Amazon Accidentally Confirms Cheaper $49 Echo Dot Via Twitter Gaffe
Good luck trying to get your hands on an Amazon's tiny speaker accessory, the Echo Dot, which plugs into your existing speaker system and allows you to summon Alexa, smarty-pants digital assistant that keeps getting better with time. The Echo Dot's been sold out for the past two months, though don't fret, it appears that new version is on its way.
Amazon's social media person in charge of its Echo Dot Twitter account goofed on Monday by prematurely unveiling a new model on the microblogging service. The tweet read, "Introducing the all-new Echo Dot. Add Alexa to any room—now for just $49.99." The Twitter post was taken down, but as we've often said, there are no mulligans on the Internet—once you put something out there, even for a short period, it's there for good.
There was also a link in the Twitter post that pointed users towards the original Echo Dot page on Amazon. We'd say that's pretty strong evidence that a new Echo Dot is inbound and that someone simply got a little too excited. The other possible scenario is that Amazon's getting ready to replenish its inventory of Echo Dot devices at a new price point, though if that's the case, referring to it as an "all-new Echo Dot" on Twitter is curious.
Amazon's made quite the splash in the smart home market, particularly with Alexa, which can order a pizza for you, queue up a playlists of songs, and much more. Alexa-powered devices have proven popular, and Amazon's even getting ready to roll out Alexa functionality to its Fire line of tablets, starting with the new Fire HD 8.
As for the Echo Dot, it's likely to find a wider audience at $50. It's essentially a much smaller version of the Echo and is really intended to connect to your existing speaker setup via Bluetooth, though it also sports a built-in speaker for basic chores like alarm clock duties.
Amazon's social media person in charge of its Echo Dot Twitter account goofed on Monday by prematurely unveiling a new model on the microblogging service. The tweet read, "Introducing the all-new Echo Dot. Add Alexa to any room—now for just $49.99." The Twitter post was taken down, but as we've often said, there are no mulligans on the Internet—once you put something out there, even for a short period, it's there for good.
There was also a link in the Twitter post that pointed users towards the original Echo Dot page on Amazon. We'd say that's pretty strong evidence that a new Echo Dot is inbound and that someone simply got a little too excited. The other possible scenario is that Amazon's getting ready to replenish its inventory of Echo Dot devices at a new price point, though if that's the case, referring to it as an "all-new Echo Dot" on Twitter is curious.
Amazon's made quite the splash in the smart home market, particularly with Alexa, which can order a pizza for you, queue up a playlists of songs, and much more. Alexa-powered devices have proven popular, and Amazon's even getting ready to roll out Alexa functionality to its Fire line of tablets, starting with the new Fire HD 8.
As for the Echo Dot, it's likely to find a wider audience at $50. It's essentially a much smaller version of the Echo and is really intended to connect to your existing speaker setup via Bluetooth, though it also sports a built-in speaker for basic chores like alarm clock duties.
