Spotify is finally here for the Amazon Echo

Listening to music on the Amazon Echo just got a little bit easier today. Amazon and Spotify announced today that Spotify Premium subscribers in the US will now be able to effortlessly play their favorite music on the Amazon Echo.

All Amazon Echo owners have to do is tell Alexa to play a specific playlist, artist, or genre. For example, one might say, “Alexa, play Adele on Spotify” or “Alexa, play my Study playlist on Spotify.” 

Amazon Echo also supports Spotify Connect, which allows users to effortlessly transfer their music experience and control from the Spotify app to Echo.

Keep in mind that this functionality does require a Spotify Premium subscription. Alternatively, if you’re not a Spotify subscriber, Echo has some of the same capabilities with other services, including Amazon Music, Prime Music, iHeartRadio, Pandora, and TuneIn.

The Amazon Echo is a hands-free digital assistant. With seven microphones, Alexa will be able to gather information for your every need, such as the weather, news, audible books, sports updates and scores, and much more.

Amazon in partnership with American actor Alec Baldwin is hoping to show millions of people what the Echo is all about during the Super Bowl 50 on February 7.

If you’re interested, the Amazon Echo is available on Amazon for $179.99. We’ve got the press release below.

Spotify Premium subscribers can listen to any song in the Spotify catalog on Echo

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Feb. 4, 2016– (NASDAQ: AMZN)— Amazon today announced that Spotify Premium subscribers in the U.S. can now listen to their music on Amazon Echo—just ask Alexa to play any playlist, artist, genre and more from Spotify’s catalog. And because Echo also supports Spotify Connect, customers can effortlessly transfer and control their listening experience from the Spotify app to Echo—just select Echo from the list of available devices within the Spotify app. If you don’t have Spotify Premium, new users can try Spotify Premium free for 30 days by visiting: www.spotify.com/premium.

“We’re extremely pleased that Spotify Premium subscribers can now listen to their favorite music on Amazon Echo,” said Ian Geller, Global Head of Hardware at Spotify. “Creating innovative experiences is core to our mission. We know our users will love controlling music with their voice at home.”

“Now playing your favorite music from Spotify is as easy as asking Alexa,” said Toni Reid, Director, Amazon Alexa. “Music is one of the most popular features on Amazon Echo, and Spotify has been one of the most requested services, so we’re excited to bring it to our customers today.”

Additionally, Echo customers can play music from Amazon Music, Prime Music, iHeartRadio, Pandora, and TuneIn. Simply ask Alexa for an artist, song, genre, playlist, or station, and once music is playing you can pause and skip tracks using voice commands. Echo is also Bluetooth-enabled so you can stream other music services from your phone or tablet.

Amazon Echo is hands-free and always ready, and with seven microphones and beam-forming technology, it can hear you from across the room—even while music is playing. Alexa—the brain behind Echo—is built in the cloud, so it’s always getting smarter. Echo also offers hands-free voice control for information from Wikipedia and the web, weather, timers and alarms, news, shopping/to-do lists, sports updates and scores, smart home features, Audible books, calendar entries, IFTTT, and much more—with new skills being added every week.

Amazon Echo is currently available for $179.99 at Amazon.com and other retail locations across the U.S. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/echo.

About Amazon

Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about.

About Spotify

Spotify is an award-winning digital music service that gives you on-demand access to over 30 million tracks. Our dream is to make all the world’s music available instantly to everyone, wherever and whenever you want it. Spotifymakes it easier than ever to discover, manage and share music with your friends, while making sure that artists get a fair deal.

Spotify is now available in 58 markets globally with more than 75 million active users, and over 20 million paying subscribers.

Since its launch in Sweden in 2008, Spotify has driven more than US$3bn to rights holders. Spotify is now the second biggest source of digital music revenue for labels in Europe, and the biggest and most successful music streaming service of its kind globally. www.spotify.com

For more information, images, or to contact the team, please visit http://press.spotify.com.

