Originally available only by invitation and through the company’s rewards program Amazon Prime, the Echo will hit shelves at more than 3,000 brick-and-mortar locations in the U.S. Customers of The Home Depot, Staples, Brookstone, Fred Meyer, P.C. Richard & Son, Sears and RadioShack, among others, will be able to try the newfangled tech out before opening their wallets.
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Amazon has announced plans to begin selling its Echo speaker in select retail stores. Amazon says the device listens for the “wake word”, which is Alexa, then starts recording from that point on, plus a few seconds prior, to understand what you’re asking. The Echo is a cylindrical speaker system with 360° omni-directional audio and voice-controlled commands, offering instant information and music. Amazon Echo VP, Greg Hart, made no secret of the timings, claiming that Amazon Echo would be the ideal gift for holiday shoppers to look for.
Amazon’s list of distributors highlights how Echo is being positioned as more than an entertainment tool.
Amazon is making it easier for you to buy its virtual assistant and media tower, the Amazon Echo. By integrating with home products such as lights, fans, heather and lamps, users can control products through their voice. IFTTT recipes basically use Echo to carry out various tasks on different devices. This feature, interestingly, overlaps with Amazon’s Dash buttons, which can be used to instantly re-order products that an Amazon Prime customer frequently orders.
Users also access the Cloud-based Google Calendars service and reorder Prime-eligible products. Because the unit is Bluetooth-enabled, you can also stream tunes from other popular services, like Spotify and iTunes, from a wirelessly connected mobile device.
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Priced at $179.99, the Echo, if you don’t already know, is a little black tube that makes whatever room you place it in smarter.
