• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

MacKenzie Scott, Melinda French Gates, and Lauren Sánchez Bezos are rewriting the rules of billionaire giving—one quietly, one strategically, one very publicly

2

After donating $48 billion to the Gates Foundation, Warren Buffett is quietly ending one of the biggest philanthropic relationships in history

3

26 Meta employees accuse Mark Zuckerberg of using AI to target 8,000 layoffs against workers on medical, parental or family leave

1

MacKenzie Scott, Melinda French Gates, and Lauren Sánchez Bezos are rewriting the rules of billionaire giving—one quietly, one strategically, one very publicly

2

After donating $48 billion to the Gates Foundation, Warren Buffett is quietly ending one of the biggest philanthropic relationships in history

3

26 Meta employees accuse Mark Zuckerberg of using AI to target 8,000 layoffs against workers on medical, parental or family leave
TechWorld's Most Admired Companies

Meet Amazon’s New Smaller, Voice-Enabled Echo And Wireless Speaker

By
Leena Rao
Leena Rao
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Leena Rao
Leena Rao
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 3, 2016, 9:00 AM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Amazon is invading your home, although not with its cardboard shipping boxes and books.

The e-commerce giant expanded its line of connected home devices on Thursday including a smaller version of its voice-controlled Echo that comes with a virtual assistant that can answer questions, turn on lights, and order items like diapers. The company also debuted a wireless speaker that allows you to play music from your phone and more.

Echo Dot

Similar to the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot is a Wi-Fi-connected, voice-activated personal assistant. The biggest difference with the new model is its small size—it’s about as big as a hockey puck versus a 9.25-inch tall cylinder for the Echo—and that it comes with only a tiny speaker. Instead, users who want high quality sound must connect the device wirelessly to third-party speakers through Bluetooth or through a cord. The device also costs considerably less than the Echo, at $89.99 compared to its older sibling, which costs $179.99.

Using the Echo Dot requires downloading an app. To get the device to respond to commands, users merely need to say the word “Alexa,” the name of its virtual assistant.

Similar to Echo, Echo Dot can answer questions, read the news, give sports scores, order things from Amazon and set an alarm clock. They can also use the device to order rides from Uber and pizza from Dominos.

Echo Dot’s built-in speaker is puny and akin to that of a mobile phone. Amazon recommends that users connect it to a high quality speaker if they want to play music.

Users can stream music from Amazon’s own music service, Amazon Prime Music, or through a variety of apps that are integrated with Echo like iHeartRadio, Pandora, and Spotify. Echo Dot is powered by the same voice technology as Echo, which means it can hear you from across the room even if music is playing.

David Limp, Amazon’s senior vice president of devices, explained that the Dot is for people who want to use their own speaker like a Bose or Jambox. Amazon also sees the Echo Dot as serving as a secondary Echo device for different rooms, relieving people of having to return to the kitchen, for example, to interact with Alexa.

Amazon said that Dot will be available for pre-order starting on Thursday for members of its $99 per year Prime subscription service.

Amazon Tap

Amazon is now entering the already crowded wireless Bluetooth speaker market that is filled with established competitors. In fact, many of these competitors sell their speakers on Amazon’s e-commerce site.

Amazon Tap costs $129.99, and can be connected to Wi-Fi through the Amazon Alexa mobile app. The device also connects through Bluetooth so you can stream music from your phone or tablet.

The device itself is a six inch cylinder that provides nine hours of audio when fully charged. Tap can be recharged through a charger and cable that comes with it, as well as through a dock. Similar to other Bluetooth enabled speakers, users can stream music from Spotify, Pandora, and a number of other music apps from a phone or tablet.

For more on Alexa, watch this:

In addition to playing music, Tap can be used as a pared down version Echo by pressing the speaker button on the device to talk to Alexa. Users must be close to the device to activate these services.

Amazon sees the Tap as being a smarter music speaker than existing options available from other companies, Limp explained. The big differentiator, he said, is Alexa’s assistant services and that the speaker is more than just a conduit for playing music. But despite this, Amazon has a formidable challenge competing with established players. The connected speaker market is already populated Jawbone’s Jambox, Apple’s Beats and the JBL Extreme.

The big picture

As my fellow Fortune colleague Stacey Higginbotham wrote in her review of Echo nearly a year ago, Amazon’s ambitions are much broader than becoming a consumer electronics giant. Yes, it wants to use Echo to increase its e-commerce business by giving users yet another way to buy songs and re-order products.

