Amazon Echo Club

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by ApK

Now I understand your avatar. Meow!

I'm just repeating what Monkey has said in the past. And my avatar is a very nice kitty!

[copyrite]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I found this out the hard way: if you say, "Alexa — bookmark," she will add a bookmark to your Audible book, but if you say, "Alexa — add bookmark," she will add "Bookmark" to your shopping list.

That's nifty! I'd give you karma, but Tapatalk won't let me

~ ignores spidey pic~

from my Galaxy S6

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Imagine a household with 6 Dots, 3 Taps, and 2 Echos...

We have enough trouble with 2 dots and one Echo. When I set a timer or alarm on either my dot or my echo, it lights up my brother's Fire (which has the app). Drives him nuts because it runs down the battery on his Fire. Not sure how to fix it (we have a shared library). Since his dot doesn't bother my fire at all, I leave it to him to spend the time to figure out how to get it to stop doing it.

[DreamWriter]

Originally Posted by Tarana

When I set a timer or alarm on either my dot or my echo, it lights up my brother's Fire (which has the app). Drives him nuts because it runs down the battery on his Fire.

I have an Echo and a Fire HD6 with the Alexa app. Both devices are registered to the same account. My Fire doesn't light up (or turn on) when an alarm or timer is set on my Echo.

Edit: I may have just discovered why. I don't have Voicecast enabled in the Alexa app. Here's some info: Send Content to Fire Tablets with Voicecast. Your brother may want to experiment with that setting.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by DreamWriter

I have an Echo and a Fire HD6 with the Alexa app. Both devices are registered to the same account. My Fire doesn't light up (or turn on) when an alarm or timer is set on my Echo.

Edit: I may have just discovered why. I don't have Voicecast enabled in the Alexa app. Here's some info: Send Content to Fire Tablets with Voicecast. Your brother may want to experiment with that setting.

So that's why my HDX kept turning on when my Echo was playing. I turned it off. Thanks

[tubemonkey]

Amazon Adds New Alexa Features for Fire TV

Now you can ask Alexa to play TV shows and movies, launch apps, and more

Amazon today announced new Alexa voice features are coming to Fire TV, including the ability to control playback of Amazon Video and Add-On Subscription content, launch apps, access local movie show times, search local businesses and restaurants, and more—all just by using your voice. Discovering and accessing content on Fire TV has never been easier with the new Alexa playback features, plus integrated voice search across 59 content partners including Hulu, Showtime, Starz, HBO Go and more. These new Alexa features will be automatically delivered via free, over-the-air software updates in the coming weeks.

“Customers have told us they love having the convenience of Alexa on their Amazon Fire TV,” said Tim Twerdahl, General Manager, Amazon Fire TV. “We’re excited to add new Alexa features to Fire TV, making it easier than ever to enjoy their favorite TV shows, movies, and apps.”

New features coming to Amazon Fire TV in the coming weeks include:

* Launch apps using Alexa—Say “Open HBO Now” or “Launch Hulu” into the Fire TV Voice Remote to instantly open the app

* Play Amazon Video and Add-On Subscription content from Starz, Showtime, and more using Alexa—Say “Play Interstellar,” or “Watch Veep” and get even easier access to your favorite TV shows and movies

* Find local movie show times via Alexa—Ask “What movies are playing nearby?” or “Where is The Jungle Book playing?” to find out what movies are playing in theatres near you or specific movie times

* YouTube 4K Ultra HD—Access YouTube’s full 4K library via the YouTube.com app on Amazon Fire TV when connected to a UHD-compatible TV

* Search for local businesses and restaurants using Alexa—Ask “What Mexican restaurants are nearby?” to find restaurants around you or ask “What time does the nearest bank close?” to get convenient information on businesses nearby

* Access Kindle e-books via Alexa—Say “Read The Nightingale” to listen to text-to-speech enabled books from your Kindle library through Amazon Fire TV

[tubemonkey]

New Feature

Things to try with Alexa

Looking to get more out of Alexa? You can now get a helpful Alexa tip every day as part of your Flash Briefing—just add "Alexa Things to Try" to your personalized list of Flash Briefing sources. To learn how to manage your Flash Briefing, go to Listen to Your Flash Briefing.

[tubemonkey]

New Feature

Alexa loves the Spelling Bee

The 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee is taking place on May 26. Celebrate the exquisite pulchritude of the English language's most byzantine locutions with Alexa. Alexa can give you a Spelling Bee word, or spell and define words—just ask:

* Alexa, give me a Spelling Bee word.
* Alexa, define 'exquisite'.
* Alexa, how do you spell 'pulchritude'?

[tubemonkey]

Amazon built a tool that puts Alexa in your browser

Has anyone else tried this? I tried it for few minutes; but since it won't play music, it's not of use to me.

