Amazon outs new Echo models

Amazon continues to buckle down on its Echo line and adds four new options for consumers to choose from. The first one is a new take to the original Amazon Echo. This time, it takes the fight to Google Home with swappable cloth or other shells that can wrap around the metal body of the Echo. It’s said to offer better sound with Dolby Audio support. It also has a dedicated bass tweeter and can handle audio playback across multiple rooms, putting it up against Sonos. It retails for US$99 (approx. CA$125).

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New Amazon Fire TV dongle brings 4K HDR and Alexa on board

One of the newest devices out of Amazon’s stable brings with it some pretty big features. The new Fire TV dongle comes with 4K HDR support and Alexa built in. It’s a square Chromecast-like device but comes with a remote control that you can speak to for voice control. It’s easy to get the Fire TV to work with your TV sets. All you need to do is plug it into your HDMI port and it can then let you stream HDR content up to 4K at 60 frames per second. If you have a killer speaker or soundbar setup going, this device supports Dolby Atmos audio as well. The Fire TV dongle is launching in the US on October 25^th for US$69.99 (approx. CA$87).

Source: Android Authority

Research firm claims only 5,000 units of the Essential Phone have been sold in the US

First Look at the Essential Phone

The Essential Phone doesn’t seem to be doing so well, if we are to base it on this new report from research firm BayStreet. The company, which tracks phone shipments in the US, found that only 5,000 Essential Phone units have been sold since its launch. That seems unthinkable for a company that has been valued at around US$1.2 billion. But this might be due to the fact that the phone was supposed to come out back in June and only started shipping this month, plus its premium price tag might have brought consumers to other flagships that offered more. In the US, it’s exclusive through Sprint but there are unlocked models available on Best Buy and Essential’s online site. Here in the country it’s exclusive through TELUS and we don’t have the figures yet of how much they’ve sold here.

Source: Phone Arena

New Huawei Mate 10 Pro shows off bezel-less front, rear dual cam setup

There have been numerous leaks of the upcoming Mate devices from Huawei. This time, we get a closer look at what the Mate 10 Pro might look like. In front, we see the 5.9” EntireView display, which features a bezel-less 18:9 aspect ratio screen. On the back, we see an unusual interpretation of the dual camera setup, which makes it look like an alien to us. The Leica-branded dual camera setup have the two rumoured f/1.6 lenses stacked on top of each other with the LED flash and Laser AF are on either sides of the sensors. The last circle is the fingerprint sensor. This Pro version is said to be one of four versions of the Mate 10 coming out.

Source: GSMArena