Amazon's Echo Speakers

Amazon has confirmed that its Echo speakers are coming to the UK, Germany and Austria.

19:40 15 September 2016

Amazon has confirmed that its virtual assistant Echo speakers will be made available in the UK, Germany, and Austria. The voice-controlled devices, which are sold only in the United States until now, were designed to answer questions, control other internet-connected devices, build shopping list, and link in to dozen of third-party services including BBC News, Spotify and Uber.

 

In a press conference in London, Amazon confirmed that the devices would become available in the three European countries on 28 September. The main Echo speaker will have a £149.99/€179.99 price tag. Amazon Prime subscribers can qualify for a short-tem discount if they pre-order before Friday.

 

According to analysts, Amazon has sold between 1.6 to five million of the speakers since they were released in November 2014 until June 2016.

 

However, campaigners have privacy concerns in using the device.

Christopher Weatherhead, a technologist at Privacy International, said: "Devices such as Amazon Echo paint a detailed picture of who we are as individuals, which ostensibly Amazon then has access to.”

"For example, if we ask Echo about sensitive medical symptoms, we are potentially revealing very personal details to a corporation, which is not directly telling us how they use that data.