Amazon accepting pre-orders for new smart speaker

WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI) -- Starting Tuesday, the Amazon Echo bluetooth speaker -- previously available by invitation only -- will be accessible for pre-order to the public.

Costing $179.99, the smart-speaker, features the debut of Amazon's response to Siri, Cortana and Google: Alexa. It has the brains to hear a user's voice over loud music, complete requests and may even have the potential to become the home computer of the future.

After recent integrations with Belkin, WeMo and Philips Hue, the Echo -- first introduced seven months ago -- can now potentially connect to a residence via cloud technology. Amazon says it could be used to turn lights on or off, flip on the air conditioning and more using verbal demands.

Using Echo, users are also encouraged to ask for music on demand via Pandora ("Alexa, play 'Uptown Funk'") or listen to audio books from Amazon affiliate, Audible, directly through Echo ("Alexa, read my book"). The device also connects with Google calendar to give users access to their schedules directly through the speaker.

Like most A.I., Alexa will become smarter the more people interact with it.

"Though Echo wasn't perfect, even in the early days, I was impressed by the product's ability to recognize spoken commands from across a room, whether I was talking or members of my family were the ones speaking," wrote USA Today's Edward Baig, who reviewed the product during its early trials.

"Amazon wants Alexa to get smarter still, by encouraging third party developers to bolster Echo's skill set even further," Baig wrote.

And like other advanced assistants, Alexa can also answer questions on the spot -- but no buttons need to be pushed or apps need to be opened. Echo is always on, so in order to access Alexa's knowledge, users just need to say her name.

The speaker will be available to all July 14 on Amazon.com.