Amazon.com (AMZN) has a launched a pioneer product – a connected speaker called Echo that is perpetually on, listening for orders that its virtual assistant, Alexa can respond to with information or by initiating a task.
Hailed as the biggest tech surprise of 2014 by Stark insider, the Echo is cylindrical in shape.
Echo has a room-filling sound and is provided with seven microphones on top. The microphones use the beam-forming technology to recognize the user’s voice and to make sure that it hears its users regardless of their location in the room.
Echo can also filter out background noise (which includes music) in order to better understand the request. It then processes voice input through Amazon’s cloud-based web servers.
It comes with a 360-degree-firing speaker and works with both Bluetooth from a device and a built-in support for music from TuneIn, Prime Music, Amazon Music Library, and iHeartRadio.
It can also give news and weather information via the local radio, NPR and ESPN through TuneIn, and other sources.
It can also give basic information from Wikipedia, word definitions and can also convert units.
The Echo app, to go with the speaker, runs on Fire OS and Android, as well as a web-based app for iOS via Safari and for control via desktop. This can be used to set up services, to view and monitor alarms, check reminders and shopping lists.
Like mobile digital assistant Apple’s (AAPL) Siri, the Echo responds to natural-language voice orders. The Echo’s “wake word” is Alexa.
Amazon Moves toward No-Click Shopping
By enabling users to create shopping lists by voice alone, Amazon is moving toward “no-click” shopping. Amazon already offers some users of its Prime Fresh grocery deliver service a device called the Dash. The Dash comes with a barcode scanner and a microphone. This can be used to add items to the order queue.
The Echo costs $199 for regular users and just $99 for Prime members.
As of now, Echo needs an invitation to be purchased.
Stocks That Warrant a Look
Amazon currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Better-ranked stocks in this industry include World Energy Solutions, Inc. (XWES) and Baidu Inc. (BIDU).Both carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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