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Amazon’s Echo can now play music directly from Spotify

Playing Spotify music on the Amazon Echo is now as easy as saying three words: “Alexa, Play Spotify.” The e-retailer-slash-device-maker launched voice control for the app and two other music services in late January. But, you still had to stream music to the speaker via Bluetooth with a phone or a tablet. Now that Spotify is baked in, Echo can play music from the service directly. The catch? You can only take advantage of the feature if you have a Premium account in the US.

Spotify offers 30 days of free Premium membership if you want to give it a try. In case you decide that being able to quickly play Spotify music on the Echo isn’t all that important, though, you can always just continue streaming from your phone. Besides this new feature, Echo can also read books aloud on request, play Jeopardy! with you and even make it easy to order pizza during Super Bowl.

Matt LeBlanc will be one of the new ‘Top Gear’ presenters

If you’ve been following the new series of Top Gear, you’ll probably know that the BBC has been hunting for on-screen partners for presenter Chris Evans. There’s already been plenty of speculation over who will join him, but today the Beeb announced it’s found its first co-host: Friends and Joey star Matt LeBlanc.

At first glance, it appears an unlikely appointment, but he’s actually no stranger to the show: LeBlanc has raced the show’s reasonably priced car around the Dunsfold Aerodrome test track twice already (setting a record in the process) and presented spin-off show Top Gear: The Races. He is also the show’s first non-British host in its 39-year history.

The BBC says he’ll join production and begin filming immediately, presumably alongside other new cast members that “will be confirmed shortly.” It’s then just a case of waiting until May, when the new series debuts on BBC2, or for Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond to announce when their Amazon-produced motoring show will hit Prime Video.

Source: BBC Media Centre

Amazon’s retail plans could include a lot more than books

Amazon is taking steps to make its brick-and-mortar dreams come true, according to Recode. Its sources confirm that the e-retailer aims to open not just more book shops, but also other types of retail stores in the future. They also echo The New York Times‘ revelation that the company has no immediate plans to open as many as 400 bookstores, “but they could not rule out that eventual outcome.” If you recall, a shopping mall CEO claimed that Amazon is planning to launch 300 to 400 physical book shops. That same CEO issued a carefully crafted follow-up statement clarifying that his words were “not intended to represent [the company’s] plans.”

Amazon has reportedly brought back veteran execs for the retail initiative, starting with Steve Kessel who’s now serving its head honcho. The publication calls Kessel “a low-ego leader with greater emotional intelligence.” We take it that means he’s one of Amazon’s more compassionate bosses, which it needs more of if NYT’s report in 2015 detailing brutal working conditions within its premises is true.

Kessel, who’s personally close with Jeff Bezos, has been with the e-retailer since 1999, though he left for a while in 2011. His project remained top secret for a long time until the first bookstore opened in Seattle. The company also brought back Jennifer Cast (an executive from its early years) to run the Amazon Books division. Plus, they’re joined by Cameron Janes, a vice president who was product management leader for the Fire Phone.

As for the other types of retail shops, Recode says Kessel’s team is in the midst of experimenting with technologies written in the company’s retail store patent application. A possible feature is the ability to automatically charge people’s credit cards on file when they walk out the store — no need to pass through the checkout counter. Amazon’s next brick-and-mortar outlet will most likely be another bookstore, though. The company has already put up an ad looking for an assistant bookstore manager in La Jolla or San Diego.

Source: Recode, The Wall Street Journal, General Growth Properties

Order Dominos Pizza through your Echo during the Super Bowl

Domino’s Pizza revealed Wednesday that its customers will be able to order a pie through their Amazon Echo and track the order from oven to doorstep without ever leaving the couch. To do so, you’ll need to enable the Domino’s skill within your Alexa app and by linking your Echo account with your Domino’s Pizza Profile. Once the accounts are paired, you can tell Alexa to either reorder the last pizza you got or ask for your designated “Easy Order” pie. To track the progress of your pizza’s preparation, just enter the phone number on the order and Alexa will tell you how it’s coming along.

