Amazon Echo
Until today, Amazon Echo was only available for those who had a special invite. Starting today, Amazon’s Echo smart speaker is available for everyone.
The giant online retailer has announced on Tuesday that Amazon Echo will be available for everyone, without needing a special invite.
Amazon also said that the smart speaker will come at a lower price than it was initially announced.
The original price of the Echo speaker was $199, while Amazon Prime members could buy it for $99 for a limited time.
Amazon Echo can now be pre-ordered for $179,99 from Amazon.com and will start shipping starting July 14.
Amazon Echo was first released last year in November to critical and commercial acclaim.
The device is a voice-activated speaker, of cylindrical shape and 9.25 inch in length.
But this is not just an ordinary speaker that plays music. According to its developers, Amazon Echo also tells the news, weathers, sets alarms, acts as a timer, can be used for to-do-lists and it can even tell jokes.
The device is always on and works through a Wi-Fi connection. The smart speaker reacts when the user says the “wake word” chosen prior to the activation of the device.
Amazon Echo is a pretty amazing smart device and can answer questions like “What time is it?” and knows the answer to trivia questions like “How tall is Mount Everest?”
Vice president of Amazon Echo, Greg Hart, said that customers have reacted extremely well to the new smart speaker device.
Hart said that his team has been working very hard to build more Amazon Echo devices as fast as possible because it sold out quickly.
According to Amazon, early customers have helped with their feedback, helping the developers improve Echo with new and useful features such as Pandora, Audible, calendar, sports scores, home automation and more.
Hart said that Amazon Echo evolved into the device it is today thanks to the customers’ “invaluable feedback”.
Hart added that his company is extremely excited that more people will be able to purchase Echo, and that his team will continue to add new features and experiences.
At the time of its initial release, Amazon Echo received many positive reviews from renowned tech magazines and blogs.
The smart speaker was lauded mostly for its flawless voice recognition skills, solid sound and quality and attractive design.
There were however some who said that Amazon Echo should have had a built-in battery and who complained that the speaker tends to distort the sound at a high volume.
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