TheMadBrewer

Sort of like Siri for the home.

www.amazon.com/echo

For $99 (the Prime member's price) I might just try it -- Not sure I'd spring for it at the full $199 price

boberonicus

The Bluetooth speaker and the kitchen functions of the demo video are the compelling aspects for me. I do like the idea of not having to use my hands when I'm cooking to play music or add to my to-do list.

IsleOfMan

Seems like a giant Android Wear device with a speaker and no screen. Might be interested if it tied into some sort of home-automation.

seawolf

As mentioned on another forum, this thing is always on always listening in. At least with Siri, you have to hold down a button first. All NSA needs now is to backdoor this thing. Audio monitoring 24/7.

Need

After watching the video, I decided to sign up for it.

This is what happened to me just about everyday when I am just sitting in front of my computer minding my own business:

"Papa, how do you spell "insert word"?"
"Ask Siri"
"Where is my iPad?"
"I don't know go find it."

"Can you turn on the music?"
...walk over to turn it on...

"Can you turn off the music?"
...walk over to turn it off...

"Can you set timer for 45 minutes"
...find my phone and set timer...

"Can you check the weather?"
...find phone and check weather...

I can go on and on... My wife has an iPhone and iPad and both got Siri. My son has an iPad and it has Siri. Somehow I ended up doing all the checking and work. That's it I am quitting.. Alexa is going to take over LOL.

gpf590

I feel your pain!!!!!

I think I'm going to name mine Bababooey.

boberonicus

Much as the product intrigues me, I'm irritated by the "Request an invitation" golden ticket marketing approach. It implies that only the chosen few will be permitted to pay for the spectacular wunderbox. Will I be one of the lucky ones? Oh please Mr. Bezos, pick me! Pick me!

Dubai Stu

Will it have a speakerphone function. With the seven microphone feature, it sounds like it could be an impressive speaker phone.

adambadam

I honestly don't get this device one bit as everyone has phones that can do the underlying functions. I would be slightly more intrigued if it was made by Apple or Google, as I could seem them really integrating it into their own services/devices you already own, but other than that, it is just a bluetooth speaker essentially.

With that said, the one thing I don't find creepy or unsettling is the always listening aspect. If the NSA had a backdoor to your iPhone or Android, something tells me it too could always be listening without your knowledge as well.

pbjag

Actually... This will be perfect for my very elderly mother who is legally blind. I had tried to acclimate her to an IPad to use the accessibility functions, but it was too steep of a learning curve. Asking someone verbally to look things up for her - now that she is good at.

Need

It is really not that easy to do the same functions on the phone when you are at home. Our iPads are set to not use Siri when they are locked. So to do the same function as the Echo, we have to

1) Find the iPad
2) Click home button
3) Enter PIN
4) Long click home button

If we are watching a movie, my wife always like to ask.."How old is she/he?" I usually have remember to look it up later on IMDB, but now I could just ask right there sitting on the sofa.

Need

I am going to rename mine to Hal and change it to male voice.

"Hal, play rock music."
"I am afraid I can't do that, Dave."
*starts playing Barry Manilow's songs*

IsleOfMan

As I think more about it, while there are obviously key differences, I don't see much the Echo does that I can't do with my Android Wear device. I say this because I honestly don't find the Android Wear device that useful around the house. The main difference is the audio feedback from Echo as opposed to the truncated card data shown on the Android Wear (with link to open more data on the phone screen)... this is probably the biggest omission in Android Wear and one that would make it a lot more useful at home (such as to use it as a speakerphone in the kitchen while cooking, even though my phone is docked in the office... or to have texts/emails read to me in whole instead of just the preview).

I haven't traveled with the Android Wear it yet (later this week), but I think around the airport (boarding pass, notifications), walking around a city (turn-by-turn without holding your phone up in front of you like a tourist), and the like is where it'll prove a bit more useful. Right now, around the house, it's a glorified pedometer.

weekilter

Then again, it could be a smashing success like the "Fire Phone."

bowdenj

Signed up for it a few days ago - thinking my parents would get a kick out of it.