The Amazon Echo speaker was launched in 2014 and it had some limitations back then, which was that it couldn’t read things out loud to you. This changed last year when the Echo speakers were updated with Audible support, in which you could ask Alexa to read Audible books to you, although this wasn’t exactly free as you’d have to purchase Audible products for it to work.
Now if you’d like to have stories and books read out to you, but you’d rather not pay for it, you’re in luck because according to a report from ZDNet, it seems that the Echo speakers will now be able to read out your Kindle books to you, just by saying “Alexa, read book title” and the speaker will start reading it back to you.
Not all titles are compatible with Alexa, but ZDNet writer Kevin Tofel notes that out of the 200+ titles he owns, only a handful aren’t compatible, meaning that the majority of your Kindle ebooks should have no issues with the feature. Best of all, this is free, although the only issue you might have is with Alexa’s voice which is a tad robotic, but if you’re fine with it, then by all means go ahead and check it out.
Alexa will also use Amazon’s Whispersync technology, meaning that it can pick up where you left off, and tell her to skip back or pause. It sounds pretty handy, especially if you’re trying to follow a recipe while cooking, or maybe you’re just lazy, but if you own an Amazon Echo and some Kindle books, it could be worth taking it for a spin.
Filed in . Read more about Amazon, Echo, Kindle and Speakers.