When Apple debuted the HomePod in 2018, it was already late to the smart speaker game. Sure, the company has never been worried about tardiness, choosing instead to focus on being the best. The HomePod sounded good, but lacked a lot of the basic functionality and voice assistant smarts the likes of Amazon and Google offered. Apple has spent the last five years improving both HomePod and HomePod mini, adding features like multi-room audio, multi-user support and an intercom tool. In 2021, Apple discontinued the original model in favor of the $99 HomePod mini.

Amazon Echo is getting an intercom function which allows users to'drop in' to the speakers remotely. Users can now access their Echo and Echo Dot speakers using different devices or the smartphone app. The feature was announced today in the US and will be available in the coming days. Users need to download the Alexa app on Android or iOS. To set up the intercom users have to go into the settings page in the Alexa app and name the device based on the room it is in. Users can then enable the'drop-in' feature.

If you've got multiple Amazon Echo devices throughout your home, you'll soon be able to use them as a connected intercom. Amazon just launched the feature today across the original Echo, Echo Dot and its new screen-toting Echo Show. The company is rolling out the feature over the next few days, but be sure to update your Alexa app to access it. We haven't had a chance to test out the intercom feature yet, but it seems pretty straightforward.

Amazon plans to reveal new voice-controlled devices this year that will let you make phone calls, according to a report today from Recode. These gadgets might also allow you to "call" a buddy who has another Alexa-powered speaker, making for a sort of intercom system. Just last month, both Google and Amazon started looking at adding telephony to their respective digital assistants, but it looks like Amazon has taken the first step. Recode's sources say that we might see an official announcement in the coming months. The company's voice-controlled Echo and Dot devices have generated a lot of buzz, but still have some growing pains, including out-of-control shopping sprees.