Amazon Echo Club

[tubemonkey]

Amazon Alexa can now set repeat reminders

You have been able to set repeat alarms with Alexa from the beginning, but now you can finally set a repeat reminder. To do so, just say something like “Alexa, remind me to [task] on every Monday at 7 a.m.” The advantage of a reminder versus an Alarm is that reminders speak out the task you set and don’t need to be turned off when they sound. Alexa will just play a tone a few times, speak out the task, and then go silent on its own. So if there’s something you need to be reminded of on a regular basis, but it’s not so important to merit a full alarm, repeat reminders are the new way to go. Big thanks to @Erinescence for the heads up.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Amazon Alexa can now set repeat reminders

YEAH!

[tubemonkey]

Amazon just released the Echo Connect --> In Stock


$34.99 -- Echo Connect – requires Echo device and home phone service

• Connect your home phone to your compatible Echo device to call any phone number, using just your voice
  
• Echo Connect uses your existing home phone service to make and receive calls (carrier charges may apply). Your home phone number will be displayed as a caller ID.
  
• Call 911 and international numbers from across the room
  
• Easily sync all your contacts. Alexa syncs with your mobile phone contacts, so you never have to look up a number. Just ask and Alexa will make the call.
  
• Simply plug Echo Connect into your home phone jack, complete the setup in the Alexa App, and you’re ready to make and receive calls on any of your compatible Echo devices
  
• Echo Connect will work with all of your registered Echo Devices. Only one Echo Connect needed per phone line.

With Echo Connect and a compatible Echo device, you can ask Alexa to call anyone using your home phone service—all you have to do is ask. Because Echo Connect uses your home phone number, either landline or VoIP, friends and family recognize the call. Answer your home phone on your Echo from across the room, so you can easily talk to anyone hands-free when you’re busy making dinner or away from the phone.

With the Alexa App, the contacts on your mobile phone stay in sync with Alexa, so you never have to look up a number stored on your phone. When you receive a call from someone in your contact list, Alexa will announce who is calling. Learn more about calling and messaging.

[CRussel]

Now that would be useful. Ties into my landline, which I can't get rid of here.

[tubemonkey]

Amazon just released the Echo Buttons --> In Stock


$19.99 -- Echo Buttons - an Alexa Gadget (2 Pack)

• Introducing Echo Buttons, a new way to play games through your compatible Echo device
  
• Each button illuminates and can be pressed to trigger a variety of play experiences powered by Alexa
  
• Bring back game night with a catalog of compatible Alexa Skills such as Trivial Pursuit Tap by Hasbro, Beat the Intro, Button Monte, and Sounds Fun with Mike Epps. Just ask "Alexa, what games can I play with my Echo Buttons?"
  
• Easy setup with an Echo (1st and 2nd Gen), Echo Dot, Echo Show, Echo Plus, or Echo Spot. Just ask, "Alexa, setup my Echo Buttons".
  
• Connect up to 4 buttons with compatible Echo devices using bluetooth
  
• Each Echo Button requires 2 AAA batteries. Includes 4 AAA batteries.

Echo Buttons deliver a new way to play games with friends using Alexa. Enjoy hours of entertainment with compatible Alexa Skills like Button Monte, Beat the Intro from Musicplode, and Sounds Fun with Mike Epps from Ground Control. Echo Buttons are the first members of the Alexa Gadget family, a new collection of accessories that enable fun and playful Alexa experiences.

[tubemonkey]

Amazon just released the Echo Spot --> In stock on December 27, 2017


$129.99 -- Echo Spot

• Echo Spot is designed to fit anywhere in your home. Use 2nd generation far-field voice recognition to watch video flash briefings, see music lyrics, weather forecasts, to-do and shopping lists, browse and listen to Audible audiobooks, and more. All hands-free—just ask.
  
• Echo Spot connects to Alexa, a cloud-based voice service to play music, read the news, answer questions, control smart home, and more
  
• Just ask to play a song, artist, or genre, and see lyrics with Amazon Music. Also, stream music and books from Pandora, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, and Audible.
  
• Use the built-in speaker or connect to speakers through Bluetooth or 3.5 mm stereo cable. With multi-room music, you can play music on your Echo devices in different rooms.
  
• Ask Alexa to turn on your lights, show baby monitors and front door cameras, and lock your doors. Plus, control your thermostats, garage doors, sprinklers, and more.
  
• Call almost anyone hands-free, or make video calls to family and friends with an Echo Spot, Echo Show, or the Alexa App. Instantly connect to other Echo devices around your home.
  
• With tens of thousands of skills, Alexa is always getting smarter and adding new features. Just ask Alexa to control your TV, request an Uber, order a pizza, and more.

Echo Spot brings you everything you love about Alexa, in an all-new stylish and compact design that can show you things. Just ask to see the weather, get the news with a video flash briefing, set an alarm, see lyrics with Amazon Music, see your calendar, browse and listen to Audible audiobooks, and more. Personalize your Spot with a collection of clock faces to suit your style or set a photo background from Prime Photos. Plus, make calls to friends and family or make video calls to anyone with an Echo Spot, Echo Show, or the Alexa App.

Echo Spot features 2nd generation far-field technology with four microphones, beamforming technology, and enhanced noise cancellation, so it can hear you from across the room—even while music is playing. If you have more than one Echo, Alexa responds intelligently from the Echo you're closest to with ESP (Echo Spatial Perception).

