[Hoot Gibson]

How different is it from iPhone's "Siri"

I can't really say beyond that the Echo is a bluetooth speaker with an array of 7 microphones that responds to a wake-up word. Siri resides on a cell phone and I use Android phones and tablets.

I have always toyed with the idea of buying a Wi-fi radio but decided against it either because of mixed reviews or cost. Echo works great as an internet radio. Echo's sound quality is not as good as I can get by streaming my tablet or phone through a small amp and a good set of stereo speakers, but the sound quality is very good for a bedside radio.

The convenience of having one device that you can operate by voice from anywhere in a room made it a no-brainer at $99. I would buy a second Echo at $149, but I would be reluctant to pay the full list price of $199 for another one until more apps are developed for it.

If I was still on the Apple bandwagon, I would probably just wait until Apple came out with a similar device. Undoubtedly, if the Echo is successful, then Apple, Google, and Microsoft will produce similar devices or partner with another hardware company to produce one.

I also expect Amazon to offer Echo models with rechargeable batteries and stereo speakers in the future. A similar device that would feed the audio through a home theater system, including the ability to act as a TV remote controller, would be great. I expect that Amazon will marry its FireTV device to the Echo in the future.