Today Amazon introduced Echo which is like the digital assistants we have on our smartphones, i.e, Siri, Cortana, and Google Now but this is for your home. It’s an interesting cylindrical device which what looks to be a decent speaker system that the company says produces 360 degree omni-directional audio. It reminds me a lot like the computer on Star Trek…or something like that, needless to say, it’s definitely new and unique.
It provides a hands-free voice control system for music services like Amazon music, Prime Music, and iHeartRadio. It’s also Bluetooth-enabled so you can stream music from services like Spotify, Pandora, and iTunes from your mobile device.
It will also come with the Amazon Echo App which is cross-platform and works on iOS, Android, your desktop browser, and of course Amazon Kindle Fire and Fire Phone.
Now for the interesting part: The device will be available for purchase via an invite request system. If interested, you can request an invite on the Amazon Echo page.
If chosen, you will have the opportunity to purchase the Echo. It costs $199, but if you’re an Amazon Prime member (and receive an invitation to purchase it), you can purchase it for $99 for a limited time only.
I have to say it’s cool to see such a unique an innovative device come from Amazon first for a change and not Google, Apple, or Microsoft. This isn’t just for the living room either. It appears you can simply carry it to whichever you and your family are in, you can even set it next to your bed and have it do some cool things like tell you the weather, the news headlines of the day, and more.
To get a better idea of what the Amazon Echo is all about, check out the following video. And make sure to tell us your thoughts on what you think about it in the comments below!
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Louis
I would like to see work with Amazon prime movies as well as with Netflix.
shockersh
So you mean have it interact with your TV? Perhaps be a TV FIRE replacement as well? Now that would be cool. Why couldn’t it stream or control your FireTV.
Should work.
shockersh
So this is pretty interesting. Not sure what the play by Amazon is however. Do they want us to buy one of these for every room? Replace our alarm clock with that huge thing? I think it’s interesting just not sure how practical it is at that form factor.
I assume the form factor is due to the speakers.
That being said, probably better than a typical bluetooth speaker in the kitchen.
Steve Krause
Every room – Yes
Replace alarm clock – Yes
Better than bluetooth logitech speaker – Yes
You can be sure Amazon will make this the center of the Amazon universe. I can already see it:
Now all we need is an Amazon 3D food printer and we really won’t have a reason to leave the house.
-S
Brian Burgess
They are light and you can move it into any room you want.
Not sure about the TV, but I know it works with Amazon music as well as the ability to stream content from your device via services like Spotify.
We won’t know the details on this until they start being reviewed and used in the wild.
We have requests in and hopefully we’ll be able to get one for review.
Phil
Amazon is inventing a new space here. Sure, Siri is cool but putting something in the home like this is a no brainier. Amazed it’s not been done yet.
Sonos better have an answer real fast or they will be out of business soon.
Steve Krause
Sonos has done a nice job staying relevant over the years. Remember, they’ve been providing the wireless speaker for 10-15 years now and along the way, innovating by adding new services to the system.
But you’re right, if these sound even close to the Sonos speakers and can provide many more services and integration into the home theater, it will be a thorn for Sonos. Then again, you can be sure Google and Microsoft will try to answer this as well which is exciting. I’m really looking forward to 2015 as the year of “Home” innovation.
-S