Amazon brings Echo and Alexa to India

As the Echo and Alexa from Amazon continue to set the pace for what to expect from voice-based interfaces and home hubs, Amazon is expanding them to Asia for the first time today. Today, the e-commerce giant announced that Echo and Alexa are now on sale in India, and later this year, they will also launch in Japan. The devices are launching by invitation today. Users request these by visiting the specific local sites for the Echo, Echo Plus and Echo Dot. Eligible customers will receive an introductory discount of 30 percent off the purchase price of Echo devices and one year of Prime membership. Devices are due to ship beginning the week of October 30. Millions of customers love Alexa, and were thrilled to introduce her to our customers in India today and Japan later this year, said Tom Taylor, Senior Vice President, Amazon Alexa, in a statement. Were also excited to expand the Alexa Skills Kit and the Alexa Voice Service, so developers and hardware makers around the world can create localized Alexa experiences for our Indian and Japanese customers.