We all “Google”, right? In other words, we’re always going to the tech giant to search for something, anything. “How tall is Michael Jordan?….Who many eggs do you put in a shortcake recipe?” The Amazon Echo has just streamlined the process, an intuitive device designed around your voice that’s always on and can answer just about any question you can throw at it. You simply ask for information: play music, read the weather or news, ask a question. You can even set an alarm, take notes, or add to your grocery list just by telling “Alexa” to do so.
Amazon Echo responds to “Alexa”
The Amazon Echo begins working as soon as it hears someone say the wake word, “Alexa.” For example, “Alexa, how many kilograms are in a pound?” The device will respond immediately with the correct response. The Echo sports an array of seven microphones so that you can be heard from any direction. The device also has enhanced noise cancellation, so it can even hear you ask a question while it’s playing music.
Learns as you Use
The device runs off of cloud technology, running on Amazon Web Services so it learns and adds more functionality over time. Call it a sort of pseudo artificial intelligence. The more you use Echo, the more it learns about you and adapts to your speech patterns, vocabulary and preferences. It also has an associated app, the Amazon Echo app, which is free on Fire OS and Android.
By Invitation Only
The Amazon Echo is only available for purchase through invite — presumably until they are able to make more units to keep up with the demand. It will cost $199, or $99 for Amazon Prime members. You can sign up to purchase the Amazon Echo here.
