Amazon made no formal announcement, but after two years on the market the Amazon Echo can now stream audio to external Bluetooth speakers.
Amazon said the firmware update was rolled out recently and it updated its pairing instructions for the Echo in the help section of the Alexa app. Connection to an external speaker is done through the app in the Settings section.
Bluetooth pairing was previously available only on the Echo Dot. The Echo Dot can also connect with external speakers via its line-in jack. So far the full-size Echo has no external jack.
The foray into streaming multi-room audio offers yet another selling point for the Echo. It also offers a preview to a second-generation Echo, which many industry observers are expecting this year.
