Everything Amazon announced at its Echo product event

Amazon has unveiled a wide range of new smart home devices, including two new versions of its flagship Echo smart speaker.

During a hectic event at the company headquarters in Seattle, five new versions of the Echo were announced as well as a new version of the Fire TV streaming box.

Here is a breakdown of all the new devices:

Amazon Echo

(Martyn Landi/PA)

The flagship Amazon smart speaker has been completely redesigned, having been made smaller and had its audio output improved thanks to enhanced internal speakers.

That is down to a new dedicated woofer and tweeter as well as improvements to the far-field voice recognition software inside the speaker.

The Echo now also comes in six different finishes, including a wood veneer for the first time.

The price has also dropped to £89.99, with the first generation device having cost £150.

Echo Plus

(Martyn Landi/PA)

The first Echo device described as containing a “smart home hub”, the high-powered Echo Plus automatically detects smart home products when switched on and connects to them with approval from owners.

The same design as original, tall Amazon Echo, the Plus discovers items such as smart lightbulbs and other devices, and quickly adds them to a user’s smart home group.

Amazon confirmed it will ship the Echo Plus with a Philips Hue smart lightbulb in order to help customers begin the creation of their smart home.

Echo Show

(Amazon)

First released in the US earlier this year, the Echo Show houses a seven-inch screen which is used to display information.

Now confirmed as coming to the UK, the Show can display weather information and news updates as well as some video content.

Echo Buttons

(Amazon)

The most light-hearted of the new products announced, Buttons use Bluetooth to connect to an Echo and then act as game show-style buzzers for games played with voice and Alexa.

Amazon’s Dave Limp spoke of the Buttons helping to revitalise family games night when used for trivia games, adding a new dimension to Alexa’s existing list of fun group quizzes.

Echo Spot

(Martyn Landi/PA)

The smallest of the new Echo devices, the Spot is designed to replace the alarm clock on your bedside table. The 2.5-inch circular screen can be used to display a range of clock faces, as well as making video calls.

It’s set to be released in the UK early next year but as yet we don’t know what it’ll cost.

Fire TV

(Amazon)

There’s a new Fire TV on the way, too, one that has been redesigned to now less than half the size of the previous Fire TV.

It also has HDR and 4K support built in too, meaning higher quality images, a wider range of colours and an all-round better viewing experience as a result.

It still comes with the Voice Remote, so you can fire up Alexa to help find shows you want to watch as well.

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Amazon’s cute new Echo Spot is already stealing hearts

Among the squad of new Echo devices Amazon has just unveiled, the little Echo Spot is already proving an early favourite.

The small circular device that has a 2.5-inch screen that displays the time as well as short video news flashes and can be used for video calls has been mooted as the replacement for your bedside alarm clock.

Even though Amazon also took the covers off a redesigned Echo, a smart home hub powered Echo Plus and several others, the Spot appears to have already won hearts and minds.

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Lance Ulanoff 

✔@LanceUlanoff

Get ready to throw out your alarm clock, Amazon just introduced Echo Spot. #amazonevent

9:28 PM - Sep 27, 2017

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nilay patel 

✔@reckless

Echo Spot, a tiny Echo with a circular screen. I love this form factor.

9:29 PM - Sep 27, 2017

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Brian Roemmele @BrianRoemmele

The Echo Spot is the round screen start of the Echo Watch.

This form factor and use case just feels right.

 The Echo Watch is next...

11:20 PM - Sep 27, 2017

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Rhiannon Williams 

✔@RhiannonJudithW

The Echo Spot is v cute

10:13 PM - Sep 27, 2017

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The downside to this early excitement is that there is still some time to wait until the Spot will be sitting in your home.

The device is due to launch in the US in December but the UK has to wait until early 2018 to get hands on it.

The price also remains an unknown factor. In the US it’s going for $129.99, so a figure in that region is likely.

Sadly, this makes it one of the more expensive Echo devices Amazon announced – even more than the fully-fledged second generation Echo, which has been redesigned and given a major price cut to £89.99.

Judging by the early response, the price is one many sound willing to pay.

