Amazon Echo Club - Page 75

tubemonkey · 11-25-2016, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

The other day she just started reading my current Audible selection out of the blue. My ex-daughter was in the room talking about something entirely unrelated, but I don't think anyone mentioned "Alexa." Maybe she's taking on too much.

...ex-daughter??? What's with that?

tubemonkey · 11-25-2016, 07:33 PM

My Dots arrived. Keeping two and giving the other three as gifts. I set one up already.

The sound is plenty loud for audiobooks, news, weather, etc. Music is mediocre because there's no bass. So I hooked up an old JBL iPod speaker dock to it and now it sounds great. It also sounds really good with a small bluetooth speaker I have.

I do miss the volume ring. I hate button controls; rings and dials are much quicker and easier to use.

tubemonkey · 11-25-2016, 08:28 PM

Old news, but I just got the email so I'll post it anyway.

Alexa on Fire tablets

Quote:

Alexa is now available on Fire tablets, including the All-New Fire HD 8. Voice responses from Alexa are enhanced with visuals for music, Audible, weather, shopping, Flash Briefings, sports scores, timers, and more. Just press the home button and ask.

Now through Cyber Monday, November 28, the All-New Fire HD 8 is available starting at just $59.99—$30 off the regular price. And the 7” Fire tablet is only $33.33, down from $49.99. To order, just ask:

"Alexa, order a Fire HD 8"

"Alexa, order a 7-inch Fire tablet"

This upgrade is available on 5th & 6th generation Fires running OS 5.3.2

AnemicOak · 11-25-2016, 08:30 PM

My cheapie Fire 7 just updated today so I've been messing around with Alexa a bit (since I don't have an Echo or Dot this is my first experience).

Blossom · 11-25-2016, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

My cheapie Fire 7 just updated today so I've been messing around with Alexa a bit (since I don't have an Echo or Dot this is my first experience).

Ask her to tell you a cat joke.

Sent from my XT1528

tubemonkey · 11-25-2016, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

My cheapie Fire 7 just updated today so I've been messing around with Alexa a bit (since I don't have an Echo or Dot this is my first experience).

Ask her to order an Echo Dot for you. It'll cost $40 and you'll get a free $10 GC out it, bringing your final price down to $30. Not bad for a Dot.

Or if you're eligible for Prime Now, you can save $10 to $20 on a Dot, bringing your final price down to $20 or $30. The discount is based on new vs existing Prime Now customers.

WT Sharpe · 11-25-2016, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

...ex-daughter??? What's with that?

Ex-daughter-in law. Sorry.

tubemonkey · 11-25-2016, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Ex-daughter-in law. Sorry.

Whew... I was gonna say, do you go around disowning your children?

WT Sharpe · 11-25-2016, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Whew... I was gonna say, do you go around disowning your children?

Catlady · 11-26-2016, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

My cheapie Fire 7 just updated today so I've been messing around with Alexa a bit (since I don't have an Echo or Dot this is my first experience).

Me too. I don't understand the skills and enabling them. Seems like a big pain, and how do you keep track?

issybird · 11-26-2016, 09:21 AM

The skills aren't necessary; mostly I don't see the point. But if you go to skills in the menu on the app, there's a button for your skills in the top right-hand corner.

But I mostly use Alexa to stream media and for answering questions.

Catlady · 11-26-2016, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by issybird

The skills aren't necessary; mostly I don't see the point. But if you go to skills in the menu on the app, there's a button for your skills in the top right-hand corner.

But I mostly use Alexa to stream media and for answering questions.

But the examples seem to be "Open X skill and do Y." Which indicates I have to know which skill to ask for first. Which seems confusing when you have to remember what skills you've enabled.

jswinden · 11-26-2016, 11:45 AM

Some Skills are definitely necessary. The ones that are associated with a Smart Home device for example. I had to set up the TP-Link Kasa skill so that my TP-Link smart multicolor LED bulb could be operated via Alexa devices. For Smart Home devices, the manufacturer apparently needs to create a Skill (similar to a driver software I guess) so that their devices can interface with Alexa devices.

The TP-Link Kasa skill is the only one I've ever set up or intentionally used, so I cannot speak for the others, especially the ones that are not tied to a Smart Home device.

Yolina · 11-26-2016, 11:45 AM

The skills are there so that Alexa can interact with some 3rd party apps. So for example, if you use Our Groceries for your shopping list and you want to be able to tell Alexa to add stuff to that app's shopping list, you enable the skill for it and then you can just say "Alexa ask Our Groceries to add milk to the shopping list".

It is slightly cumbersome but it does enable 3rd party stuff to play nice with Alexa fairly easily.

copyrite · 11-26-2016, 11:47 AM

I added the allrecipes skill that's relatively new and I've used that more than I've used all other skills combined.

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11-25-2016, 07:33 PM	#1112
tubemonkey monkey on the fringe Posts: 45,782 Karma: 158733736 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Seattle Metro Device: Moto E6, Echo Show	My Dots arrived. Keeping two and giving the other three as gifts. I set one up already. The sound is plenty loud for audiobooks, news, weather, etc. Music is mediocre because there's no bass. So I hooked up an old JBL iPod speaker dock to it and now it sounds great. It also sounds really good with a small bluetooth speaker I have. I do miss the volume ring. I hate button controls; rings and dials are much quicker and easier to use.

11-25-2016, 08:30 PM	#1114
AnemicOak Bookaholic Posts: 14,391 Karma: 54969924 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Minnesota Device: iPad Mini 4, AuraHD, iPhone XR +	My cheapie Fire 7 just updated today so I've been messing around with Alexa a bit (since I don't have an Echo or Dot this is my first experience).

11-26-2016, 09:21 AM	#1121
issybird o saeclum infacetum Posts: 21,393 Karma: 235678911 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: New England Device: Mini, H2O, Glo HD, Aura One, PW4, PW5	The skills aren't necessary; mostly I don't see the point. But if you go to skills in the menu on the app, there's a button for your skills in the top right-hand corner. But I mostly use Alexa to stream media and for answering questions.

11-26-2016, 11:45 AM	#1123
jswinden Nameless Being	Some Skills are definitely necessary. The ones that are associated with a Smart Home device for example. I had to set up the TP-Link Kasa skill so that my TP-Link smart multicolor LED bulb could be operated via Alexa devices. For Smart Home devices, the manufacturer apparently needs to create a Skill (similar to a driver software I guess) so that their devices can interface with Alexa devices. The TP-Link Kasa skill is the only one I've ever set up or intentionally used, so I cannot speak for the others, especially the ones that are not tied to a Smart Home device.

11-26-2016, 11:45 AM	#1124
Yolina Wizard Posts: 1,179 Karma: 11573197 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: London, UK Device: Voyage	The skills are there so that Alexa can interact with some 3rd party apps. So for example, if you use Our Groceries for your shopping list and you want to be able to tell Alexa to add stuff to that app's shopping list, you enable the skill for it and then you can just say "Alexa ask Our Groceries to add milk to the shopping list". It is slightly cumbersome but it does enable 3rd party stuff to play nice with Alexa fairly easily.

11-26-2016, 11:47 AM	#1125
copyrite Wizard Posts: 1,841 Karma: 4985051 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Maryland Device: Kindle	I added the allrecipes skill that's relatively new and I've used that more than I've used all other skills combined.

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