Today Amazon took the wraps off of its new Echo Show, a device with a 7-inch touchscreen. That’s not the only big news that the company had to share today, though.
Amazon is adding support for free Alexa calling and messaging to the Echo and Echo Dot. The feature comes preloaded on the Echo Show. This means that existing Echo and Echo Dot owners will be able to call and message other Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Show owners.
Alexa messaging and calling also works on Android and iOS devices that have the Amazon Alexa app installed. So with this feature, you could use your Echo to call someone’s Android phone, send a message from your iPhone to someone’s Echo Dot, and so on. When your Echo gets a message, you’ll hear a chime and see a green light ring on your device. The green ring will appear for incoming calls, too.
Amazon says that this Alexa calling and messaging is “coming soon” to Echo devices.
The addition of Alexa calling and messaging is big for Amazon and its Echo devices. Now Echo owners will have an easy, hands-free way to call or message other Echo owners using a big speaker, and others can use the Alexa app on Android or iOS to call friends or family with an Echo, which can be used sort of like a landline.
Do you have an Amazon Echo device? If so, can you see yourself using it for calling or messaging?
