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Amazon Starts Taking Pre-Orders from U.K. Customers for Echo Spot

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Amazon began taking pre-orders from U.K. customers for its Alexa-powered Echo Spot speaker on Tuesday. Announced along with all-new Echo models in September 2017, the compact display-and-speaker unit has only been available in the U.S. before now.

The Spot is capable of standard Amazon Echo functions like controlling smart home devices and streaming music, but can also show users additional information like song lyrics, weather forecasts, and the time on its 2.5-inch display.

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The circular unit can also play content from Amazon Video and YouTube, just like its bigger brother, the Echo Show.

The Echo Spot costs £120, although Amazon is currently offering a discount of £20 per unit when two are bought together (£200). Pre-orders are expected to ship on January 24, which means the entire Echo family will be available to U.K. customers from then on.

The Echo dot was the top-selling Amazon device over the 2017 holiday season, as well as "the best-selling product from any manufacturer in any category across all of Amazon," according to the e-commerce company.

As Amazon's Alexa devices continue to dominate the smart speaker market, Apple has plans to release its own music-focused smart speaker device, called HomePod, early this year.

HomePod will be controlled mainly through the user's voice using Siri, and include access to Apple Music and other expected smart speaker functionalities, like asking about the weather, traffic, setting reminders, timers, and more.

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I'd like one as a bedside device, I currently have a dot, but I'm really not happy with that camera being there.
 
Not buying any of these speaker assistant things.

I carry my phone wherever I am, so just use that piece of hardware if I feel the need to talk to a digital assistant.

More boxes all over the place is a needless waste.
 
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Whether you want an Alexa device or not, you can't help but be impressed at Amazon's momentum with the range and roll-out of these assorted smart speakers. They're obviously popular, and selling.

I don't need one, or want one. But I think Amazon at leading the way here, and are rapidly creating an ecosystem that the users will want to stay in. They've learned how to do that from Apple.. ;)
 
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I tried to use one for my house and fire tv. And it was bad. Most of the time it was having issues connecting to my network. It would go down and tell me to try back later. If it wasn’t one thing. It was another thing that would go wrong. It seems like a great concept. But in the end. I sent mine back. Since I have an Apple TV also. I will wait to see if Apple pushes one out.
 
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What an interesting alarm clock radio.
Maybe I could wake to bbc or guardian business news.
Possibly 1st of quite a few of these voice control speakers
 
I bought a Dot last year to mess about with and see what all the fuss is about and I found myself moving it from room to room because it was so useful in each. Now I have a Dot in each room except my computer room which has a full echo for listening to music on.

I was so surprised at how quickly I took to using it for more and more. I was always one of those "I have my phone and Apple Watch on me all the time, I'll just use them" people, but I've found the Echo speakers way better.

The only thing I hope Amazon do is improve the speakers, I bought one of the new Echos for the computer room and while the speaker is fine for a small room, it's not good enough for a larger room.

I'll totally be getting an Echo Spot for the bedside, but I'll be waiting until the next big sale when the price is dropped a bit.
 
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pete2106 said:
I bought a Dot last year to mess about with and see what all the fuss is about and I found myself moving it from room to room because it was so useful in each. Now I have a Dot in each room except my computer room which has a full echo for listening to music on.

I was so surprised at how quickly I took to using it for more and more. I was always one of those "I have my phone and Apple Watch on me all the time, I'll just use them" people, but I've found the Echo speakers way better.

The only thing I hope Amazon do is improve the speakers, I bought one of the new Echos for the computer room and while the speaker is fine for a small room, it's not good enough for a larger room.

I'll totally be getting an Echo Spot for the bedside, but I'll be waiting until the next big sale when the price is dropped a bit.
Click to expand...

Is it possible to choose news source as an alarm clock function.
E.g. wake up too bbc or guardian news.
 
My wife got me a Spot for Christmas. Love it. It really is the perfect little bedside Echo. Better speakers than the Dot (though I'm not not as good as the larger Echo devices), a nice little screen that shows relevant information, and easily the best looking Echo. I like it a lot. We, too, have Echos in almost every room and use them to turn on the television, lights, and fans, to adjust the temperature in the house, set timers, play music (now throughout the whole house), add grocery to our iOS Reminders app, check the weather, and probably a hundred things I'm forgetting. When I was up in the middle of the night feeding our newborn, I would have it play its flash briefing which, for me, included local news, a sports update, a snippet from The Daily Show and TWiT network, and news from NPR.
 