[tubemonkey]

AMAZON ECHO SPOT REVIEW: AN ALMOST-PERFECT SMART ALARM CLOCK

The $129.99 Echo Spot is taking another run at this problem, and it's the most promising attempt since, well, ever. The best way to put the Spot in context with Amazon's other Echo speakers is one of those SAT analogies: the Echo Spot is to the Echo Show what the Echo Dot is to the standard Echo. It’s a smaller, less expensive version of the Show with virtually all of the same capabilities. It’s basically a tiny Amazon Echo with an adorable circular screen.

In practice, video calling is a feature that’s better suited for the larger Show than the Spot. Not only is the Spot’s screen much smaller than the Show’s, making it hard to see multiple people in the frame, but I can’t ever imagine wanting to make video calls from my bedroom — nor do I want an always-watching camera in the most intimate and private room of my home.

Amazon thinks the Spot can work in other parts of your home, too, but I don’t feel it’s the best Echo for most other uses. The larger Show is better if you want a voice-controlled display in your kitchen for recipes and background video watching while you cook or do dishes, and the audio-only Echo devices are better for a living room or office where you probably already have other screens like a TV or computer.

That makes the Spot a tough sell. At $130, it’s not particularly cheap and has that pesky camera that most people will not want in their bedrooms. Despite that, I personally really like it: it looks cool, doesn’t take up a lot of space on my nightstand, and as mentioned, kills two birds with one stone in my bedroom.

GOOD STUFF
* Crisp, clear speaker for Alexa’s responses
* Bright display with large text that always shows the time
* Microphones pick up voice commands well
* Does all of the things other Echo devices can do

BAD STUFF
* Do you really want an always-watching camera in your bedroom?
* Not the best for serious music listening
* Expensive relative to audio-only Echo devices
* Few third-party apps make use of the display

[tubemonkey]

Minor change makes timers on Alexa devices more useful

When asking Alexa for the status of a timer, it used to say something along the lines of “You have 1 timer, a 20-minute timer, with about 5 minutes left.”

Alexa has now been updated to say the amount of time left on your timer first when asked for the status. Alexa now says something like “You have 5 minutes left on your 20-minute timer” when asked.

Amazon’s Alexa can now give you traffic information for local businesses and landmarks

Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant has always been able to give you traffic information for your daily commute by entering that one address in the Alexa app. Now it’s capable of doing the same for local businesses and landmarks. You can, for example, ask “Alexa, how’s traffic to the airport” and it will tell you how long it will take to drive from your home to the nearest airport.

When you ask for traffic info for a location, Alexa will tell you how long it will take to drive to that location. Alexa also tells you the exact address of the location, so you can be sure it has found the correct destination. It also mentions which major roads and/or highways will get you there the quickest.

[Catlady]

I HATE ALEXA.

I HATE BLUETOOTH.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I HATE ALEXA.

I HATE BLUETOOTH.

Acting up she is?

[CRussel]

Yeah, we've all been there!

[Catlady]

I have a Bluegate transmitter/receiver that I use to pair my old home stereo with the Dot. I had a lot of trouble setting it up with Dot last year (although never any trouble with other devices), but it's worked fine since. But this time after I'd removed it to charge, Dot couldn't see it, then could see it but couldn't connect, then Alexa kept telling me to go to my Alexa app settings and "forget" the Dot--something I never could find, even after searching through help files at Amazon.

My newer tablet's Alexa app never did see any Bluetooth devices; my older tablet's Alexa app (which was the one I originally set up with Dot) is the one that finally saw the Bluegate and then eventually connected to it after numerous tries.

It was extremely frustrating; I don't know why the Dot suddenly acted as though it had never been paired with the Bluegate in the first place, and then stupid Alexa repeatedly told me to do the same thing and repeatedly was unable to connect.

[CRussel]

Bluetooth is an impure technology. When it works, it's great. But it is always a bit iffy. I'm not a Bluetooth engineer, so can't say for sure, but I strongly suspect it has to do with the design decisions that had to be made to keep the power requirements low. That was an important criteria, but it has had consequences, IMHO.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by CRussel

Bluetooth is an impure technology. When it works, it's great. But it is always a bit iffy. I'm not a Bluetooth engineer, so can't say for sure, but I strongly suspect it has to do with the design decisions that had to be made to keep the power requirements low. That was an important criteria, but it has had consequences, IMHO.

What's crazy is that the Dot and the Bluegate connect just fine to other devices; they just don't connect to each other without great difficulty. Hopefully they'll stay paired now.

[Catlady]

More venting. When Amazon was selling the Dot with the smart plug upsell, I ended up getting two. I waffled until the last minute, but ended up gifting both Dots and keeping the both plugs. Mistake; I should've been magnanimous and given both plugs.

I went to set up the plug today, and to my dismay, discovered that the stupid thing is so big, I can't plug in anything else into the wall outlet. Nor will it fit properly in the power strip where I want to use it--my power strip has outlets on the top and on the side; the smart plug won't go in the ones on the side because the prongs are upside down relative to the strip, and it won't go in the top because, again, it would use up an extra outlet, even plugging it in at the end, which I can't afford.

So I'm completely disgusted with the whole thing. Even at only $5 apiece, I think they're useless to me unless I spend more money on power strips. What annoys me most is how the smart plug keeps me from plugging anything else with a grounded plug into a wall outlet. I think I'm going to send them back.