Amazon Echo for Kids

"Awexa, play songs from Moana.” If you have an Amazon

Echo in your home and you also have kids, you’ve probably

heard a variation of that phrase uttered before. Today,

Amazon is making it easier for both kids and parents to

integrate Alexa into their routines with the new Echo Dot

Kids Edition and FreeTime services for Alexa.

The Echo Dot Kids Edition follows the formula of Amazon’s

popular Fire Kids Edition tablets: it is a standard Echo Dot

bundled with a protective rubber case (available in red,

green, or blue), a year’s subscription to the FreeTime

Unlimited service, and a two-year promise from Amazon

to replace the device if it gets damaged, no questions asked.

It sells for $79.99 — a $30 premium over a standard Echo

Dot — and is available for preorder starting today, with

shipments starting on May 9th.

In terms of technology and features, the Kids Edition Dot

is the exact same thing as the standard Echo Dot that’s been

around for nearly two years. It has seven far-field microphones

for picking up voice commands, a built-in speaker for playing

back Alexa’s voice responses or music, and the ability to

connect to a larger speaker via Bluetooth or an audio cable.