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I think it needs a base Amazon echo to work if I understand correctly.

bovermyer 11y ago
No, it needs external speakers, unlike the original Echo. However, you only need an Echo to preorder a Dot, you don't need an Echo for a Dot to work.
- sp332 11y ago
  FTA: Includes a built-in speaker so it can work on its own
  - corin_ 11y ago
    Built in speaker is for alarms, not media, I think.
    - wyldfire 11y ago
      it does seem to exclude media. > Built-in speaker for voice feedback when not connected to external speakers > Includes a built-in speaker so it can work on its own as a smart alarm clock in the bedroom, an assistant in the kitchen, or anywhere you might want a voice-controlled computer
      - Touche 11y ago
        That's crazy, why do I want this without a speaker? The bluetooth speakers they recommend are all really expensive; a speaker + Echo Dot is more expensive than a regular Echo... why wouldn't I just get a second Echo?
        IshKebab 11y ago
        You can plug it into a hifi system.
  - balls187 11y ago
    The speaker is for voice feedback only. Doesn't actually support music, news, audiobooks etc.
    - nogridbag 11y ago
      Do you have a source for that? I have an Echo in my living room, but I was thinking of picking up one of these for my bedroom. I don't really care about sound quality as I would just be using it for Philips Hue, weather, and news.
      - balls187 11y ago
        Sure, this was the link that was emailed to me from Amazon, which also included the following text: > With its built-in speaker, you can place Dot in the bedroom and use it as a smart alarm clock that can also turn off your lights, or use Dot in the kitchen to easily set timers and add items to your shopping list using just your voice http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=14047587011&ref_=pe_1840220_171119930_ods_em_ha_pe_an_cta http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=14047587011&ref_=pe_184... See the technical details: > Built-in speaker for voice feedback when not connected to external speakers My Echo news is a mix of Text2Speech and audio, so I'm not sure that it would work for News.
leecarraher 11y ago
man that would suck. the computing internals of the echo are less impressive than a raspberry pi -0. The dot has bluetooth and apparently wifi to communicate with speakers and network devices. The real benefit of the echo over other homemade voice command devices like jasper(github.com/jasperproject) is the more proprietary far-field speaker array.
- reitoei 11y ago
  > The real benefit of the echo over other homemade voice command devices like jasper(github.com/jasperproject) is the more proprietary far-field speaker array. Um, and the insane underlying voice API?
eclipxe 11y ago
No it doesn't

No, it needs external speakers, unlike the original Echo. However, you only need an Echo to preorder a Dot, you don't need an Echo for a Dot to work.

sp332 11y ago
FTA: Includes a built-in speaker so it can work on its own
- corin_ 11y ago
  Built in speaker is for alarms, not media, I think.
  - wyldfire 11y ago
    it does seem to exclude media. > Built-in speaker for voice feedback when not connected to external speakers > Includes a built-in speaker so it can work on its own as a smart alarm clock in the bedroom, an assistant in the kitchen, or anywhere you might want a voice-controlled computer
    - Touche 11y ago
      That's crazy, why do I want this without a speaker? The bluetooth speakers they recommend are all really expensive; a speaker + Echo Dot is more expensive than a regular Echo... why wouldn't I just get a second Echo?
      - IshKebab 11y ago
        You can plug it into a hifi system.
- balls187 11y ago
  The speaker is for voice feedback only. Doesn't actually support music, news, audiobooks etc.
  - nogridbag 11y ago
    Do you have a source for that? I have an Echo in my living room, but I was thinking of picking up one of these for my bedroom. I don't really care about sound quality as I would just be using it for Philips Hue, weather, and news.
    - balls187 11y ago
      Sure, this was the link that was emailed to me from Amazon, which also included the following text: > With its built-in speaker, you can place Dot in the bedroom and use it as a smart alarm clock that can also turn off your lights, or use Dot in the kitchen to easily set timers and add items to your shopping list using just your voice http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=14047587011&ref_=pe_1840220_171119930_ods_em_ha_pe_an_cta http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=14047587011&ref_=pe_184... See the technical details: > Built-in speaker for voice feedback when not connected to external speakers My Echo news is a mix of Text2Speech and audio, so I'm not sure that it would work for News.

leecarraher 11y ago

man that would suck. the computing internals of the echo are less impressive than a raspberry pi -0. The dot has bluetooth and apparently wifi to communicate with speakers and network devices. The real benefit of the echo over other homemade voice command devices like jasper(github.com/jasperproject) is the more proprietary far-field speaker array.

reitoei 11y ago
> The real benefit of the echo over other homemade voice command devices like jasper(github.com/jasperproject) is the more proprietary far-field speaker array. Um, and the insane underlying voice API?

eclipxe 11y ago

No it doesn't