Amazon Echo Update Adds Support for Audible Audiobooks
Amazon is sending out an email today to owners of the Echo. According to the copy posted by The Passive Voice, the latest update integrates support for Audible:
Now you can listen to audiobooks from Audible with Echo. Audiobooks offer a great way to enjoy your favorite books while relaxing, cooking, or spending time together with family.
Listening to audiobooks from your Audible library is easy. Here’s how:
- Start any book you own with “Alexa, read [Audible book title]”
- Resume the current book you’re reading by saying “Alexa, read my book.”
- Control playback with “Alexa, go back/forward.”
Echo also supports Whispersync for Voice, which allows you to seamlessly switch between reading and listening with your eligible Kindle books. You can read on your Kindle, tablet, or smartphone and then continue listening on your Echo, right where you left off.
According to another source, Amazon is also marking the occasion by giving away two free audiobooks to Echo owners.
That’s great news. A lot of readers have been wanting the Echo to support audiobooks and Kindle ebooks ever since it launched last November, and now we’re halfway there.
And what with the way Amazon has been releasing updates on an almost monthly basis, it shouldn’t bee too long until they add support for reading kindle ebooks aloud.
Comments
Anne June 5, 2015 um 1:54 pm
I’m pretty sure it’s two free books with an Audible trial-
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/2402172011&ref=adbl_echo_lp
I’m not a big audiobook user but I just tried it with one and it worked great. I might become a bigger user with the voice control playback.
Nate Hoffelder June 5, 2015 um 2:18 pm
You’re probably right. It makes more sense that way.
fjtorres June 5, 2015 um 3:31 pm
They are also offering free extended samples of a bunch of titles.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/2402172011&ref=adbl_echo_lp/180-2970630-5115846?tag=aftvn-20
Nate Hoffelder June 5, 2015 um 4:50 pm
Is that different from the normal offer?
fjtorres June 5, 2015 um 5:47 pm
Dunno.
I don’t recall *extended* samples. They’re supposed to be close to an hour long…
Amazon Echo: The Coolest Gadget I Don't Need June 25, 2015 um 12:32 pm
[…] product team has been iterating at a furious pace, bringing native Pandora, Hue control (!), and Audible integration… with promises of more to come and a developer […]
Christina Avalos May 25, 2016 um 1:53 am
I purchased the echo from QVC and it offers two free audio books but the code will not work.
Carol Hamilton October 22, 2016 um 8:45 pm
I was told I would receive 2 free audio books if I purchased the Amazon echo from QVC. I can’t find it online I only want the free books not a subscription after 30 days.
Nate Hoffelder October 22, 2016 um 8:57 pm
Audible has a standard offer of a free months trial subscription. This would get you the two free audiobooks.
I think that is what QVC was talking about, which was not honest of them. I think you were had.
Dr. Robert Carter December 25, 2016 um 6:47 pm
I bought 2 echo dots from QVC and received activation instructions eto get 2 free audiobooks from audible and was told by "Amazon Help" that because I am already a subscriber for a long time, that I can not redeem the promotional offer. RIPOFF. good luck to the 50,000+ other buyers who bought that day from QVC. I won’t dump Amazon/Audible (I have over 300), but I sure won’t buy from QVC again.
Lydia Dodd January 13, 2017 um 9:42 am
I just want to get my two free books, How can I do that?