Question about Alexa on Fire tablets

tomsem · 02-05-2017, 02:12 PM

Does Alexa (the feature one invokes by 'holding' the Home button, not the app used to control Alexa devices) play audiobooks and read out text of kindle books (including any that are not downloaded to the device), as will Fire TV and Echo? It is not explicitly mentioned in the product description.

But then, these skills are not mentioned in the Fire TV product description either, though it will in fact do these things. So I'm guessing it probably does work...

Alohamora · 02-05-2017, 05:05 PM

Yes, those things work on my Fire 7". I hadn't thought to try streaming before, but it does work.

It works very nicely when I said the title correctly. When I muddled up the title Alexa just started playing my most recent audiobook.

tomsem · 02-06-2017, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alohamora

Yes, those things work on my Fire 7". I hadn't thought to try streaming before, but it does work.

It works very nicely when I said the title correctly. When I muddled up the title Alexa just started playing my most recent audiobook.

Thanks! I'm still not sure I'll ever get another Fire tablet but am a little tempted with this week's $39.99 sale price on Fire 7. My Fire HD6 won't do Alexa skills, and has some annoying glitches, and it would be a low cost way to 'keep current'.

Alohamora · 02-06-2017, 08:54 PM

I got mine for audio in the car. For that use I'm quite pleased. It does Kindle TTS, Audible, Overdrive audio books and Prime music competently. With a 64gb SD card added, I can carry around lots of audio content.

I just started playing around with Alexa and she's better at understanding what I want played than OK Google is on my phone, although having to activate her with the menu button is annoying compared to Google's always listening mode.

tomsem · 02-07-2017, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alohamora

I got mine for audio in the car. For that use I'm quite pleased. It does Kindle TTS, Audible, Overdrive audio books and Prime music competently. With a 64gb SD card added, I can carry around lots of audio content.

I just started playing around with Alexa and she's better at understanding what I want played than OK Google is on my phone, although having to activate her with the menu button is annoying compared to Google's always listening mode.

If you pair a keyboard, and it has a 'Home' key on it, then I think you can press that instead, and also control media playback.

I see there are small 'keychain' BT remotes to control camera shutter, and also media playback on smartphones and tablets. Seems like there should be one that also presses Home since that is how most mobile devices invoke voice assistant (when not listening for wake word). But I have not found one yet.

I doubt the Echo or Fire TV remote can be paired with Fire. But could be something Amazon could add support for in the future. I doubt it would cannibalize Echo or Fire TV sales and I assume remotes have a high markup on them.

tomsem · 02-07-2017, 07:03 PM

This might work:

amazon.com/iSimple-Portable-Wireless-Smartphones-Bluetooth/dp/B00KPZN5UC/

But a bit pricey.

02-05-2017, 02:12 PM	#1
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,904 Karma: 27013865 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	Question about Alexa on Fire tablets Does Alexa (the feature one invokes by 'holding' the Home button, not the app used to control Alexa devices) play audiobooks and read out text of kindle books (including any that are not downloaded to the device), as will Fire TV and Echo? It is not explicitly mentioned in the product description. But then, these skills are not mentioned in the Fire TV product description either, though it will in fact do these things. So I'm guessing it probably does work...

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02-05-2017, 05:05 PM	#2
Alohamora Evangelist Posts: 446 Karma: 8897438 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: USA Device: Android phone, Fire tablet, ios phone	Yes, those things work on my Fire 7". I hadn't thought to try streaming before, but it does work. It works very nicely when I said the title correctly. When I muddled up the title Alexa just started playing my most recent audiobook.

02-06-2017, 08:54 PM	#4
Alohamora Evangelist Posts: 446 Karma: 8897438 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: USA Device: Android phone, Fire tablet, ios phone	I got mine for audio in the car. For that use I'm quite pleased. It does Kindle TTS, Audible, Overdrive audio books and Prime music competently. With a 64gb SD card added, I can carry around lots of audio content. I just started playing around with Alexa and she's better at understanding what I want played than OK Google is on my phone, although having to activate her with the menu button is annoying compared to Google's always listening mode.

02-07-2017, 07:03 PM	#6
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,904 Karma: 27013865 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	This might work: amazon.com/iSimple-Portable-Wireless-Smartphones-Bluetooth/dp/B00KPZN5UC/ But a bit pricey.