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Latest: These are the 22 Ryanair flights cancelled each week to and from Dublin over winter

Update 3.05pm: Furious Ryanair customers have bombarded the firm with complaints and questions following the latest batch of flight cancellations.

Newlyweds going on honeymoon, families and rugby fans hoping to watch Six Nations games abroad are among those angry after the firm axed 34 routes between November and March

Jez Thompson, 58, from Nottingham in England, had planned since 2015 to go with five friends to Italy to watch England's rugby union team play in the Six Nations Championship on February 4.

But their plan was left in tatters after their February 3 flight from East Midlands to the Italian capital - booked as soon as it became available - was among those axed.

Mr Thompson, a self-employed contractor for a stairlift firm, said he learned of the cancellation via an email from Ryanair.

He said: "It's two years of anticipation ruined at the touch of a send key. We paid £300 return each - which I thought was expensive anyway. Flights are now up to £475 each.

"We are disappointed but we just hope that one of the other airlines may take up some of the slack that Ryanair has left behind. There will be thousands of fans planning to get to Rome."

Mr Thompson said the group had been offered the chance to rebook but the only Rome flight available was on the day of the game.

So any delays would mean they risked missing the afternoon match at the Stadio Olimpico.

The group now face either finding a more expensive and longer route - perhaps flying to Turin or Milan before driving - or not going and cancelling their hotel booking.

Ryanair announced routes axed over the winter season would include popular journeys such as London Stansted to Edinburgh and Glasgow, Gatwick to Belfast, Newcastle to Faro, and Glasgow to Las Palmas.

Karen McDerment, from Patna in Ayrshire, wrote on the airline's Facebook page that the situation was a "complete joke".

She said: "Are Ryanair going to pay the £535 that I am going to lose for my accommodation over new year?

"Doubt it ... can't even contact them on any of the links provided on their very matter of fact email. Ryanair = couldn't care ... would rather pay a bit more in future than give you another penny."

Ed Williams also described the situation as a "complete joke".

He wrote: "Got 16 flights cancelled, three different booking numbers. So can't just re-book without knowing there's enough room for us all.

"Five minutes talking to someone and this could be resolved. Six hours of phoning waiting live chat and still no joy."

Update - 1.17pm: Twenty-two Ryanair flights into and out of Dublin Airport will be cancelled each week between November and March.

The airline said today that only individual flights are being cancelled, not routes.

They include three Monday flights from Dublin to Birmingham, Paris Beauvais and Barcelona, a Thursday flight to and from Bucharest and five outbound flights on Fridays.

These include Dublin to Birmingham, Paris Beauvais, Barcelona, Madrid and Warsaw Modlin.

Earlier: The Civil Aviation Authority in Britain is considering taking legal action against Ryanair after the airline cancelled thousands of flights over the coming months.

They claim customers have not been given accurate information.

The UK's aviation regulator has warned that promises by the airline should be taken with a "pinch of salt."

Andrew Haines, the chief executive of the British Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), said he was "furious" with the no-frills carrier - accusing it of appearing to show "disregard for consumers and for the law," only ever meeting its obligations when it reaches the steps of a court of law.

The airline has pledged to fully cooperate with the CAA investigation.

Ryanair said this morning: "We will be meeting with the CAA and will comply fully with whatever requirements they ask us to."

Here, the Commission for Aviation Regulation says it is fielding up to 300 complaints a week from passengers affected by the cancellations.

Its head Cathy Mannion is reminding people whose flights were cancelled with less than two weeks notice, they are entitled to €250 compensation.

"The onus is on everybody - all these passengers - to make a claim to Ryanair for the compensation in addition to any other claim they may make for care and assistance," she said.

"For example if somebody was out on holidays and their flight got cancelled, Ryanair would be required to pay for the hotel and the food and the transport."

Fianna Fáil's Robert Troy meanwhile has called for Michael O'Leary to appear before the Oireachtas Transport Committee.

He said the airline's CEO should “outline I suppose what he is doing to ensure that March is the very latest in terms of when this disruption will last and give a commitment that Ryanair will refrain from selling any seats on any flights that potentially could be cancelled”.

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