Amazon is gearing up to drop its counter to Apple AirPods, Bloomberg reports, via a set of wireless earbuds with built-in Alexa functionality.
According to the report, Amazon is planning to release the earbuds in the second half of the year, with the company looking to make something akin to AirPods in look and functionality but with better audio quality.
Like Amazon's home devices, the earbuds can be prompted by saying "Alexa," after which the user will be able to issue voice commands to access music, weather information, order goods via Amazon, and so forth. The earbuds will also reportedly respond to gesture controls like tapping to switch between songs or pick up phone calls while paired with a phone, although Amazon hasn't commented officially.
Bloomberg's report says the earbuds have been tested in black and gray colors and will come in a case that doubles up as a charger, which is plugged in via a standard USB cable.
AirPods retail for between $159 and $199. No pricing details for Amazon's rival product are available yet, but as Bloomberg notes, Amazon tends to offer hardware at lower prices than its rivals.
