Amazon apparently has an all-new Echo Dot speaker in the pipeline and it will be even cheaper than the original.
The company seems to have accidentally spilled the beans on its Amazon Echo Twitter account, deleting the announcement shortly afterward. Even if someone at Amazon fired the tweet ahead of time and recalled it once they realized, the news is out there.
As Recode reports, Amazon briefly announced on its Echo account on Twitter that a new Echo Dot is on its way, launching at an attractive $49.99 price point. The tweet even had a link for the alleged purchase, but it actually led to the original Echo Dot launched back in March, which was only available during the summer but has been out of stock for a while.
This makes it even more apparent that the new Amazon Echo Dot announcement was made prematurely, most likely by mistake, but it doesn't change the fact that an attractively priced Echo Dot (2016) should make its way to users' homes soon, probably just in time for the holidays.
For those unfamiliar with the Amazon Echo Dot (pictured above), the tiny gadget was somewhat of a mini version of the popular Amazon Echo speaker. While it did not have the same power as the Amazon Echo, the smaller Echo Dot still brought Alexa for the ride, making the popular voice-controlled virtual assistant more accessible.
At the same time, the small size of the device significantly increased portability, as users could easily bring Alexa to any room simply by moving the tiny puck-shaped Echo Dot. On the downside, Amazon had to sacrifice autonomy because the Echo Dot needs to be plugged in at all times to work.
The original Echo Dot launched at an $89.99 price point, so the new generation priced at $49.99 would cost significantly less. With that said, it's possible that the new Echo Dot will not sport any major upgrades over the original version, albeit it remains to be seen.
Amazon is betting big on Alexa's popularity and in addition to adding various improvements to the software, it's also bringing the virtual assistant to more devices. Just recently, the company announced that Alexa will soon hit mobile for the first time, coming later this year as a software update to the Fire HD 8 tablet. Amazon has also been allowing an increasing number of third-party OEMs to integrate Alexa into their smart devices, further broadening the reach of its powerful A.I. assistant.
It remains to be seen just when exactly the new $49.99 Echo Dot will make its official debut, but the die has been cast. Amazon has yet to offer an official comment regarding its brief slip but we'll keep you up to date as soon as it does.
Would you buy an Echo Dot speaker at $49.99? Let us know your thoughts.
