SAN FRANCISCO, June 14 — Just over a year after Amazon launched its first Echo Dot specially designed for children with a kid-friendly voice assistant, the company announced a second-generation model that’s louder, more colourful, and more educational.
On Wednesday, Amazon announced the latest version of the child-friendly Alexa-powered Echo Dot, a model that was first launched during April of last year. Compared to the original, this model is both more kid- and more wallet-friendly.
The updated Kid Edition comes in a new range of colour options — including rainbow — and is 70per cent louder than before.
The FreeTime Unlimited app, which can only be used with parental consent, brings kids unlimited access to age-appropriate online content like audiobooks, podcasts, games, songs, and now news briefings and fun facts from media sources like National Geographic.
FreeTime also will be getting a new feature when the new devices launch called Alexa Skill Blueprints. This lets your child become a story’s protagonist — a story that you create yourself based on 10 provided presets.
A year of FreeTime Unlimited comes with the purchase of a Kids Edition Echo Dot which can be extended for US$2.99 or US$4.99 (RM12.45 or RM20.77) per month, depending on whether you’re an Amazon Prime member or not.
Parents have control over how their kids use the device by being able to set daily limits as well as review activity. Furthermore, explicit songs can be filtered, and phone calls can only be made if the recipient is pre-approved.
The device is available now for pre-order specially priced at US$49.99, regularly priced US$69.99, and will roll out to customers starting on June 26. — AFP-Relaxnews
