The Amazon Echo voice-activated speaker is leaving its invitation-only system and is now available to the general public. Tuesday was the first day that Amazon opened up ordering of the Echo to customers without invitations. It will start shipping July 14, according to CNET. 

The price of the Amazon Echo will be $180 for all customers. Previously, the Echo was sold for $149 for Amazon Prime customers and $199 for regular customers.

"We're excited to get Echo into the hands of even more customers and continue to invent new features and experiences," said Greg Hart, vice president for Amazon's Echo. 

The Echo speaker puts Amazon in competition with Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana and Google's Google Now with providing speech-recognition software. The Echo is powered by Amazon's Alexa software, but it is used in an at-home speaker instead of a phone like its competitors.

Echo could turn into a device that powers the connected home, even turning on and off lights that uses the Belkin WeMo light switch. It will be able to play music from Pandora or iHeartRadio on demand and even re-order kitchen supplies from Amazon.com by just asking the device to do so.

Users will be able to keep the Echo speaker turned on at all times. To activate the speaker, they simply have to say Alexa's name followed by what they want her to do.

Amazon keeps sales figures on specific products silent, so it will be difficult to gauge the initial success of the Echo.

"My sense is there's significant demand for it," said David Mitchell Smith, a Gartner analyst covering Amazon, adding he didn't have any hard numbers. "It's not one of those top-grossing consumer products, but it certainly something consumers want." 

The Echo speaker is Amazon's latest product to get customers latched onto the brand. They have released tablets, e-readers, streaming TV boxes and even its own phone.

Early ratings of the product, including tech website Mashable have been very positive. Mashable product analyst Raymond Wong said, "This is what smart home should feel like."