Amazon on Wednesday, June 16, announced that its Amazon Echo International Version (4th gen) and Amazon Echo Dot International Version (4th gen) smart speakers are officially shipping to the Philippines via Amazon.com.

The Echo is priced at $99.99 while the Echo Dot is priced at $49.99. Both will incur a $20.66 shipping fee when ordering.

The Echo debuted in 2014 while the smaller hockey puck-sized Echo Dot came out in 2016. This is the first time that the devices will be officially available to the Philippines with Amazon support.

According to Amazon, local features will include the following:

• Local news sources including ABS-CBN, News5-TV5 Philippines, and Cignal OneNews Philippines are now available along with global news sources such as Reuters. 
  
• Alexa is now more knowledgeable about local holidays, local sports, food, history, places, celebrities, and more. Try asking “Alexa, when is Bonifacio Day?”, “Alexa, what is the national game of the Philippines?”, “Alexa, what is adobo?”, or “Alexa, who is José Rizal?”
  
• Customers can now listen to Spotify on the device. TuneIn will provide access to local radio stations like Yes! The Best Manila and 96.3 Easy Rock.

“We are excited to make the International Versions of the latest generations of Echo and Echo Dot available to customers in the Philippines from Amazon.com today,” said Rob Pulciani, vice president, Alexa International.

Echo units imported in the past by customers will also gain the localized features. However, some features that are available in the US like Alexa Guard, Amazon Kids, and In-Skill Purchases will not be available.

Amazon is also making developer tools available in the Philippines such as its Alexa Skills Kit, which “provides developers with the ability to create skills across different and diverse categories” for virtual assistant Alexa; and the Alexa Voice Service that will allow developers to integrate the virtual assistant directly into their products. – Rappler.com