Amazon Echo's push notifications could be a game-changer for the smart speaker

If nothing else, Amazon should be commended for how it has continued to improve its Amazon Echo month after month with a steady stream of useful updates. 

Now a new post on Amazon's developer site says Echo devices will soon have the ability to visually show you when they have notifications available. 

They'll do this with a pulsing green light and a chime, which you can then respond to in order to hear all your notifications one after the other. 

A new world of possibilities 

Such functionality is long overdue for the Echo. The speaker could, for example, light up in the morning if there's travel disruption on your route, rather than relying on you asking how the traffic is every single morning.

Or the speaker could warn you if it's going to rain, to save you having to constantly ask about the weather. 

However, we've got some reservations about how notifications will work on a device that's supposed to serve multiple users in a household. How will Amazon prevent your housemates from being pestered by your news alerts, for example? 

Amazon's multi-user support is still in its infancy, but these are issues that Amazon will need to overcome if its Echos are to become an integral part of the home, rather than a toy for just one member of the household. 

Via Engadget

Jon Porter

Jon Porter is the ex-Home Technology Writer for TechRadar. He has also previously written for Practical Photoshop, Trusted Reviews, Inside Higher Ed, Al Bawaba, Gizmodo UK, Genetic Literacy Project, Via Satellite, Real Homes and Plant Services Magazine, and you can now find him writing for The Verge.