TAIPEI, Taiwan — Amazon.com unveiled the Echo voice-controlled interactive speaker that lets people stream music and order items from the online retailer, as the company works to extend its reach into consumers' digital lives. Moreover, it's somewhat like the Amazon version of Apple's Siri, which both can answer questions.
Echo is priced at $199, Amazon said on its website on Friday.
Amazon Echo is designed around users' voice. It's always on—just ask for information, music, news, weather, and more. Echo begins working as soon as it hears the wake word, “Alexa.” It's also an expertly-tuned speaker that can fill any room with immersive sound.
According to Amazon, tucked under Echo's light ring is an array of seven microphones. These sensors use beam-forming technology to hear from any direction. With enhanced noise cancellation, Echo can hear a question even while it's playing music.
Echo's brain is in the cloud, running on Amazon Web Services so it continually learns and adds more functionality over time. The more users use Echo, the more it adapts users' speech patterns, vocabulary, and personal preferences.
Echo has been fine-tuned to deliver crisp vocals with dynamic bass response. Its dual downward-firing speakers produce 360 degree omni-directional audio to fill the room with immersive sound. Echo provides hands-free voice control for Amazon Music, Prime Music, iHeartRadio, and TuneIn. Plus, Echo is Bluetooth-enabled so users can stream other popular music services like Spotify, iTunes, and Pandora from your phone or tablet.
Echo doesn't stop working when users are away from home. With the free companion app on Fire OS and Android, plus desktop and iOS browsers, users can easily manage alarms, music, shopping lists, and more.
