Technology
Amazon is discontinuing my favorite Echo — the one with a dot-matrix clock
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24139110/226372_Echo_Dot_Clock_5th_Gen_J_0007.jpg?ssl=1 "Amazon is discontinuing my favorite Echo — the one with a dot-matrix clock")
I have six Amazon Echo smart speakers in my house, and I’ve tested more, but my favorite is the Echo Dot with Clock. I love how the fabric-covered LED dot matrix display makes time unobtrusively accessible, beaming its gentle white light from my dresser across my blackout-curtained dark bedroom. (It definitely beats asking Alexa the time.)
So I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news: Amazon has discontinued the Dot with Clock in favor of a more expensive, less eye-pleasing model.
Amazon didn’t tell us why it’s going away. At first, I mistakenly thought it might be due to hidden defects — my own Echo Dot with Clock began mysteriously freezing a few weeks back, completely unresponsive to voice commands and with images stuck on its display. Multiple resets didn’t help.
But after I successfully argued for Amazon to credit me for a replacement Echo, it began working again. (I had to hard reset it, then go through the setup process multiple times in the Alexa app to get it working.)
When I went looking for a replacement $60 Echo Dot with Clock, I was surprised to find Amazon didn’t stock it anymore — only refurbished models were available when I checked, even though the blue model is available again at Amazon and Target today. So instead, I took a chance on the company’s spiritual successor: the $80 Echo Spot, which replaces the dot-matrix display with a screen.
But despite being more expensive, I’m finding the Spot inferior for my purposes. While its screen isn’t too bright for a dim bedroom, it’s not what I’d call visually pleasing. It never lets me forget I’m staring at a cheap screen. Plus, the whole screen is tilted upwards, presumably for nightstand use, not my tall dresser. I have no nightstands in my bedroom.
My colleague Jennifer Pattison Tuohy is currently working on a full review of the Echo Spot, and she likes it a good bit better than me!
But she says it doesn’t sound quite as good as the Dot either (though audio’s more directional), and it still doesn’t let you do anything as basic as setting an alarm with touch like you can with other smart displays. The main benefits are music playback controls and the ability to display time, date, temperature, and the weather simultaneously.
Now that my Echo Dot with Clock is working again, I’ll be returning the Spot — and the money that Amazon credited me.
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The LG CLOiD robot and the LG OLED evo AI Wallpaper TV are displayed onstage during an LG Electronics news conference at CES 2026, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, Jan. 5, 2026. (REUTERS/Steve Marcus)
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Welcome to Fox News’ Artificial Intelligence newsletter with the latest AI technology advancements.
IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER:
– CES 2026 showstoppers: 10 gadgets you have to see
– Construction giant unveils AI to help prevent job site accidents: ‘It’s essentially a personal assistant’
– Fox News gets exclusive look at company helping businesses nationwide harness AI-powered robots to boost efficiency and fill labor gaps
CES 2026 put health tech front and center, with companies showcasing smarter ways to support prevention, mobility and long-term wellness. (CES)
FUTURE IS NOW: Every January, the Consumer Electronics Show, better known as CES, takes over Las Vegas. It’s where tech companies show off what they’re building next, from products that are almost ready to buy to ideas that feel pulled from the future.
SAFER SITES: Construction equipment giant Caterpillar has unveiled a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool designed to improve job site safety and boost efficiency as the industry grapples with labor shortages.
FUTURE OF WELLNESS: The Consumer Electronics Show, better known as CES, is the world’s largest consumer technology event, and it’s underway in Las Vegas. It takes over the city every January for four days and draws global attention from tech companies, startups, researchers, investors and journalists, of course.
FUTURE OF WORK: As artificial intelligence is rapidly evolving, Fox News got an exclusive look at a company helping businesses nationwide harness AI-powered robots to boost efficiency and fill labor gaps. RobotLAB, with 36 locations across the country and headquartered in Texas, houses more than 50 different types of robots, from cleaning and customer service bots to security bots.
The LG CLOiD robot and the LG OLED evo AI Wallpaper TV are displayed onstage during an LG Electronics news conference at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, Jan. 5, 2026. (REUTERS/Steve Marcus)
COMPUTE CRUNCH: The price tag for competing in the artificial intelligence race is rapidly climbing, fueling demand for advanced computing power and the high-end chips that are needed to support it. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) CEO Lisa Su said demand for AI computing is accelerating as industries rush to expand their capabilities.
AI GONE WRONG: A California teenager used a chatbot over several months for drug-use guidance on ChatGPT, his mother said. Sam Nelson, 18, was preparing for college when he asked an AI chatbot how many grams of kratom, a plant-based painkiller commonly sold at smoke shops and gas stations across the country, he would need to get a strong high, his mother, Leila Turner-Scott, told SFGate, according to the New York Post.
DR CHAT: ‘The Big Money Show’ panelists weigh in on a report on people turning to ChatGPT for medical and healthcare questions.
‘FUNDAMENTALLY DEFLATIONARY’: OpenAI Board Chair Bret Taylor discusses artificial intelligence’s potential to change traditional work and its increasing use in healthcare on ‘Varney & Co.’
MIND TRAP ALERT: Artificial intelligence chatbots are quickly becoming part of our daily lives. Many of us turn to them for ideas, advice or conversation. For most, that interaction feels harmless. However, mental health experts now warn that for a small group of vulnerable people, long and emotionally charged conversations with AI may worsen delusions or psychotic symptoms.
A California teenager sought drug-use guidance from a ChatGPT chatbot over several months while preparing for college, his mother told SFGate, according to the New York Post. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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These AI projects include Prometheus, the first of several supercluster computing systems, which is expected to come online in New Albany, Ohio, sometime this year. Meta is funding the construction of new nuclear reactors as part of the agreements, the first of which may come online “as early as 2030.” These announcements are part of Meta’s ongoing goal to support its future AI operations with nuclear energy, having previously signed a deal with Constellation to revive an aging nuclear power plant last year.
Financial information for the agreements hasn’t been released, but Meta says that it will “pay the full costs for energy used by our data centers so consumers don’t bear these expenses.”
“Our agreements with Vistra, TerraPower, Oklo, and Constellation make Meta one of the most significant corporate purchasers of nuclear energy in American history,” Meta’s chief global affairs officer, Joel Kaplan, said in the announcement. “State-of-the-art data centers and AI infrastructure are essential to securing America’s position as a global leader in AI.”
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