Amazon is set to improve its smart speaker portfolio in India with the launch of Echo Show 8 later this month. In a statement on Wednesday morning, the e-commerce giant confirmed that the new speaker will be launched in the country on February 26. The speaker was announced at Amazon’s fall event in September last year and is the middle smart display speaker in the company’s Echo lineup.

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Amazon Echo Show 8 price in India has been set at Rs 12,999. Even though the pre-orders for the device start today, the sale will begin only on Feb 26, once it is launched. The speaker features an 8-inch HD display which focuses on privacy features around the camera.

The device can be used to video chat, watch movies and trailers and TV shows. It would come with support for apps such as Amazon Prime Video, Voot, and Apple Music, among others. You also get the Alexa voice assistant support on the device. The Amazon Echo Show 8 will also double up as an alarm clock and will compete against Google’s Home Hub, a smart display with a 7-inch display and built-in Google Assistant. The Google Home Hub costs Rs 9,000.

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Last month, Amazon had brought the Echo Auto to India - a device that gives you access to Alexa inside the car. The device comes with an eight-microphone array designed for in-car acoustics and speech recognition technology. This means that Alexa can now hear you over music, A/C, and road noise. The Amazon Echo Auto is powered by your car's 12V charging socket or USB port.  

You can connect the device to your car's car stereo system for audio playback using a 3.5 mm auxiliary cable or Bluetooth connection. At the same time, the device needs to be connected to Alexa through the Alexa app on your smartphone. It will run on mobile data to stream music, make calls or send messages to your phone contacts. Echo Auto is available for Rs 4,999 on Amazon India.