Amazon’s next Echo, which will make calls, may be announced this week

The next Echo will probably let you talk to someone besides Alexa.

People have been saying that the new Amazon Echo will have a touchscreen and let you make video calls since early 2017. We’ve also seen some very official-looking renders of what is being touted as the next Echo, complete with a big screen, a video camera, and a speaker chamber. Today the Wall Street Journal jumps in and says everything we’ve heard is true. And we might see it as early as Tuesday (May 9).

This is probably going to happen. And soon.

More importantly, what does this mean for Amazon customers and Alexa? A touchscreen brings a whole new way to interact with Amazon’s assistant, and that might make things complicated or make them awesome. And Amazon has no infrastructure in place to make video calling a thing, so are they building that out or will they partner with someone like Microsoft or Kik?

Enquiring minds want to know. But for now, all we can do is wait.

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