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Amazon Echo, often shortened to Echo, is an American brand of smart speakers developed by Amazon. Echo devices connect to the voice-controlled intelligent personal assistant service Alexa, which will respond when a user says "Alexa". Users may change this wake word to "Amazon", "Echo", "Computer", as well as some other options. The features of the device include voice interaction, music playback, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, and playing audiobooks, 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 snackdeals.shop 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. 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. Work on the Amazon Echo began in 2011, known as "Project D".

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It was named this because the Kindle was Project A and the Fire Phone was Project B. The Amazon Echo was an offshoot of Project C. Project C is unknown, even though the work on it has stopped. The Amazon Echo was originally supposed to be called the Amazon Flash. The wake word, the word that makes the device responsive, for the Echo used to be "Amazon". Both of these attributes were disliked by Lab126, the division of Amazon that conducts research and development and creates computer hardware. Lab126 believed that "Amazon" is too much of a commonly used word, and the device would react when it was not intended to. Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, ended up being influenced by Lab126 to change the name of the device to the Amazon Echo and the wake word to "Alexa". The Amazon Echo was originally pitched as only a smart speaker, it was not originally intended to be a smart home hub, as it is now, until after it was launched.  Th is a᠎rticle was gen᠎er ated ᠎by G​SA  Con​te nt Generat or  Dem ov᠎ersi on!


As Alexa, the artificial intelligence (A.I.) that powers the Amazon Echo, improved, the device became more of a controlling center for smart home appliances. Dave Isbitski, the chief developer evangelist for the Echo and Alexa, received calls from smart home manufacturers to discuss connecting their devices, after the release of the Amazon Echo. But smart home devices had a problem: people were not buying smart home devices because they often required an extra app in order to be used, which was not much better than just using the device manually. The Amazon Echo (1st Generation) was initially released in March 2014 for Amazon Beauty Prime and invited members, and was marketed alongside the voice of the product, Alexa. Alexa is a voice associated with the Amazon Echo that will respond to questions and requests through artificial intelligence. Amazon has claimed that the voice of Alexa was inspired by electronic communications systems featured in the television series Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: food (https://www.snackdeals.shop) The Next Generation.


In March 2016 Amazon released a byproduct of the Amazon Echo, called the Amazon Echo Dot. This device is an ice hockey puck sized version of the original Amazon Echo released in 2014, and it has the same capabilities. This product was designed to be used in smaller rooms such as bedrooms due to its limited speaker capabilities (size) or to be paired with an external speaker. In November 2016 the second generation of the Echo Dot was released for a lower price with improved voice recognition and new colors. The second generation of the Amazon Echo was released in October 2017. This update offered better voice recognition and a fabric covering exterior. Subsequently, other variants of the Amazon Echo have been released. In May 2017 Amazon released the now-discontinued Amazon Tap, a portable, slightly smaller version of the Amazon Echo. Although the two products are similar the Tap is battery powered, portable, and requires the touch of a button in order to enable voice commands.


In April 2017 the Amazon Echo Look was released to invitees only, as an Amazon Echo with a built in camera. It was designed as a speaker, that is also handy with artificial intelligence that has smart algorithms to help users pick out outfits. In June 2018 the Amazon Echo Show was released to the public as a device with a 7-inch screen used for streaming media, making video calls and the use of Alexa. The second generation of the device was made available in November 2018 and features a 10-inch screen with improved speakers. In the default mode, the device continuously listens to all speech, monitoring for the wake word to be spoken, which is primarily set up as "Alexa" (derived from Alexa Internet, the Amazon-owned Internet indexing company). Echo's microphones can be manually disabled by pressing a mute button to turn off the audio processing circuit. Echo devices require a wireless Internet connection in order to work. Echo device requires one time setup by pairing it with your Alexa app which gives you more control over the features.

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