Amazon Echo Club

[Keslynn]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Well there doesn't seem to be much consistency between what many of us are hearing then. The alarms a very quiet on mine.

Timer and alarm volumes are independent of Alexa's overall volume. Go to the "Alerts & Alarms" section of your Alexa app. The volume settings for timers and alarms are right at the top of their respective pages.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by DreamWriter

Yes. When the proper phrase "Set kitchen timer for one minute" is used, Alexa immediately replies, "Kitchen timer, one minute, starting now." When an unacceptable phrase (such as "Set egg timer for one minute") is used, she just says, "One minute, starting now."

I give up. I used one of your example phrases--"Alexa, set kitchen timer for 1 minute"--and Alexa asked me if that was a.m. or p.m.

This feature is far too temperamental and wonky for me to rely on it. Seems like by the time Alexa understands the command, a significant part of the desired time period would have elapsed. I'll wait for an update.

[DreamWriter]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

That did the trick for me. I also got the beeps after saying that latter and assumed my Echo needed an update. She's very picky about the phrasing she'll accept. Thanks.

I'm glad it helped.

Originally Posted by Keslynn

Timer and alarm volumes are independent of Alexa's overall volume. Go to the "Alerts & Alarms" section of your Alexa app. The volume settings for timers and alarms are right at the top of their respective pages.

Thanks for reminding us about the volume setting in the Alexa app ("Reminders & Alarms"). I'm hoping that solves Jack's problem.

I've been experimenting with those volume settings but haven't yet found a timer level that's quite right for me. If I set it so the timer beeps are easily heard, then the "Your kitchen timer is done" message is way too loud. If I lower the volume, I can hardly hear the beeps. Oh, well. I still appreciate that we now have the option to name timers.

Originally Posted by Catlady

I give up. I used one of your example phrases--"Alexa, set kitchen timer for 1 minute"--and Alexa asked me if that was a.m. or p.m.

Sounds like it thought you were trying to set an alarm instead of a timer. <sigh>

I stuttered a command while experimenting this morning. I said, "Set kit-kitchen timer for one minute." When time was up, it beeped and repeated my stutter. I guess it thought I spoke two words. Weird that it picked that up but won't accept "Instant Pot."

Originally Posted by DreamWriter

Is your overall device volume low?

I agree that Amazon has some tweaking to do, but I like the new features. The timer/reminder/alarm volumes are problematic. They should be the same level for all functions.

When I'm listening to music, sometimes Echo's volume is set quite low so it won't disturb others. At other times, it's set louder. When the device volume is set relatively low, I have a very difficult time hearing the reminder, even if I'm in the same room. I can hear both the timer and alarm just fine, though, even at low volume. In fact, the timer voice YELLS "Your kitchen timer is done." I can hear both the timer beeps and voice message in the bedroom farthest from Echo (it's in my kitchen; 1600 sf house) when the device is set to Volume 2 (say "Alexa/Echo, volume 2" to set), even though I can barely hear the music at that volume there.

My auditory acuity seems about average. Those with some hearing loss (like my spouse, who can't hear certain high-frequency sounds) may have more difficulty. It'll depend how far away you are from the device, whether a door's open or closed, and building acoustics, too.

No, I usually leave both the Echo and Dot set to level 7 out of 10. So medium loud, I guess. But I have noticed that different responses from Alexa seem to use different volume levels for some reason. And as we are seeing just between my Echo, your devices, and Catlady's device, they seem to function differently. Some of this is probably due to different FW levels, some might be due to the type of device (Echo, Tap, or Dot), some might even be due to the model number or when the device was manufactured (Dot 1 vs Dot 2), etc. Who knows? I only tested the alarm, timer, and reminder on my Echo, so perhaps they will be different on my Dot 2nd generation.

Originally Posted by Keslynn

Timer and alarm volumes are independent of Alexa's overall volume. Go to the "Alerts & Alarms" section of your Alexa app. The volume settings for timers and alarms are right at the top of their respective pages.

Okay thanks. That was not intuitive. I keep forgetting that the AI in Alexa has to be tweaked via other devices. Here is what I find in the Alexa app on my iThingies:

• Reminders: Cannot set volume, cannot set default sound
• Alarms: Can set volume, can set default sound
• Timers: Can set volume, cannot set default sound

Originally Posted by Catlady

I give up. I used one of your example phrases--"Alexa, set kitchen timer for 1 minute"--and Alexa asked me if that was a.m. or p.m.