Amazon brings its Alexa assistant to first-gen Fire TVs

Now that the 4K Fire TV has taken center stage, Amazon might be forgiven for showing a little less love for its older streaming devices. However, that doesn’t appear to be the case, after the online retailer begun seeding a new update that upgrades the original Fire TV to Android 5.1 Lollipop, equips it with Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant and improves discovery.

AFTV News reports that while the Fire OS 5.0.5 update is making its way to Amazon’s first-gen streamer, rollouts are traditionally slow and cannot be forced on devices themselves. It enables owners to press the microphone button on their Fire TV remote and ask for information, music, audiobooks, weather, traffic and sports updates. Alexa won’t be as powerful as it is on the Echo but it might stop users from taking out their smartphone to look things up.

The original FIre TV will be first to receive the update, but older Fire TV Sticks will get it too. Amazon has not yet noted the upgrade on its software update page, but the full details will become available as the company nears the end of its update cycle.

Source: AFTV News

Fitbit’s low-profile Alta tracker is up for preorders

FitBit announced on Wednesday that its newest fitness tracker, the Alta, is now available for preorder. Unlike the recently announced mid-level Blaze (which we weren’t too impressed with) or top-end Surge — both of which feature large displays — the Alta is designed to discreetly track your activity.

That’s not to say it’s lacking in features. In fact, the Alta shares many of the same functions as the Blaze including FitBit’s SmartTracker, which automatically detects and records your exercise and sleep routines; Weekly Goals through the FitBit app and message notifications via a Bluetooth connection.

Plus, like the Blaze, the Alta will be modular with eight swappable strap options: four “classic” rubberized bands at $30 a pop, three $60 leather bands and a $100 stainless steel bangle (above). The Alta itself will retail for $130. If you don’t want to buy direct from FitBit, you’ll be able to preorder it starting tomorrow from Amazon, Best Buy, Brookstone, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Nordstrom, REI, Target, The Sports Authority, Verizon and Walmart.

NYT: Amazon plans to open more brick-and-mortar bookstores

Amazon’s physical bookstore in Seattle might not be its first and last. According to The New York Times, the e-retailer is planning to open more brick-and-mortar bookstores in the future. Sandeep Mathrani, the chief executive of a mall operator, claimed during an earnings call (and before NYT published its scoop) that Amazon is looking to open as many as 400 outlets. That would put the company in direct competition with chains like Barnes & Noble that operates over 600 stores. NYT’s source said, however, that the online retailer’s plans are much more modest than that.

The company has neither confirmed nor denied the news, but Shelf Awareness’ EIC John Mutter said independent sellers’ success wouldn’t have escaped Jeff Bezos’ notice. “There are all kinds of studies that show the best way to find things when you don’t know what you’re looking for is an old-fashioned bookstore,” Mutter told the publication. “I think that’s a major part of what Amazon is trying to do with this bookstore in Seattle. They seem very thorough in terms of competing.”

Even if the online retail giant really is planning to open new outlets, it could take some time before we see more Amazon Books. The company still has to look for locations where people are most likely to peruse and buy from traditional book shops.

Source: The New York Times

Watch Amazon spoof tech culture in its upcoming sci-fi movie

There’s already a spot-on parody of tech industry culture you can watch, but Amazon — a big part of that industry — might have a clever satire of its own. Its studio wing just released the first trailer for Creative Control, a movie that roasts the relentless optimism of many tech companies. The story revolves around augmented reality glasses that are supposed to put a “magical layer” on top of life (a not-so-subtle poke at devices like Google Glass and HoloLens), but really just mess with the main character’s grasp of the real world. Among other things, the flick includes virtual romance and a surreal performance from noted VR enthusiast Reggie Watts. There’s no release date yet, but what little we’ve seen suggests that it’ll be worth waiting for the eventual online and theatrical releases.

Source: The Verge