Amazon Echo is basically a voice-activated speaker combined with an app. It's always on—just ask for information, music, news, weather, and more. Echo begins working as soon as it detects the wake word. It is also an expertly tuned speaker that can fill any room with immersive sound. Echo's brain is in the cloud, running on Amazon Web Services so it continually learns and adds more functionality over time. The more you use Echo, the more it adapts to your speech patterns, vocabulary, and personal preferences. Echo doesn't stop working when you're away from home. With the free companion app for all operating systems and desktop browsers, you can easily manage your alarms, music, shopping lists, access news, weather, information, and more.