Amazon Echo

Amazon Echo, often shortened to Echo, is a brand of smart speakers developed by Amazon. Echo devices connect to the voice-controlled intelligent personal assistant service, Alexa, which responds to a wake term (Alexa, and others) when spoken by its user. The features of the device include voice interaction, audio program playback, such as music, streaming podcasts, and audiobooks, maintaining to-do lists, alarms, and scheduling reminders, in addition to providing weather, traffic and other real-time information. It can also control several smart devices, acting as a home automation hub. Amazon started developing Echo devices inside its Lab126 offices in Silicon Valley and in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as early as 2010. The device represented one of its first attempts to expand its device portfolio beyond the Kindle e-reader. Amazon initially limited the first-generation Echo to Amazon Prime members or just by invitation, but it became widely available in the United States in mid-2015, and subsequently in other countries. Additionally, the Alexa voice service is available to be added to other devices, and Amazon encourages other companies' devices and services to connect to it.