Amazon Echo Club

[Bilbo1967]

I might give that a try - not because I ask a lot of questions of Alexa, but because it would be a nice step-by-step exercise in new Alexa skills.

[kansaskyle]

I'm new to the forum, but I have an Echo and a Dot. I look forward to reading over what y'all have posted in this thread.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by kansaskyle

I'm new to the forum, but I have an Echo and a Dot. I look forward to reading over what y'all have posted in this thread.

Welcome aboard. Hope you're enjoying your Echos as much as the rest of us do.

...and feel free to ask questions anytime

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

I might give that a try - not because I ask a lot of questions of Alexa, but because it would be a nice step-by-step exercise in new Alexa skills.

I tried it. At first I thought it had worked, I got no errors or issues following the instructions and it seemed to just work.

However, it seems that when I thought it worked, Alexa had just ignored the "ask Google" and answered the question as she normally would. When she heard the "ask Google" she couldn't help me.

I'm really not sure why it doesn't work; never mind.

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I've been using one of my Dots as a BT speaker for my LG Tribute HD. The Dot's speaker is much louder than the phone's.

Over the weekend I used my Echo as a BT speaker connected to my iPad Pro 9.7 as I watched a Masterpiece "Victoria" episode via the PBS app. Really good sound!

[ApK]

Originally Posted by ApK

I may try it. i like Google's "AI", and also it might give me impetus to touch the Alexa skills dev stuff that I signed up for but haven't even looked at yet.
When I have some free time.

I just set this up on my account. Works well! I went through my history and re-asked some of the recent questions Alexa was clueless about, and I got the expected Google answer!

I'm now an official Alex Skills...well, script kiddie, I guess.
When I have still MORE free time, I will need to back and learn to understand what I just cut and pasted,and review the code I uploaded. I hope there is nothing Evil in there.....

Does anyone know the minimum duplicate effort I need to do to make this skill available on my wife's profile? I assume Amazon won't let this skill go public, so to share with her, do I have to just do everything again under her account, or can I just do the Skill part on her account and point to the same arn for the AWS Lamda function I created?

[wodin]

I've been hearing the Google Home has been going bonkers over their add during the Super Bowl. I guess Google copied that from Alexa too.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by wodin

I've been hearing the Google Home has been going bonkers over their add during the Super Bowl. I guess Google copied that from Alexa too.

I want one. Maybe for Christmas. I use okay Google all the time.

Sent from my XT1528

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by ApK

I just set this up on my account. Works well! I went through my history and re-asked some of the recent questions Alexa was clueless about, and I got the expected Google answer!

I'm now an official Alex Skills...well, script kiddie, I guess.
When I have still MORE free time, I will need to back and learn to understand what I just cut and pasted,and review the code I uploaded. I hope there is nothing Evil in there.....

Does anyone know the minimum duplicate effort I need to do to make this skill available on my wife's profile? I assume Amazon won't let this skill go public, so to share with her, do I have to just do everything again under her account, or can I just do the Skill part on her account and point to the same arn for the AWS Lamda function I created?

Hmm...I wonder what I did wrong? I'm pretty sure I followed the instructions to the letter.

Is there any reason why it would work in the US but not in the UK?

[Conan46]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I want one. Maybe for Christmas. I use okay Google all the time.

Sent from my XT1528

I would be curious how they compare. I was waiting for Google Home to arrive, but it seems a beta version without access to Calendar or uploaded music. At this point I'm seriously considering buying 2 Echo Taps instead since I have several Bluetooth speakers already. I have over 5,000 songs uploaded to Google Music, but Google not allowing me to play those killed my desire for Home. It reminds me of how Google allows upload of a thousand ebooks to Google Books but you can't search for them in the Google Books app. Doesn't make sense
Edit
Also it will not play purchased music from Google Play store either. They promise it is coming, but again, Home seems like a beta right now, and I'm more wary of Google promises than Amazon as Google does not have a great track record at supporting devices.
https://productforums.google.com/for...me/ipbn3-Wefbk

[Blossom]

I just want it for information. Alexa sucks at knowing stuff.

Sent from my XT1528

[Conan46]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I just want it for information. Alexa sucks at knowing stuff.

Sent from my XT1528

That is one good thing I heard about it. It handles natural language better and search.

[FizzyWater]

I'm starting to be tempted by the Echo (finally). Do they ever go on sale? I haven't been paying attention until recently.

[Strether]

I recently broke down and bought a Dot. My thought was to connect it to an old, old Bose Wave Radio (20+ years old) so I could bring music from the internet to my bedroom via wi-fi. Finally succeeded, but I ended up having to buy a bluetooth adaptor from Bose. The final result was worth the extra expense.

Jim

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

I'm starting to be tempted by the Echo (finally). Do they ever go on sale? I haven't been paying attention until recently.

Prime Day (early Jul) and Black Friday (late Nov).