But Amazon also wants to push into voice recognition. “We believe the next big platform is going to be voice,” Limp said to a group of reporters earlier this week. Of course, Apple and Google are also moving in the same direction with their versions of Alexa built into their products.

But Limp explained that through Echo, and other devices, Alexa becomes a service for taking action. Because Echo is in the home, and can manage other products, it can collect more data about user behavior that can help Amazon recommend what those users should buy.

That idea goes back to Amazon’s core strategy, which is to create a more personalized e-commerce business that recommends items based on what customers have bought previously.

What’s unclear is just how popular Echo is, and whether it has mass appeal with consumers both in and outside the U.S. Amazon does not disclose sales numbers, but the company said in December that the Echo was its best selling product over $100 on Black Friday.

Limp said that Amazon has been surprised by Echo’s popularity, which would contrast sharply with some of Amazon’s other devices like its Fire phone. That device flopped after it was debuted in June 2014, and forced the company to write down $170 million.

“Consumer electronics are hard,” Limp said. “Whenever we have a hit, we are surprised.”

About the Author
By Leena Rao
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Job interview in office
SuccessThe Interview Playbook
Bending Spoons only hired 0.04% from its 800,000 job applications last year—its CEO says its cutthroat hiring process is unlike ‘useless’ interviews
By Emma BurleighJuly 15, 2026
4 hours ago
FedEx CEO says we are in the middle of the biggest supply chain shift he’s seen in 35 years: ‘We are the referendum’
C-SuiteFortune 500: Titans and Disruptors of Industry
FedEx CEO says we are in the middle of the biggest supply chain shift he’s seen in 35 years: ‘We are the referendum’
By Fortune EditorsJuly 15, 2026
4 hours ago
19 of Cyclops' members stand smiling at the camera from their offices in Vienna, Austria.
CryptoVenture Capital
Exclusive: Cyclops raises $20 million to help payment companies settle faster with stablecoins
By Camila Grigera NaónJuly 15, 2026
6 hours ago
zuck
LawLayoffs
26 Meta employees accuse Mark Zuckerberg of using AI to target 8,000 layoffs against workers on medical, parental or family leave
By Barbara Ortutay, Alexandra Olson and The Associated PressJuly 15, 2026
6 hours ago
Bank of America CFO Alastair Borthwick
BankingCFO Daily
Bank of America’s AI bet is starting to pay off, its CFO says
By Sheryl EstradaJuly 15, 2026
6 hours ago
Is your AI really working? Why productivity isn’t the same as progress
Future of WorkBrainstorm Tech
Is your AI really working? Why productivity isn’t the same as progress
By Jamie GarverickJuly 15, 2026
6 hours ago

Most Popular

MacKenzie Scott, Melinda French Gates, and Lauren Sánchez Bezos are rewriting the rules of billionaire giving—one quietly, one strategically, one very publicly
Newsletters
MacKenzie Scott, Melinda French Gates, and Lauren Sánchez Bezos are rewriting the rules of billionaire giving—one quietly, one strategically, one very publicly
By Sydney LakeJuly 14, 2026
1 day ago
After donating $48 billion to the Gates Foundation, Warren Buffett is quietly ending one of the biggest philanthropic relationships in history
North America
After donating $48 billion to the Gates Foundation, Warren Buffett is quietly ending one of the biggest philanthropic relationships in history
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 14, 2026
1 day ago
26 Meta employees accuse Mark Zuckerberg of using AI to target 8,000 layoffs against workers on medical, parental or family leave
Law
26 Meta employees accuse Mark Zuckerberg of using AI to target 8,000 layoffs against workers on medical, parental or family leave
By Barbara Ortutay, Alexandra Olson and The Associated PressJuly 15, 2026
6 hours ago
Jamie Dimon understands why people are anti-rich: 'We have, in fact, left the lower-income folks behind' and 'that's kind of annoying'
Economy
Jamie Dimon understands why people are anti-rich: 'We have, in fact, left the lower-income folks behind' and 'that's kind of annoying'
By Eleanor PringleJuly 15, 2026
8 hours ago
Current price of gold as of July 14, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of gold as of July 14, 2026
By Danny BakstJuly 14, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of silver as of Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Tuesday, July 14, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 14, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.