Echo Dot by Amazon — Amazon's latest additions to the Echo family.

@ow exactly This! Perfect opportunity for Echo & Sonos to work together. I'm sure someone in the Samsung SmartThings community will pull together a hacky solution and have it on GitHub soon enough 😛 Edit: Seems that there already is a (very) hacky solution via SmartThings - https://community.smartthings.co...

@ow agreed. Amazon truly is taking over the home and, in turn, Alexa may win war with Siri and Google Now.

@ow I want Google Play Music... and also availability in Canada :p Debating hooking up an old FireTV, VPN-ing, and getting a prime trial just to drive to the border and grab it. Just finished installing all my smart lighting (wemo + gue) and this looks amazing. Echo was always a bit too pricey for my mild home automation needs and lack of features here but this is tempting. Alternately, any Amazon product hunters who can hook me up with a way to order to the border? Also anyone from Amazon if you can fill us in if you need an Echo to use the Dot that'd be appreciated.

@ow It's coming...

@ow I'm not sure which way Amazon is going to go with this. It's apparent now they are going for multiple Echos per household. Given that, synchronizing music / audio between Echos seems like a logical next step. If they keep audio output closed, it would force people to adopt the "Amazon Sound System", which would also, incidentally, put Alexa in every room. Audio output integrations may be reserved only for devices that support the Fire Stick. I'm really hoping they DON'T do this! ...But it seems like a possibility.

Don't get me wrong - big fan of all this and plan on indulging in all this as soon as possible - but I want Dot this weekend!

@steftheo11 @andym_dc The Dot is completely standalone. :) You can order the Dot without an Echo, check out the top comment in this post or use the native Amazon app to add the Dot to cart.

@nyalex Wowza, when was Echo ever $300!? I got mine in the beta for $99. I totally agree, though. I use echo for SO much. I used to be so against IoT, but now i turn on my lights in the morning and off at night with voice, and I couldn't imagine it any other way... except when my interent is down...=(

@callan752 @nyalex and at $99 it is totally worth it, but I don't even recommend it to friends at the standard $199 price, never mind $300!

@callan752 @dhulser I was one of the first on the pre-order. Waited 3-4 months for it get be delivered. Actually, I think what happened was it was $299 initially and right before shipping they ended up charging everyone $199.

@nyalex @callan752 ah cool. that makes sense. How do you feel about the purchase at $200? Would you recommend?

@dhulser @callan752 For $99 - definitely! I am already planning on purchasing a couple as gifts for family members and possibly a second one for the living room. I know that it seems like something that will end up in your tech draw (the graveyard of nerdiness), but you'll find yourself using it often. I haven't hooked it up like others in regards to controlling my home since I rent, but even to use it to get check the weather while I get dressed for work in the morning or as an alarm clock is pretty awesome. Alexa even helped me win a couple of arguments with the girlfriend. Maybe lose a couple too. I also think that she (yes, Alexa is a pronoun in my house) is better than Siri because Amazon updates her way more often. Every week there some new thing she can answer. Most recently, I hooked her up with Uber. Can't wait to order my next Uber.

@milesfitzgerald oh, this is pretty rad. This could also be used to troll your family/roomates, sending commands to Alexa/Echo Dot remotely. 👹

@rrhoover Haha play some 70's Disco @ random times 🔥😎

@milesfitzgerald Just got your app and started messing with it. Very cool! I connected to my Alexa, but unfortunately it doesn't allow me to play music on her remotely. Says, "Amazon Prime Music isn't supported with this device". :-(

@nyalex Hey Alex, we're actively talking to the Amazon Echo team to let you control your Echo. For now you can only talk to Alexa.

@milesfitzgerald Oh ok, no worries. Still helpful. Obviously it would be nice to get Alexa to do stuff when I am a couple minutes from home, for example.

@sholtaway I am pretty sure that they are separate, do you know @drew23?

@askdaylen @sholtaway no it isn't FireOS. They are separate. FireOS is only our GUI OS for kindles etc

@mvkel The tap is a portable Bluetooth speaker. The Echo and Dot have to be plugged into the wall whereas the Tap has a battery. The Dot adds the Alexa functionality to an existing speaker.

@jackdweck probably a marketing stunt to get some press about the fact that you can order things via Alexa? Seems a bit counter intuitive though, considering those with Echo, already have an Echo...

@marty @jackdweck Right! I could see if Tap required an Echo and was simply used to extend it to other rooms / other parts of the house. Odd to require the latter in order to acquire the former, though!

@jackdweck There are ways to use Alexa (which enables you to order the Dot) without owning an Echo. :) Check out Miles' comment at the top of this thread for one way.

@joshdance It has a built-in speaker

This is tiny. It was rumored to be the height of a soda can. Amazon crushed it!

@erlerks The product is designed for people with a connected home in order to use Alexa in many rooms. Also, it allows a Sonos like system of whole-home audio.