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rturner2 said:
A smart watch (heck even a smartphone) that is always with you is about 10x more useful than this smart speaker type crap. Ha.
Click to expand...

That's the exact opposite to my experience with using my apple watch vs using my echo's.

Apple watch has very poor Siri, it usually has to "look around your house" or "will tap you when it's ready", or tells you some of your devices aren't functioning correctly (which is true, its Siri on the apple watch that isn't functioning!!) Using Siri on either the watch or the phone requires some physical interaction, either pressing the crown or getting the phone out of your pocket to activate "Hey Siri".

The Echo doesn't suffer from any of these problems, it always hears me and understands me, can give me answers instead of giving a "**************************" reply, and is always available even when your hands are full. Setting up groups on the Alexa app makes using it more intuitive, as you can just say "Turn on the lights" and it knows which lights you mean, you don't have to specify "lounge ceiling light" etc.
 
tobefirst said:
My wife got me a Spot for Christmas. Love it. It really is the perfect little bedside Echo. Better speakers than the Dot (though I'm not not as good as the larger Echo devices), a nice little screen that shows relevant information, and easily the best looking Echo. I like it a lot. We, too, have Echos in almost every room and use them to turn on the television, lights, and fans, to adjust the temperature in the house, set timers, play music (now throughout the whole house), add grocery to our iOS Reminders app, check the weather, and probably a hundred things I'm forgetting. When I was up in the middle of the night feeding our newborn, I would have it play its flash briefing which, for me, included local news, a sports update, a snippet from The Daily Show and TWiT network, and news from NPR.
Click to expand...
You need flash briefings at 3:00am, disconnect a little. Enjoy the moment with the little one.
 
I like the look of this. I think I'll order one to replace the dot in the kitchen. The little screen might be quite useful there. I fancy one as a bedside clock as well (currently have a full-size echo there, as well as an old alarm clock). Whether I can get permission for 2 from the boss (wife!) is debatable. Might have to wait for the next Prime Day to order the second.
 
H.E. Pennypacker said:
You need flash briefings at 3:00am, disconnect a little. Enjoy the moment with the little one.
Click to expand...
Loved and hated those moments at the same time. Hated waking up for them, but when I was finally awake, that was my hour or so alone with my daughter, just me and her. I did enjoy it. Now she sleeps through the night, and I enjoy that as well. :)

Unrelatedly, love your username.
 
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jimthing said:
Not buying any of these speaker assistant things.

I carry my phone wherever I am, so just use that piece of hardware if I feel the need to talk to a digital assistant.

More boxes all over the place is a needless waste.
Click to expand...
MBP 15" Touch Bar 2.9GHz i7 QC/16GB RAM/2TB PCI-SSD/Rad Pro 460 4GB/10.13.x High Sierra Mac Mini(2012) 2.6GHz i7 QC/16GB RAM/256GB SSD/10.13.x High Sierra
iPX 258GB/space gray/11.x iPad Mini 4 128GB/gold/WiFi+4G/11.x
TV 4 64GB T.Caps 5th gen/3TB LG 27" UltraFine 5K (x2)
 
I have one Show and 4 echos and just ordered a spot now they are available in the uk. These devices are fantastic and don't take up much room. They control my lights, heating and driveway camera and Alexa totally creams Siri when it comes to voice recognition and ability.
Yes i have Applekit which can also run my home automation devices but I can't justify the price and cost of putting homepods all over the home. At £99 a time for three Dots on Amazon, it's less than the price of taking the girlfriend out for the evening.
 
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We tried the dot for a few weeks and eventually passed it on to a family member. We just didn’t like talking to something all of the time. It became annoying. I much prefer controlling lights etc via a touch device. It got so bad that I cringe when I hear the Alexa ads on the tv and radio now.
 
Bazooka-joe said:
I have one Show and 4 echos and just ordered a spot now they are available in the uk. These devices are fantastic and don't take up much room. They control my lights, heating and driveway camera and Alexa totally creams Siri when it comes to voice recognition and ability.
Yes i have Applekit which can also run my home automation devices but I can't justify the price and cost of putting homepods all over the home. At £99 a time for three Dots on Amazon, it's less than the price of taking the girlfriend out for the evening.
Click to expand...

What camera do you use for your driveway? My wife wants one so we can see who is at the door from our (soon-to-arrive) Spots.
 
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