This feature is far too temperamental and wonky for me to rely on it. Seems like by the time Alexa understands the command, a significant part of the desired time period would have elapsed. I'll wait for an update.

Alexa is a verbatim kind of girl for sure! AI my backside....

I say, "Alexa, set egg timer for 1 minute." She responds, "Setting egg timer for 1 minute starting now." One minute later I get the three chimes, this repeats until I tell her to stop.

Here are all three of my results. These are with default settings BTW.

Note that I use "AM" or "PM" when giving her the time. I just tried using military time to set an alarm and she got confused.

To set an Alarm:
Me, "Alexa, set alarm for 12:39pm."
Alexa, "Alarm set for 12:39pm."
At 12:39pm I get the alarm sound three times, then it repeats until I tell her to stop.

To set a Reminder:
Me, "Alexa, set reminder for 12:42."
Alexa, "What's the reminder for?"
Me, "Watch TV."
Alexa, "Okay I will remind you at 12:42pm."
At 12:42pm the reminder sounds and Alexa says, "This is a reminder, watch TV." She repeats this one time then stops.

To set a Timer:
Me, "Alexa, set egg timer for 1 minute."
Alexa responds, "Setting egg timer for 1 minute starting now."
One minute later I get the three chimes, this repeats until I tell her to stop.

ETA: I've been playing around with these three types of timed notification. I noticed that Alexa's response can change from time to time. Also, you don't need to say what kind of timer to set for the kitchen, you can simply say, "Alexa, set timer for 1 minute." She could care less what the timer is being set for.

Okay, I set the Alarm default sound to Countertop and turned up the volume. Now that gets my attention, and probably the neighbors's attention too!

One caveat though. Whatever you set the volume to for Alarms or Timers, that volume is used for both. If I set the volume on the Alarms to very loud, but then set the volume for Timers to medium, medium will be used for both. That is stupid, and hopefully they will correct that issue in the future.

[DreamWriter]

Today only, Amazon Echo is $50 off ($129.99).

From an email I received this morning:

Limited-time offer ends June 26, 2017 at 8:59 PM Pacific Time

Are we still on Amazon Echo generation 1? I know they introduced a Dot gen 2, and I have one. But I don't remember an Echo gen 2 being released. If not, it is certainly about time for a gen 2.

[DreamWriter]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Are we still on Amazon Echo generation 1? I know they introduced a Dot gen 2, and I have one. But I don't remember an Echo gen 2 being released. If not, it is certainly about time for a gen 2.

I believe there's only one Amazon Echo generation, but I'm not sure. I know that there's only one version mentioned on the Echo software update page.

Well I guess we will start to get hands on reviews of the new Echo Show starting Wednesday the 28th, two days from now. I'm thinking it will be a bit of a disappointment unless it has a better LCD screen than the new 7" Fire, which has a piddly 1024px x 600px screen at 171ppi. That is certainly okay for changing Alexa settings, reading song lyrics, using the play controls, and other related Alexa stuff. However, if the Show actually allows you to view full length Prime movies and TV shows, then it won't be very good since that is not even HD resolution. And that brings up my other concern. Will it actually allow users to view full length Amazon Prime movies and TV shows? All the ads seem to use the cryptic "clips" word when referring to viewing video, which to me seems like a way of intimating a very limited video playback.

I just hope the Show is not designed to obsolete the original Echo design. I think I would rather see an Echo gen 2 rather than more Alexa devices that seem to target smaller niche markets.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by jswinden

Are we still on Amazon Echo generation 1? I know they introduced a Dot gen 2, and I have one. But I don't remember an Echo gen 2 being released. If not, it is certainly about time for a gen 2.

Originally Posted by DreamWriter

I believe there's only one Amazon Echo generation, but I'm not sure. I know that there's only one version mentioned on the Echo software update page.

Only one so far and it's getting old. It was first released in Nov 2014, so it's nearly 3 years old.

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Only one so far and it's getting old. It was first released in Nov 2014, so it's nearly 3 years old.

Thanks TM, that's what I thought. We definitely need to see a gen 2 Echo and fewer new Alexa devices that only appeal to smaller niche markets. Echo gen 1 is okay, barely, but with all the new competition they really need to improve it quite a bit, especially the sound quality. My iPad Pro 9.7 has better sound, and to be honest, that isn't saying much.

[wodin]

I wonder if you can run the Alexa app on the show?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by wodin

I wonder if you can run the Alexa app on the show?

The Echo Show will be released this Wednesday (28 Jun), so expect in-depth reviews to follow.