Posted Thu Nov 6, 2014 at 11:00 AM PST by Steven Cohen
The upcoming smart speaker responds to a user's voice commands.
Amazon has revealed its latest product, the Amazon Echo. Echo is a cylindrical speaker system with 360° omni-directional audio and voice-controlled commands, offering instant information and music.
The speaker is an always-on device that uses Wi-Fi to connect to the cloud through Amazon Web Services. After waking Echo with the wake word "Alexa," the speaker provides similar functionality to Siri or Ok Google on Apple and Android devices, allowing customers to ask for information, music, news, weather, and more. Likewise, thanks to its cloud integration, Echo actually adapts to your speech patterns, vocabulary, and personal preferences over time. The speaker features Far-field voice recognition that uses seven microphones to pick up customer's commands. A 2.5-inch woofer and a 2-inch tweeter are integrated as well, offering 360° omni-directional audio.
Amazon Echo supports voice control for popular services like Amazon Music, Prime Music, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn. In addition, the device also includes Bluetooth functionality to stream music from Spotify, iTunes, Pandora, and more from your phone or tablet. Likewise, users can download an Echo app for their Fire OS and Android devices, as well as desktop and iOS browsers. Finally, a remote with an integrated microphone is also included.
While an official release date has not been announced, Amazon Echo is currently available for pre-order through invitation only for $199. Customers can visit the Echo website to request an invitation. Prime members who successfully receive an invite, will also get a special limited time discount, bringing the speaker's price down to $99.
Source: Amazon
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