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Seth Fiegerman

Echo by Amazon - A hands-free speaker you control with your voice

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Ryan Hoover
This reminds me of Jibo, but with slightly less creepy factor. $199 (and $99 for prime members) seems reasonable. I hope they open an API so this can hook into my iOS devices and other tech in the home like Nest.
Anton Troynikov
@rrhoover this and the Fire phone makes me wonder whether Amazon wants to follow a Google strategy in hardware, but in-house rather than acquisitions.
Max Kirchoff
@rrhoover IMHO - Amazon APIs are pretty transparent even when not explicitly "open". Haven't messed with other Fire devices, but Kindle had some cool integrations off the bat.
Lauren Stipe
@rrhoover this is really cool!
Robert Mao
@rrhoover API may expose more chance for malware or NSA to listen to the home... scary.
Nick Zieber
@mave99a I was going to add that as well... Nice try NSA. :)
Erik Finman
The most cringe video I've ever seen. But looks like a really cool product! Thanks for the Hunt!
Ellen Chisa
@erikfinman agreed with the video - It was somehow regressive for both genders. I'm actually a little nervous if the team was tone deaf enough to release this video, there will be implicit sexism in the product too :(
Some Guy
Maybe I'm not getting it, by why would someone pay $199/$99 for a standalone device that does something that Android/iOS/Windows Phone do already?
Niv Dror
@ghobs91 because for the ones you mentioned, you need to get them out of your pocked and press the button.
Some Guy
@Nivo0o0 IDK about other Android phones, but my Moto X responds to a keyphrase without me even touching it. I know that Siri does the same now if it's plugged in charging. The use case for this device suggests that it's meant for when you're home or at the office, in which case your phone is not likely to be in your pocket.
Niv Dror
@ghobs91 it's also not likely to be plugged in. They priced it correctly where it's not and either this or Siri type of decision.
Max Kirchoff
@ghobs91 I basically do what this device does every morning with my phone and a bluetooth speaker. Srsly though, I'd buy this. $99 is less than I paid for the speaker - and - I don't have to fool with pairing issues every other day.
Ryan Detzel
Cool, yet creepy at the same time. Not sure how I feel about this. // signs up for invite.
Peter Liu
IFTTT integration and I'm all in...."Alexa it's too hot here, turn up the AC!" "Alexa can you make sure the door is locked?"
David Haddad
@pdotliu internet of things, what the new ifttt is all about
Daylen Sawchuk
@pdotliu Amazon Alexa now has an IFTTT channel (https://ifttt.com/amazon_alexa)!
Niv Dror
In other news... The NSA is feel the overwhelming joy they missed out on the day of the Apple Event.
Tori Bunte
Things I will never say aloud: "Play music by Bruno Mars"
Max Kirchoff
Alex Rosen
Weirdly solves a very specific problem for me. I've always wanted a device to talk to from the shower that track tasks/ideas as they come to me. I'm a shower thinker but often forget stuff by the time I'm out. If this works well, I'd be very excited.
Javier Sandoval
@alexmr wow yeah. I think the cooking example is a little stretched. Everyone showers. It can turn a 30-min shower into a great preparation for the day.
Drew Leahy
I plan on buying this...as an Amazon Prime subscriber, I hardly ever use their music services. This is a perfect use case for a service I already pay for but don't use!
Dave Mulder
@drewleahy - Since there's some kind of application/invitation process going on here, do you think Amazon will first select candidates who are heavy consumers of their streaming services and devices?
Drew Leahy
@muldster sure -- they should prioritize by the people who spend the most using Amazon Prime. Obviously they want to use Echo to ultimately sell more!
Jeremy Cai
Throwing cash at my screen
ethan
Wow you can actually name it anything?
David Haddad
@gliechtenstein you're right. that they chose to allow that is interesting.
Nick Grosvenor
Here we go guys, this sort of thing is the start of the AI revolution.
Viral Jogani
Looks like we're one step closer to Jarvis. Can't wait for an API to hack on!
Ross Rojek
While cool, I see see an army of hackers trying to use them to listen in on people's homes. So I'll be interested in the security features. TechCrunch had an article that summed it up as a always on shopping cart. Add things to it, have them delivered without thinking twice. edit - I can't wait to hear the 2am drunk ordering stories. Trying to get refunds for something embarrassing and the amazon customer service rep playing back the customer's voice order. "Well sir, this sounds like your voice ordering the Marge Simpson blowup sex doll."
Patrick Smith
This is pretty cool. I never use Siri or other voice commands through my phone but I can see myself using this since "it's always listening" and you never have to take out a phone or press any buttons. One thing I'm curious about is the speaker quality for playing music. I'm a huge fan of Sonos (I'm not expecting Echo to provide anything close to the sound quality of Sonos, at least not yet) but it would be awesome if Sonos added this functionality sometime in the near future.
Derek Shanahan
Please take my money. I can think of a few ways this would be fun and convenient in my little SF apartment:)
Robert Mao
NSA's best ever dream coming true. However I still love it and can't wait to get one.
Sumeet Shah
It's times like this where I wish I had signed up for Prime...
lollipierre
This reminds me very much of the Nabaztag, for those who remember what it was!
Max Kirchoff
This seems pretty exciting. I have a morning habit of checking phone for weather, queueing podcasts, etc etc - would be really great to just yell at something else to do it. I get the "creepy factor" but I guess I just don't care. Maybe it's because I know all my neighbors can hear me anyway.