The Amazon Echo Show unveiled last month has a new use for the smart home, as it can now display security camera feeds.

The Echo Show is the first in the Echo line to come with a display, and this new trick puts that screen to good use. While the ability to display song lyrics, make video calls, watch YouTube videos, and others made the Echo Show an interesting addition to the lineup, the new trick for home surveillance might make it more appealing to a wider range of prospective customers.

Security Camera Feeds On Amazon Echo Show

The Amazon Echo Show plays nice with a wide range of smart home cameras from companies such as Nest, Arlo, August, Ring, Amcrest, EZViz, IC Realtime, and Vivint, which have already created Alexa Skills to take advantage of the new functionality.

At the same time, Amazon is also releasing an application programming interface (API) that enables developers to integrate smart home camera video feeds within the Echo Show.

"Today, we are happy to announce that you can enable customers to view live video feeds from their smart home cameras on Echo Show with the Smart Home Skill API," says Amazon. "Customers can say, 'Alexa, show the front door' and have the feed from an Internet connected camera like Arlo or Ring display on Echo Show."

The company announced this neat camera control back in May, and now all U.S. developers building smart home skills can take advantage of this capability.

Amazon Echo Show Highlights

For those unfamiliar with the device, the Amazon Echo Show shares many features with the Amazon Echo. Users can talk to Alexa, listen to the weather forecast, news, or sports scores, play music, and more.

However, the Echo Show also brings new tricks to the table thanks to its 7-inch display, which adds new functionality such as support for video calling, access to content from Amazon Video and YouTube, visual representations for answers from Alexa queries, and more.

With this new security camera surveillance feature, Alexa further extends its smart home support. Moreover, since the integration is for Alexa and not the Echo Show specifically, it means that even other Echo devices without a display can still take advantage of this feature to some extent. The regular Amazon Echo, for instance, could play the audio feeds of compatible cameras, even if it can't display the video feed.

The Amazon Echo Show has yet to hit the market, but it's slated to go on sale on June 28. The device costs $229.99 and it's currently available for preorder on Amazon's website, in a choice of black or white color options.

This new integration with smart home security cameras should make things even easier and more convenient, boosting the overall appeal of the Amazon Echo Show. This integration makes sense and makes the device more practical, not just a cool gadget to have around the house.

Does this feature make you more likely to invest in an Amazon Echo Show? Let us know in the comments section below.

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