The new Amazon Echo Show was made official recently and now Amazon are being accused of cloning the device from another device developed by a company that they invested in.
Nucleus CEO and Founder Jonathan Frankel has accused Amazon of cloning the Amazon Echo Show from their Nucleus device.
The Nucleus device is basically the same things as the Echo show, it is a video chat and home intercom system with Amazon’s Alexa built in.
“The degree to which communication is a core functionality of the device is pretty astonishing,” Frankel said in an interview with Recode on Tuesday afternoon. “Their thesis is what our thesis was: Communication is that Trojan horse to get those devices throughout the home and throughout the extended family’s home.”
“The difference is,” he added, “they want to sell more detergent; we actually want to help families communicate easier.”
Amazon’s Alexa division led a $5.6 million investment in the Nucleus startup and now the companies CEO is less than impressed with Amazon.
“They must realize that by trying to trample over us — a premiere partner in the Alexa Fund ecosystem — that they are going to really cripple that ecosystem and put a warning out for others,” Frankel said.
“If they’re really willing to threaten that,” he added, “it must be a huge opportunity.”
According to Recode, Amazon have declined to comment on the allegations that their Amazon Echo Show device was copied from Nucleus.
Source Recode