The HomeView and Echo Show 16 could be the family computers I’ve been asking for

<figure> <img alt="The Amazon Echo Show 16 and Apple HomeView are shown against an orange background." data-caption="" data-portal-copyright="Image: The Verge" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/268837_HomeView_and_Show_16_smart_display_report_CVirginia2.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure> <p class="has-drop-cap wp-block-paragraph">Three years ago, I wrote an <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23720333/google-pixel-tablet-smart-home-display-io">obituary for the smart display</a>. The category - smart speakers with touchscreens attached - was stuck with a few underpowered gadgets from Google and Amazon that tried to do too much and did too little well. Back then, I also laid out what they <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23720333/google-pixel-tablet-smart-home-display-io#:~:text=The%20main%20uses,they%20eat%20breakfast.">needed to do to improve</a>. This month, Apple and Amazon launched new smart displays that check nearly every box on that list. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Based on my brief hands-on time with Apple's first smart display, the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/1009877/apple-homeview-smart-home-display-hands-on">$299 HomeView</a>, and Amazon's <a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/1020286/amazon-echo-show-16-hands-on-price-screen-styles">$499.99 Echo Show 16,</a> a ground-up rebuild of its smart display line, these could finally turn the smart display into what it should have been all along: …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/1022592/apple-homeview-amazon-echo-show-16-smart-display-family-computer">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>