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Amazon is now taking preorders for the Echo Show 15
ZDNET Recommends
Amazon began taking preorderson Wednesday for its largest smart display yet, the $250 Echo Show 15. Amazon announced the picture frame-like Echo Show display back in September alongside several new products and services.
The Show 15 can either be mounted on the wall or propped up on a shelf. It uses Alexa Widgets to provide glanceable information such as a shared family calendar, sticky notes, a to-do list, or a shopping list. Naturally, it directly integrates with Amazon-owned Ring's smart security cameras and even has a picture-in-picture mode so you can watch a live stream from a camera and continue to use the Show 15 for another task.
The Show 15 is also one of the first Amazon products to use facial recognition tech to change some of the information that's on the display based on who is standing in front of it. For example, you and your spouse have different Amazon accounts, so when it recognizes either one of you, the Echo Show 15 will surface information like your schedule or recently played music.
When it's not in use, it doubles as a digital picture frame that displays its own photo collection, or you can show off your own photos. And, of course, you can use it as a small TV by streaming from popular streaming services.
Privacy is naturally a concern with this type of device, and I can't blame you. For its part, Amazon reassures potential Echo Show 15 users that it processes all images for visual ID on the device, never transmitting the images used to identify you to Amazon's servers.
Hopefully we get a chance to go hands-on with the Echo Show 15 when it launches on December 9. If you decide to preorder one, let us know why and how you plan on using it in the comments below.