Amazon is developing a new premium Echo-like speaker with a 7-inch touchscreen which will be controlled and respond by Amazon's voice-based digital assistant Alexa. It's been two years since Amazon released the last model of Echo.

In May, The Wall Street Journal reported that "Amazon is developing a new tablet-like gadget that contains its Alexa voice assistant built in."

New Amazon Echo will also control and respond through voice-based digital assistant Alexa. It will play music, provide information, news, weather, sports score and more instantly. Touchscreen could be used for easy access to a weather forecast, calendar appointment, etc.

"The latest Amazon speaker will be larger and tilt upwards so the screen can be seen when it sits on a counter and the user is standing." As written in Bloomberg. It has high-grade speakers which will make it sound much better than current Echo speakers.

The touchscreen will be of 7-inch, which is a new feature added by Amazon. Previous amazon echo did not have a touchscreen. Amazon will announce its latest Echo-like speaker in the first quarter of 2017. However, there is no confirmation received yet from Amazon the Seattle-based company.

Amazon will give a good competition to Apple and Google on voice-controlled home devices with this upcoming touchscreen speaker. Amazon also tried to enter the vast market of smartphone and tablets but they did not succeed that much. However, Amazon's Echo speakers have been an amazing hit. It's estimated US sales is more than 5 million units since 2014.

Just like Apple Inc., Amazon will also use single OS on all devices. The new device may use an optimized version of Fire OS, which currently runs on Fire Tablets and Fire TV set-top box. This new device will be costly compared to other devices such as Dot, Tap and Echo speakers which are currently available at $49.99, $129.99 and $179.99.

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