Rumor: Amazon is making a speaker with a 7-inch screen

Amazon is working on an Echo-like speaker, but with a 7″ screen. That is what anonymous sources from Bloomberg tell the American news medium. The screen should mainly display simple, practical, everyday things.

The sources give as examples weather forecasts, agenda items and the news. The speaker’s screen is said to face upward at an oblique angle, so that standing users can easily look at it. The speakers in the device would be of a better quality than those of the current Amazon Echo. The device, which according to previous rumors is being developed under the code name Knight, would run on a modified version of Fire OS. That operating system is based on Android and is also what the Kindle Fire, Fire Phone and Fire TV run on.

Amazon may continue developing these smart home devices to stay ahead of competitors Google and Apple. Google introduced its Echo competitor Google Home this year and Apple is also rumored to be interested in such devices, which in that case would use Siri. According to market research, the Echo has sold more than 5 million copies in the US, Bloomberg reports.

Knight would complement the Echo and the smaller Tap and Dot and not replace those devices. It would also be the most expensive of the lineup, as the other three have no screen. The Echo has a suggested retail price of $180, the cheapest speaker, the Dot, costs $50. An announcement from Knight was to be made in the first quarter of 2017.

The existing Amazon Echo