Alexa really wants to be in your home. And chances are, the smart assistant will succeed in making it there.
Amazon announced more than a dozen gadgets at a press event from its Seattle headquarters on Thursday, but the one that may have turned heads the most is a device that just about all of us have owned for decades: a microwave.
From there, you can use it in one of three ways. One, you can use it manually, like a normal microwave. Second, you can use Alexa commands, like “Alexa, microwave on high for two minutes.”
The third option is to press the “Ask Alexa” button on the microwave. All this does is obviate the need to say “Alexa” or “microwave.” In a demo, the spokesperson pressed the button and then said “Reheat coffee” and the microwave fired up automatically. You can also stop the microwave by saying “Stop” or add time by saying “Add 30 seconds,” for example.
The fun feature is the popcorn, though. When you set it up for the first time, you’ll have an option to sign up for a subscription to buy microwave popcorn from Amazon. Then, as you pop it, Alexa will keep track of how many times you have said, “Alexa, make popcorn,” and it’ll reorder automatically when you’re running low. There’s also a popcorn button on the device.

Is all this worth $59.99? Sure, it’s a pretty dead-ahead 700W microwave after all. It’s all black and boxy and simple.