Amazon has gradually been adding features to its Fire tablets that are present on its Echo smart devices. The company today announced a new firmware update for the Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 10 which essentially transforms these tablets into portable Echo Shows. The update will add Show Mode to the tablets which brings the same title card user interface that’s present on the Echo Show, Amazon’s smart speaker with a display.
The company has confirmed that this software update will be released for the Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 10 tablets on July 2nd. The Show Mode won’t be available on older Fire tablets or the Fire 7 tablet for that matter.
Amazon has also launched a Show Mode Charging Dock which will transform the tablets into a makeshift Echo Show. Once the tablet is placed into the dock it starts charging and automatically enables Show Mode. It then enables users to access all of the Echo features even if they’re across the room. The docks are priced at $40 and $55 for the 8 inch and 10 inch versions.
The docking station doesn’t have an external microphone or speaker so only the tablet’s internals will be used to power this experience. Obviously, it won’t be an experience similar to the actual Echo devices which have a seven-mic array compared to the tablet’s singular built-in microphone.
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