Alexa goes Mobile

[HarryT]

Yes, cars tend to be really bad environments for speech recognition. My TomTom SatNav has speech recognition, but it only really works properly when the car is stationary. Trying to use it while driving is an exercise in frustration.

[fjtorres]

Ten things to know about the Echo Dot:
http://www.aftvnews.com/10-things-to...ot/#more-13683

Of note:

Echo Dot internal speaker is fully functional and surprisingly good
Amazon has downplayed the Echo Dot’s internal speaker and mostly made you assume it’s only good for Alexa communication. That’s not the case. The Echo Dot’s internal speaker can be used for all functions as if the device was a full fledged Amazon Echo. If you don’t have an external speaker connected to the Echo Dot, it does not limit its functionality in any way. At maximum volume, the Echo Dot’s speaker is about as loud as the Amazon Echo’s speaker is at half volume. It is not as rich or warm sounding as the Amazon Echo’s speaker, and it has nearly no bass, which is why you probably wouldn’t want to use it as your primary music speaker, but it is perfectly sufficient for podcast, audiobook, and light bedtime/background music use.

And, presumably, as an alarm clock.

Similarly, 10 things to know about the Tap:

http://www.aftvnews.com/10-things-to...he-amazon-tap/

[booklover6]

"The Amazon Tap can do everything the Amazon Echo can do"

Does this mean the Tap can set a repeating alarm? Who has one that will test and report?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by booklover6

"The Amazon Tap can do everything the Amazon Echo can do"

Does this mean the Tap can set a repeating alarm? Who has one that will test and report?

Yes, it can.

Support Amz Tap --> Productivity --> Manage Timers & Alarms --> Alarms --> Set a repeating alarm

[WT Sharpe]

My Tap is coming Tuesday.

Because Amazon wanted me to buy one.

Didn't order that funky case, though. The Sling Cover looks okay, but I'm hoping someone will come up with a cover that can be left on while in its charging cradle.

[booklover6]

Amazon wants me to buy one, too! I've got the payment plan available. But I haven't pulled the trigger, yet.

[rem736]

Originally Posted by ApK

Keep us posted. The car thing is intriguing.

ApK

i don't have an audio cable with a ferrite core to try out, but i did try out passing audio to the vehicle using a bluetooth receiver. in this case the audio did not exhibit any buzz/hum.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by rem736

i don't have an audio cable with a ferrite core to try out, but i did try out passing audio to the vehicle using a bluetooth receiver. in this case the audio did not exhibit any buzz/hum.

I've never known those choke cores to have an noticeable effect on anything in an audible frequency range. I believe they are to address high frequency EMI.
Any improvement on the speech recognition in the car?

[Scarpad]

I bought a tap while I await the Dot to get in better supply, I love it, I can carry it from Room to room, it last forever on a charge , and it sounds great, ive used it for music and reading my ebooks. Also use it on the nightstand as my alarm clock. This will get alot of use, when the weathers better I'll try using it off a mobile hotspot

[Scarpad]

Originally Posted by booklover6

"The Amazon Tap can do everything the Amazon Echo can do"

Does this mean the Tap can set a repeating alarm? Who has one that will test and report?

Yes it can i use it as an alarm clock when on my nightstand

[rem736]

Originally Posted by ApK

I've never known those choke cores to have an noticeable effect on anything in an audible frequency range. I believe they are to address high frequency EMI.
Any improvement on the speech recognition in the car?

no improvement with recognizing the wake word. too much road noise.

i also discovered that if the power source did not come from the car, then audio via the 3.5 mm cable does not exhibit any noise. so it's the electrical power from the car combined with the 3.5 mm audio cable plugged into the car that produces the buzzing/humming. grounding issue?



UPDATE:

i got a ground loop isolator from amazon (Mpow Ground Loop Noise Isolator) and it completely eliminated the buzzing/humming. and i believe that the elimination of this extra noise improved somewhat on the recognition of the wake word. so using this device also had the affect of improving echo dot's listening skills.

next up: echo dot produces quite a considerable amount of heat. just feel the bottom after it's been powered for a while. it's not burning to the touch, but it does get quite warm when it's been sitting on a desk, let's say. so when running in the car, i would not want to put it anywhere that would allow the sun to beat down directly on it. and it's best to allow the bottom to vent. so don't have it sit directly on the dash. perhaps it's best to attach a metal plate to the bottom and use a magnetic mounting system so that the bottom can be vented. i would also cover it up while the car is parked. heat can build up pretty fast in a closed vehicle on sunny days. i have not powered it up after it's been sitting in a parked car under a sunny sky. but like most personal electronics, i would suspect that the built up heat needs to be vented before it would start. covering it up also serves to hide the device from would-be thieves.

[fjtorres]

For those disappointed that the tap doesn't have always on listening, now you can make the original Echo portable with a couple of add-on battery options:

http://www.aftvnews.com/battery-base...aker-for-less/

You get up to six hours of use per charge.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

For those disappointed that the tap doesn't have always on listening, now you can make the original Echo portable with a couple of add-on battery options:

http://www.aftvnews.com/battery-base...aker-for-less/

You get up to six hours of use per charge.

There's another company that makes something similar, but in three sizes:

Battery Boot

• $100 -- MegaBoot --> 12~14 hrs
• $80 -- PowerBoot --> 9~10 hrs
• $70 -- EcoBoot --> 6~7 hrs