Amazon

Been eyeballing an Echo? Amazon's voice-activated speaker continues to gain features and earn fans, with newer models like the Echo Dot and Echo Tap aiming to expand the platform's reach.

However, Amazon stubbornly continues to price the Echo at $179.99, which puts it out of reach for many a gadget lover. The device has gone on sale exactly twice since its debut last year: once in November and again in April.

So how can make sure you don't miss the next price drop? What you need is a notification system, a way to get a quick heads-up the moment Amazon puts the Echo on sale. Look no further than CamelCamelCamel.

Never mind the mysterious, unwieldy name; the service lets you track any product Amazon sells and receive notifications when the price changes. In fact, let me save you a step and direct you right to the Echo page.

As you can see, CamelCamelCamel (which I'm going to refer to as C3 from here on out) shows you a complete price history, including the aforementioned pair of sale dates and prices ($149 and $153.71, if you're wondering).

Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

To create an alert, just click in the Desired Price field and choose the minimum discount amount that should trigger a notification. My advice: go for the $0.01 option, because then you'll find out when there's any drop at all. If you specify, say, 10 percent, and the price cut is only 9.5 percent, you won't get an alert.

Then, specify how you want to receive alerts -- email and/or Twitter, which will require you to manually enter your info if you haven't signed up for a free C3 account -- and then click Start Tracking. And that's it!

Needless to say, you can use C3 for products other than the Echo. And the service offers Chrome, Firefox and Safari extensions -- known as the Camelizer -- that let you set up alerts right from the Amazon product page you're viewing. (Microsoft Edge users can install the Camelizer bookmarklet instead.)

Given that the last Echo sale happened in April, my semi-educated guess is the next one will happen next month -- quite possibly coinciding with the rumored repeat of last year's Prime Day. Who wants to start the wagering?