Amazon India has started sending out invites for purchasing the Echo, Echo Dot and Echo Plus smart speakers. The invites are going out to those who registered to purchase the devices on the Amazon India website as well as to Amazon Prime members. An invite is essential to purchase the smart speakers in India and Amazon says that the validity of the invites sent out today will last only till October 17 due to limited units available for sale.
The Amazon Echo speakers house Amazon’s voice-based AI assistant called Alexa. The speakers can be used to control IoT devices, shop on Amazon, bring up news briefings, search the web, listen to music, call cabs and a lot more using simple voice commands.
In India, the cheapest Echo speaker, the Echo Dot, is priced at Rs 3,149, followed by the Echo at Rs 6,999 and the Echo Plus at Rs 10,499. The speakers come with integrated skills and services from Saavn, TuneIn, Zomato, Time of India, ESPN CricInfo, Goibibo, Ola cabs, FreshMenu and Urban Clap. They are also compatible with smart home devices from Syska LED, Oakter, TP-Link, Philips Hue and more, which users can control through voice commands.
Amazon is also looking to launch its own music streaming service – Amazon Prime Music – in India close to the final availability of the Echo devices. Even the Alexa app required to setup the Echo devices is not available in India just yet.
All the three Echo speakers are currently available at discounted prices mentioned above, to those who have received the purchase invitation. Originally, the The Echo is priced at Rs. 9,999, while the Echo Plus costs Rs. 14,999, and the Echo Dot sells at Rs. 4,499. The company is also bundling a year-long subscription to Amazon Prime for those who purchase the Echo speakers.
However the Echo Dot, Echo and Echo Plus will only start shipping in India beginning the week of October 30 and will be delivered in 2-3 days once shipped.