Amazon's Echo now doubles as basic home security

Story highlights

• Alexa Guard is rolling out to first-party Echo devices now
• You can pick up an Echo Input, Echo Dot, Echo, Echo Plus, Echo Spot or Echo Show with Prime shipping

Alexa brings a vast amount of skills to its Echos. Add basic home security to the list.

With Alexa Guard enabled on a first-party Echo smart speaker, it can use its microphones for good. In this case, Amazon has trained it to recognize the sounds of a detector or carbon monoxide alarms, in addition to the sound of breaking glass.

It will work on these Amazon Echo devices:

• Amazon Echo Input ($19.99, originally $34.99; amazon.com)
• Amazon Echo Dot ($29.99, originally $49.99; amazon.com)
• Amazon Echo ($99.99; amazon.com)
• Amazon Echo Plus ($149.99, originally $164.98; amazon.com)
• Amazon Echo Spot ($129.99; amazon.com)
• Amazon Echo Show ($229.99; amazon.com)

Similar to a system like Amazon's Ring Alarm, you'll say "Alexa, I'm leaving," and it will arm its microphones to listen. Keep in mind that as with any technology, there's no guarantee it will always work.

When your Echo picks up on a sound, it will send you a notification via the iOS or Android app, even allowing you to drop in. This will let you hear what's going on or see if you're on an Echo Show or Echo Spot.

Even cooler. This comes with no added cost and is another reason why Amazon Echo is a top-selling smart speaker. Amazon has kept good on its promise to continue to update and improve Alexa.

Alexa Guard is rolling out today to Amazon Echos, and you can pick up an Echo right now with Prime shipping.

Note: The prices above reflect the retailers' listed prices at the time of publication.

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