What The Tech : Alex Subscription

CHARLOTTE, N.C.-  Prepare yourself to pay extra for Alexa. If you shop at Amazon you’ve probably purchased an Amazon Echo or Alexa device. Amazon has reportedly sold nearly a billion of these connected devices but that doesn’t mean it has made money from them.

Amazon reportedly loses about $5 billion a year on Echo devices and the platform and wants to make it profitable finally. The answer is charging a monthly subscription for additional features. Subscriptions are expected to launch this summer.