Last year’s Echo Show 10. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge
Amazon has announced a couple of small quality of life improvements for different Alexa devices. Its Echo Show lineup of smart displays are getting more live video news content in the US and an easier way to navigate news channels. Meanwhile, mobile Alexa devices are also gaining the ability to share your ETA while you’re using their navigation features.
The new live video content providers for Echo Show owners in the US are from People TV, ET Live, and Bloomberg TV Plus. Amazon says it has more on the way soon. These new channels, as well as the Echo Show’s existing library of live video and on demand audio news channels, can now be accessed via a new provider list that’ll be displayed at the bottom of the screen.
As well as offering manual selection, compatible Echo Show devices can also personalize the news they show you by listening to your voice using Voice ID, or your appearance using Visual ID. Visual ID launched alongside the Echo Show 15. The feature is also available on the Echo Show 10 (3rd gen) and Echo Show 8 (2nd gen).
If you’re the kind of person that uses Alexa for navigation on devices like the Echo Auto, Echo Buds, Echo Frames, or a car with Alexa built-in, then the new ETA sharing feature could be a useful addition. Amazon says asking Alexa to “share my ETA home” will announce your predicted arrival time to your other Alexa-enabled devices like smart speakers. If your mobile Alexa device is paired with an Android smartphone you can also send an ETA via text by saying “Alexa, share my ETA with X,” where “X” is the name of one of your contacts. Alexa’s navigation feature draws from the default navigation app on your paired smartphone, according to Amazon’s support page.