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

Trendingnow

1

The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting

2

Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic

3

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup

1

The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting

2

Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic

3

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
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

Man in a suit and tie
InvestingAmazon
Bill Ackman, David Tepper, and other billionaire fund managers are quietly piling into Amazon
By Amanda GerutJune 25, 2026
20 minutes ago
A college graduate in regalia rests his chin in his hand.
Future of WorkGen Z
Gen Z graduates are blaming AI for their unemployment woes when they should be looking somewhere else
By Sasha RogelbergJune 25, 2026
25 minutes ago
Getting past the pilot: Why so many AI test projects have trouble scaling
SuccessBrainstorm Tech
Getting past the pilot: Why so many AI test projects have trouble scaling
By Alexei OreskovicJune 24, 2026
9 hours ago
‘Godmother of AI’ and tech entrepreneurs draw investors by pivoting from chatbots to ‘world models’ saying AI has to read the room, not just books
AIRobots
‘Godmother of AI’ and tech entrepreneurs draw investors by pivoting from chatbots to ‘world models’ saying AI has to read the room, not just books
By The Associated PressJune 24, 2026
10 hours ago
‘We are in agony’: Today Show host Savannah Guthrie begs public for help as reports surface her missing 84-year-old mom might be dead
North AmericaMedia
‘We are in agony’: Today Show host Savannah Guthrie begs public for help as reports surface her missing 84-year-old mom might be dead
By The Associated PressJune 24, 2026
10 hours ago
Asia’s defense boom is rewiring the global arms supply chain
Commentaryarms, weapons, and defense
Asia’s defense boom is rewiring the global arms supply chain
By Chris OberoiJune 24, 2026
10 hours ago

Most Popular

The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting
Economy
The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting
By Jacqueline MunisJune 24, 2026
1 day ago
Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic
Success
Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 24, 2026
1 day ago
After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
Success
After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 23, 2026
2 days ago
Amazon's record Prime Day masks a darker truth: Americans are spending more and getting less
Retail
Amazon's record Prime Day masks a darker truth: Americans are spending more and getting less
By Nick LichtenbergJune 24, 2026
16 hours ago
Ray Dalio just finished a 10-day trip to China. He says global leaders know America ‘doesn’t have what it takes to fight to maintain its empire’
Asia
Ray Dalio just finished a 10-day trip to China. He says global leaders know America ‘doesn’t have what it takes to fight to maintain its empire’
By Nick LichtenbergJune 24, 2026
18 hours ago
Current price of gold as of June 23, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of gold as of June 23, 2026
By Danny BakstJune 23, 2026
2 days 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.