Amazon Echo Coming To More Than 3,000 U.S. Stores

The Amazon Echo, Amazon's smart voice assistant/Bluetooth speaker, will make its way to more than 3,000 U.S. retail stores. Retailers that will carry the Echo include Staples, The Home Depot, Sears, RadioShack, Brookstone, P.C. Richard & Son, Fred Meyer, BJ's Wholesale Club, Fry's, HH Gregg, ABT and RC Willey. Originally limited in features, the Echo has quickly become a favorite device that acts as the hub for the smart home. Recently, the gadget earned a spot on Oprah's Favorite Things list.

In addition to being able to use voice commands to play music, create shopping lists, get the weather and news, Echo supports Yelp local search, WeMo-compatible devices and Philips Hue's smart lights. The Echo also integrates with the popular If This Then That (IFTTT), which lets you create automated recipes using apps and devices. At launch, the Echo was only available to Amazon Prime members, and even then it could only be purchased through an invitation system. This July, Amazon made the black tube available to everyone to purchase for $179.99. This holiday season, you'll be able to pick one up in any of the listed stores.