makes the system worth having, and the convenience of doing even simple things like named alarms has proven to be super useful.
12. On a tangent, I am planning on moving my Echo Dot from my kitchen to my bedroom & replacing it with their new $149 10" Echo tablet...that way I can pull up my recipes on a nice big portable screen, but also talk to it when my hands are messy with cookie dough or whatever to set names or do conversions or whatever.