There's a clever workaround to ordering Amazon's new Echo Dot, a hockey puck-shaped gadget that imbues any speaker system with the Alexa voice assistant. Because Amazon is trying to limit demand, it's making the Echo Dot available "exclusively through Alexa," meaning only customers who already own an Echo speaker or Fire TV can order the gadget.
But a loophole in the company's iOS app appears to let any customer — even those without a Prime membership — simply search for the Echo Dot and then swipe right to add it to the shopping cart. From there, you can purchase the device, which costs $89.99, like any other Amazon product. For non-iOS users, there appears to be a web link you can use to order Echo Dot from Amazon.com.
The trick was discovered by Dwight Churchill, an employee of analytics and marketing firm Localystics, who posted about it on Twitter this morning. Amazon may move fast to stop users from exploiting this method, so hurry over to Amazon's mobile app and place the order now if you're interested in picking up the device. Both the Echo Dot and the new Bluetooth version of Amazon's speaker, the $129.99 Amazon Tap, start shipping March 31st.
Update at 4:40PM ET on Thursday March 3rd: Added web address link for ordering the Echo Dot on Amazon.com.