Amazon announces: Echo

[pidgeon92]

The timer and the shopping list are so far my two most useful features. I use the timer for cooking every day. I finally tried the bluetooth speaker sharing yesterday, and that worked just fine. I'm really pleased with the Echo.

[ApK]

Has anyone else's Echo ever spontaneously started playing music without anyone (admitting to) asking her anything?

Ours has done this two or three times, and the only reason I think it was a legitimate glitch and not a kid playing with the remote, is that the one time I actually heard her start playing spontaneously, there was no preamble--no light ring, no Alexa voice saying "playing such-and-such." It was as if someone pushed play on a Bluetooth connected device, but as far as I can tell, no one did.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by ApK

Haven't noticed any problem with the timer. We use it for when the kids ask for "5 more minutes" before bed time and such.
How can the timer be off by a minute when her clock is always right?
My son asks it for music a lot, and it's been pretty good about playing stuff available through Prime music.
I'm liking shopping list function. It's been very accurate, and I've always had a problem about asking my wife to get stuff but never writing it down. Now I just ask Alexa instead. The Echo's in the bedroom, but we keep the remote on the kitchen fridge for shopping lists.

I guess I listen to non popular artists because she seldom gets its right I have like 1000s of songs on the cloud as I pay $25 a year Amazon Music. I find she is 75% wrong when I ask her to play something in my library even though in the app my words are correct.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by ApK

Has anyone else's Echo ever spontaneously started playing music without anyone (admitting to) asking her anything?

Ours has done this two or three times, and the only reason I think it was a legitimate glitch and not a kid playing with the remote, is that the one time I actually heard her start playing spontaneously, there was no preamble--no light ring, no Alexa voice saying "playing such-and-such." It was as if someone pushed play on a Bluetooth connected device, but as far as I can tell, no one did.

No never had that problem. I sometimes have to say her name twice though for her to wake up.

[copyrite]

Echo has spontaneously played music late at night a couple of times, my husband and son have told me. The boy likes to walk by and say Alexa Shut Up.

I found the Echo moved the other day when I came home from work. Hubby likes listening to a variety of radio stations in the course of the day from talk radio to a variety of music stations. I think I need to find a new spot in the house for the Echo halfway between our desks!

[DreamWriter]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Her Timer is off too as her idea of say 30 minutes is off by a minute or two which isn't good for cooking. I just use my Kitchen timer instead.

I haven't noticed that the timer's off, but maybe I haven't paid that much attention. After I've set the timer, I sometimes ask "Alexa, time remaining," and she responds down to 10-second increments. It doesn't work the same way if you use Alarm instead of Timer, though.

[pidgeon92]

Originally Posted by ApK

Has anyone else's Echo ever spontaneously started playing music without anyone (admitting to) asking her anything?

This hasn't happened to me yet. I haven't used the Echo to play any music, perhaps that's why.

My iMac, however, had been reloading web pages late at night and waking me up as the pages have video embedded. The first time it scared the bejeezus out of me.

[DreamWriter]

Originally Posted by ApK

Has anyone else's Echo ever spontaneously started playing music without anyone (admitting to) asking her anything?

Ours has done this two or three times, and the only reason I think it was a legitimate glitch and not a kid playing with the remote, is that the one time I actually heard her start playing spontaneously, there was no preamble--no light ring, no Alexa voice saying "playing such-and-such." It was as if someone pushed play on a Bluetooth connected device, but as far as I can tell, no one did.

That's never happened to mine...as far as I know. I often have it play music during the day since I'm home, but it's possible that it spontaneously played while I was asleep at night and I couldn't hear it in the bedroom. Echo's in my kitchen/dining area.

[ApK]

I just realized I've been posting in the news thread. I thought this was the Echo thread in the Lounge! Oops, sorry.
One quick news related Echo anecdote:
I watched a TWiT video review of the Echo from a few weeks back. Their review was very similar to how I would have reviewed it, so that pleased me. But the most entertaining part was that, since I was watching the review in the bedroom, every time they would say "Alexa" to demo a feature on their Echo, mine would also respond, in almost perfect sync. It amused me. :-)

[DreamWriter]

Originally Posted by ApK

....But the most entertaining part was that, since I was watching the review in the bedroom, every time they would say "Alexa" to demo a feature on their Echo, mine would also respond, in almost perfect sync. It amused me. :-)

That's funny. I've read that Echo sometimes responds to the word Lexus in TV commercials, too.

I hope that we're given the option to select a custom wake word in the future. I don't find Alexa particularly easy to say, and the only other choice right now is Amazon.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by DreamWriter

That's funny. I've read that Echo sometimes responds to the word Lexus in TV commercials, too.

I hope that we're given the option to select a custom wake word in the future. I don't find Alexa particularly easy to say, and the only other choice right now is Amazon.

I call her Alexis and yes it works just as good as Alexa. I don't want anyone here knowing I have an Echo so Alexis works for me.

[DreamWriter]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I call her Alexis and yes it works just as good as Alexa. I don't want anyone here knowing I have an Echo so Alexis works for me.

My spouse calls it Alexis, too!

[mlewis78]

My Echo/Alexa had a momentary lapse early this evening when I asked for the weather. She gave me the weather for a place (probably in California) where it was 78 degrees. I'm in New York and it's quite cold now. Then I asked "Alexa, where am I?" She said that I am 0.49 mi. (and the kilometers) NW of the center of Broadway. Since then she has given me the weather for NYC (10019).

[DreamWriter]

Originally Posted by mlewis78

My Echo/Alexa had a momentary lapse early this evening when I asked for the weather. She gave me the weather for a place (probably in California) where it was 78 degrees. I'm in New York and it's quite cold now. Then I asked "Alexa, where am I?" She said that I am 0.49 mi. (and the kilometers) NW of the center of Broadway. Since then she has given me the weather for NYC (10019).

That's interesting! I just asked "Alexa, where am I?" She gave my location in miles/kilometers from the center of my small, one-zipcode town. How did she know my location with such precision?

[ApK]

Originally Posted by DreamWriter

That's interesting! I just asked "Alexa, where am I?" She gave my location in miles/kilometers from the center of my small, one-zipcode town. How did she know my location with such precision?

I'd think it has to be a wifi-based geolocation network, like Skyhook. Don't know what else it could be.
Otherwise it would be just a coincidence of accuracy based on your zipcode or IP address.