Amazon Inc first teased its Siri-like smart speaker device called Echo last fall, initially making the device available through invitation only. Now, Amazon has finally opened up pre-orders to the public, and it will begin shipping on July 14.

Echo is 9.25-inch tall cylindrical speaker that can connect to other devices through Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The device is voice-activated and can be used for tasks like adding events to a calendar, playing music from Pandora or other apps, checking the weather, and more. It can also control certain types of Smart Home devices such as Philips Hue or WeMo.

The device’s current list of features and capabilities has already grown since it was first introduced, and Amazon plans on continuing to add new features in the future.

“The customer response to Amazon Echo has been incredibly positive, and we’ve been working hard to build more as quickly as possible,” said Amazon Echo vice president Greg Hart in a statement. “We are grateful to our early customers for their incredible engagement and for providing us with invaluable feedback to help shape Echo as it evolves—with their help, we’ve been able to add features like Audible, Pandora, home automation, sports scores, calendar, and more.”

He added, “We’re excited to get Echo into the hands of even more customers and continue to invent new features and experiences.”

While Echo’s capabilities certainly sound handy, they do not differ all that much from similar smartphone assistants like Siri, Google Now, or Cortana. Where the device does stand out is its always on functionality, and it is able to hear voice commands from anywhere in the room “even while it’s playing music.”

We are still waiting for them to add the command “tea, Earl Grey, hot.”

The Amazon Echo is currently priced at $179.99, a small reduction from the earlier announced $199.99 price tag, and it can now be pre-ordered from its Amazon store page.

Image credit: Amazon Inc