[tubemonkey]

Amazon Echo rumored to gain voice calling capabilities

According to sources familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Amazon Echo may soon be able to make and receive voice calls. This would position the device as a potential replacement for the home phone. The WSJ says the feature could arrive this year, but federal regulations regarding access to 911 and laws requiring phone companies to allow law enforcement agencies to wiretap calls in real time could complicate the release. Amazon announced Chime, an enterprise conferencing service, earlier this week, so they certainly now have the infrastructure to support voice-over-IP calling. I highly doubt such a feature would be supported on a device like the Fire TV through the microphone on the voice remote, but the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot certainly have the hardware to act as a speakerphone.