This week HP took the veil off its latest series of laptops and desktop computers, and in the latter category, the OEM welcomed a couple of new All-in-One PCs bearing the HP ENVY brand, one of which boasts Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant built-in. Enter the HP ENVY Curved AiO 34: an all-in-one Windows 10 computer featuring a large 34-inch curved display, complete with Amazon Alexa functionality and an Alexa-esque blue LED light, as well as four Bang & Olufsen speakers. This is the OEM’s first PC to offer all of these specifications and characteristics combined and will become available for purchase later this year at a yet-undisclosed price.
The HP ENVY Curved AiO 34 features a modern but somewhat analog design, combining metal inserts and a discrete Alexa LED light with a wooden base. The unit features an ultra-wide display boasting a resolution of 3440 x 1440 and will be available with an eighth-generation Intel Core CPU, as well as a GeForce GTX 1050 or GTX 1080 graphics card. As far as software goes, the AiO is powered by Microsoft’s Windows 10, but unlike most other Windows 10 computers, the 34-inch ENVY AiO also includes Amazon’s software, giving users the ability to start conversations with Alexa and issue commands by speaking the ‘Alexa’ keyword in the computer’s vicinity. In retrospect, this is quite of an odd turn of events considering Microsoft’s earlier push for its own voice-enabled assistant Cortana back in the early days of Windows 10. Of course, Cortana is still around, with Microsoft seemingly wanting to improve the platform in the wake of machine learning; however, it is not nearly as prevalent as Amazon’s solution has become over the past few years.
The Curved AiO with Alexa support will be launched later this year when more pricing details will be unveiled, but it’s worth noting that a second variant with a 27-inch flat panel and no support for Alexa will also be released for a starting price of $1,399. The price tag will apply to a configuration including an Intel Core i5 CPU, an NVIDIA GTX 1050 GPU, 8GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and a 1440p display.