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> "Interestingly, this is the same system-on-a-chip used in the 6th generation Amazon Fire HD; maybe Amazon had a few extra laying around?" A little-known fact

> "Interestingly, this is the same system-on-a-chip used in the 6th generation Amazon Fire HD; maybe Amazon had a few extra laying around?" A little-known fact about the echo smart speakers is that they run a minimally modified version of FireOS at their core. In fact, many references to the Fire tablet lineup can be seen around the echo firmware. Using the same SoC makes sense in this regard as it allows for a more unified build process by enabling kernel/driver/firmware blob reuse.

xyzzy_plugh 8y ago
The original Echo ran something akin to the Kindle e-reader Linux-based OS. Once the Fire Phone failed, many Android engineers were absorbed into the Echo projects and the follow-on products seem to have been migrated to FireOS (or vice versa?). There are some sparse details about the original Echo floating around[0], but I couldn't find the specifics. While they may be able to share some firmware, I'd still wager their kernels/drivers/firmware blobs are different enough due to drastically different components interfacing with the SoC. I personally question the value of putting Android on non-mobile screen-less devices (forgetting about the Echo Show). 0: https://labs.mwrinfosecurity.com/blog/alexa-are-you-listening/ https://labs.mwrinfosecurity.com/blog/alexa-are-you-listenin...
- yjftsjthsd-h 8y ago
  I'm not sure we should be forgetting about the Show; I can't imagine that Amazon wants different kinds of Echo to have different operating systems, and once you've got the screen, it makes more and more sense to reuse your existing systems.
  - xyzzy_plugh 8y ago
    You're implying Amazon knows what it wants. They thought the Fire Phone was going to be huge. They thought the Echo wasn't. While reuse is nice, optimizing for experimentation and different products is probably more useful. Given most of the magic of Alexa lives in Amazon's servers, there seems to be less incentive to use existing solutions over what makes sense (and is cost effective).

xyzzy_plugh 8y ago

The original Echo ran something akin to the Kindle e-reader Linux-based OS. Once the Fire Phone failed, many Android engineers were absorbed into the Echo projects and the follow-on products seem to have been migrated to FireOS (or vice versa?). There are some sparse details about the original Echo floating around[0], but I couldn't find the specifics. While they may be able to share some firmware, I'd still wager their kernels/drivers/firmware blobs are different enough due to drastically different components interfacing with the SoC. I personally question the value of putting Android on non-mobile screen-less devices (forgetting about the Echo Show). 0: https://labs.mwrinfosecurity.com/blog/alexa-are-you-listening/ https://labs.mwrinfosecurity.com/blog/alexa-are-you-listenin...

yjftsjthsd-h 8y ago
I'm not sure we should be forgetting about the Show; I can't imagine that Amazon wants different kinds of Echo to have different operating systems, and once you've got the screen, it makes more and more sense to reuse your existing systems.
- xyzzy_plugh 8y ago
  You're implying Amazon knows what it wants. They thought the Fire Phone was going to be huge. They thought the Echo wasn't. While reuse is nice, optimizing for experimentation and different products is probably more useful. Given most of the magic of Alexa lives in Amazon's servers, there seems to be less incentive to use existing solutions over what makes sense (and is cost effective).