Amazon Echo

Just when you weren’t sure what you were going to ask your family to get you for Christmas, Amazon has introduced one incredible device: the Amazon Echo. The Echo is a cylindrical and stylish device that sits anywhere in your house and provides you with information, music, news, weather and more instantly upon request. All you have to say is, “Alexa, play music by the Foo Fighters” or “Alex, what’s the weather tomorrow” and the device will do as you request by turning the music on or clearly answering your question.

It’s literally that simple. And, what makes the Echo even more incredible is that tucked under the stylish light ring are seven microphones, so the device can hear you from anywhere in the room. The Amazon Echo sources its information from the cloud, running on Amazon Web Services, so the device will continually learn new bits of information and gain more functionality over time. The Echo also has its own app, allowing you to manage your music, shopping lists, alarms and more even when you’re away from home. The Echo isn’t available to the public just yet, as you need an invite to even purchase it for the price of $199 (or $99 if you’re an Amazon Prime member). [Purchase]