Amazon Launches Echo Time Alarm Clock in Japan at ¥35,980

Amazon began selling its bedside smart alarm clock, Echo Time, in Japan on the 29th. It costs ¥35,980 including tax and is available through Amazon.co.jp. A new Echo Dot also went on sale the same day at ¥17,980.

In the US, Amazon announced the two devices on the 28th local time, together with the 16-inch Echo Show 16, the Alexa Photo Frame and a 3D control map called Alexa Home Map. The company has not said whether the Echo Show 16, Photo Frame or Home Map will come to Japan. Some features require the generative-AI assistant Alexa+, whose early access started in Japan on the 29th. Prime members can keep using it at no extra cost afterward; others must pay.

Echo Time and the new Echo Dot

Echo Time has a 3.2-inch round touchscreen and no camera, a choice Amazon says reflects privacy and sleep concerns. Its smart alarm wakes users within a 10 to 60 minute window around the set time, when they are in lighter sleep. It relies on Omnisense, which combines a room temperature sensor, presence detection and ultrasound that senses breathing and proximity, so no wearable is needed. Sleep detection is opt-in. The screen brightens gradually like a sunrise, and at night it dims to show only the time or next alarm. It comes in graphite, glacier white and coral pink. In the US it costs $199.99.

The new Echo Dot is the first in the line with a built-in smart home hub, supporting thousands of devices such as lights and air conditioners. It also includes an eero Wi-Fi extender that can widen an existing eero network by up to 92 square meters.

US-only products

Echo Show 16 is up for preorder in the US at $499.99, or $569.99 with a Nanomatte display, and should ship by year-end. It has a Full HD screen, built-in Fire TV features and a 13-megapixel camera with night vision. The Alexa Photo Frame, from $199.99, syncs with Amazon Photos and lets Alexa+ pick photos by faces, dates and expressions. Alexa Home Map is due in preview by the end of the year.