Amazon's Alexa personal assistant is super useful in the Echo and lot of fun to use. But if you don't have an Echo or can't buy one because you're outside of the US, it can be hard to appreciate Alexa's skill set. In light of this, Amazon has created a web app that lets you play with Alexa right in your browser.

You can access the web app at echosim.io and it lets you ask Alexa all kinds of questions. What it doesn't let you experience is the always listening nature of the Echo device and its far field microphone array — you have to click and hold a button on the site before you speak to it. (That makes it closer to the experience you get with the Amazon Tap than the Echo itself.)

The real purpose of this simulator is to let international devs see what Alexa is capable of, since Amazon doesn't yet the Echo or other Alexa devices outside of the US. Amazon says it was inspired by a project from a hackathon last year. Still, it's open to anyone with an Amazon account, so fire it up and start pelting Alexa with questions.

[WT Sharpe]

I didn't try it because the whole setup sounded lame. Doesn't appear designed for Echo owners, but for those who don't own an Echo to show them what they're missing.

[wodin]

I didn't try it 'cause I didn't want to plug in a microphone. Assuming, that is I could find one.

[WT Sharpe]

As tm pointed out, the article states, "The real purpose of this simulator is to let international devs see what Alexa is capable of, since Amazon doesn't yet the Echo or other Alexa devices outside of the US."

It strikes me as an attempt to show overseas developers what Alexa would be capable of if it were Siri.

[tubemonkey]

Now We’re Talking: Amazon Alexa Comes to Pebble Core

Today, we’re proud to announce Amazon Alexa integration with Pebble Core, bringing Amazon’s acclaimed voice services to a fully-independent, 3G-connected wearable device for the first time ever. Pebble Core backers on Kickstarter will be the first to experience Amazon Alexa on Pebble’s infinitely hackable ultra-wearable when shipping begins in early 2017.

“Experiencing Amazon Alexa on-the-go right from Pebble Core is game-changing for wearable technology,” said Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky. “We’re longtime fans of the powerful voice services Alexa delivers, and it only gets smarter and more useful over time. It’s an approach we embrace with our own products.”

Alexa-enabled devices feature an ever-growing arsenal of delightful, voice-powered capabilities. With Amazon Alexa, Pebble Core can:

* Play songs, artists, and playlists from Amazon Prime Music, iHeartRadio, and more.
* Brief you with news headlines from USA Today, The Washington Post, or The Huffington Post.
* Review your Pebble Health summary for the day, like heart rate, step count, and calories burned.
* Order pizzas for the gang on game day.
* Shop for gifts and necessities on Amazon.
* Get weather and traffic updates.
* Set a timer for a set of side planks.
* Control smart home devices like lights, thermostats, locks, and more.
* Tell you a joke.
* Answer almost any question you can think of—from the nutritional information of certain foods to movie facts on IMDB.

Alexa Voice Services integration with Pebble Core is a prime example of what’s possible with an open platform like the Pebble ecosystem. As Alexa develops new skills, Pebble Core will as well.

Pebble Core ($69 and up) is currently available on Kickstarter and starts shipping in early 2017.

[tubemonkey]

Amazon Alexa Continues to Get Smarter: Over 1,000 Third-Party Skills Now Available

Developers are reaching new audiences by using the Alexa Skills Kit to build skills for Alexa, the cloud-based voice service that powers millions of Alexa-enabled devices, including Amazon Echo

Skills for Alexa include Capital One, Domino’s, Fitbit, KAYAK, PGA Tour, Samsung SmartThings, Uber, Big Ass Solutions and Nutritionix

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 3, 2016-- (NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon today announced that developers have now released over 1,000 skills for Alexa, the cloud-based virtual assistant behind Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Tap, and other Alexa-enabled devices. With every new skill, Alexa gets smarter, giving developers a new way to delight their customers with voice-enabled experiences.

Creating an Alexa skill is easy and fast. Developers can use the Smart Home Skill API within the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) to easily extend smart home capabilities for Alexa. They can also create custom skills with ASK by designing their voice UI and simply building cloud-hosted code that interacts with Alexa cloud-based APIs to process customer requests. Alexa does the work to hear, understand, and resolve the customer’s spoken request, and then maps the service call to the developer’s endpoint.

“Less than a year ago we released the Alexa Skills Kit, making it possible for any developer to create voice experiences for Alexa,” said Rob Pulciani, Director, Amazon Alexa. “Today, we have a vibrant community of tens of thousands of developers who are learning about the service, bringing useful and innovative skills to every aspect of Alexa customers’ lives, and introducing their own users to the magic and simplicity of hands-free, voice-driven interactions. We’re excited about the 1,000 skills that are already available, and can’t wait to see what developers create with the next ten thousand.”

[DreamWriter]

I can't keep up with Alexa's new skills and capabilities anymore!