Author Topic: Echo/Alexa Devices  (Read 4430 times)

Offline ybeeds

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Echo/Alexa Devices
« on: June 26, 2017, 09:04:40 PM »
Do you have an Echo device? What are some features you use/enjoy?
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Offline ybeeds

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Re: Echo/Alexa Devices
« Reply #1 on: June 26, 2017, 09:49:04 PM »
I have a Dot for a while and a Show on the way...

The only thing I found it really useful so far is that it's a voice activated speaker. I enabled the "Jewish Music" & "Jewish Radio" Skills, and basically just use those.
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Offline Shua

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Re: Echo/Alexa Devices
« Reply #2 on: June 26, 2017, 10:01:59 PM »
I have the Echo. Mainly use it for Music, weather, news briefing. Kids like asking it jokes and the magic door skill. 

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Re: Echo/Alexa Devices
« Reply #3 on: June 26, 2017, 10:45:26 PM »
I have Alexa on my phone. Don't use it for anything. Find Google Assistant way more useful.

Offline ybeeds

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Re: Echo/Alexa Devices
« Reply #4 on: June 26, 2017, 10:49:49 PM »
I have Alexa on my phone. Don't use it for anything. Find Google Assistant way more useful.
Didn't get the impression that it was meant to be overly independent. Thought it was meant for the synced convenience.
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Offline MAJ

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Re: Echo/Alexa Devices
« Reply #5 on: June 28, 2017, 05:08:39 PM »
use it pretty much only to play music from my phone through Bluetooth and as a timer in the kitchen.

Offline Dan

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Re: Echo/Alexa Devices
« Reply #6 on: June 28, 2017, 05:20:48 PM »
I have a Google Home. Mostly used as a speaker, though Rafi likes asking it sports scores.
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Re: Echo/Alexa Devices
« Reply #7 on: June 29, 2017, 01:01:19 PM »
My Echo Show arrived yesterday. Pretty cool.
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Offline Dan

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Re: Echo/Alexa Devices
« Reply #8 on: June 29, 2017, 01:05:16 PM »
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

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Re: Echo/Alexa Devices
« Reply #9 on: June 29, 2017, 01:14:02 PM »
Thank Nucleus?
http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=45283.msg1731934#msg1731934
Don't know about Nucleus in particular, but I've deff seen people writing on social media about intercoms and doorbells working through it.
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Re: Echo/Alexa Devices
« Reply #10 on: July 10, 2018, 10:23:10 AM »
Got my Echo Show last week, and packed it up today for return to Amazon.

The idea is promising, but the Amazon implementation is just not good enough. If this were a Google device, or possibly even an Apple device, I think there was more likelihood that the implementation would have been good enough (if not superb) for my intended use, but Amazon just isn't there yet with their voice technology (both recognition and playback).

I was actually thinking of getting my elderly mother a digital picture frame to which I could remotely upload pictures, when I saw the deal on the Echo Show on DDMS.

After reading some of the online reviews, especially of people buying it specifically for elderly parents, I decided it might work and ordered one. I was going to first set it up at home, see if/how I think it might work, and then install it for my mother. So I set it up first with my own Amazon account, and decided to try it out.

After initial plug in and set up with Wifi and Amazon account, it was up an running. Showing current time and weather, but also a lot of other "nonsense". This was problem number one. If I need to set this up for an elderly parent, I need to be able to decide what content will or won't pop up. I understand Amazon is trying to leverage this to sell Amazon Music and other things, which I might have signed up for, but I really needed to be able to filter out meaningless (for the intended user) headlines and suggestions. There might be a way to do this, I didn't intuitively find it.

It did easily come up with weather forecasts for various locations, and setting up an alarm was also quite intuitive.

Next feature I was going to try out was calling. Voice recognition seemed to work rather well, figuring out the right contact, but the confirmation feedback is terrible. I actually had a hard time understanding what it was saying. One should be able to adjust the speech playback as it relates to pitch, speed, and possibly other parameters. The only adjustments I saw were US English, UK English or German. The intelligibility of the confirmation playback for both US and UK English was subpar (though it was OK when telling a joke or reading an Encyclopedia entry). Video calling is OK (if Alexa is installed on other device - though at least the iPhone version of Alexa seems very heavy). If calling someone without Alexa set up, it will default to POTS calling, but if one has Alexa set up on a device, it will by default try that rather than seek confirmation, or retry using POTS if Alexa calling doesn't work. I deemed this too confusing for an elderly parent. I thought drop-in feature might work well, but DW was concerned about privacy issues, if I could just "drop-in".

Next feature I was hoping to have use of was showing a slideshow of photos. Since I'm a prime member, and have Amazon Photos installed on my phone, every photo that's on my phone is backed up to Amazon Prime. That includes a lot of things that I wouldn't want displayed on such a device. I don't know how this might work if the device was set to a different Amazon account, and then I would manually have to select which photos to share, but when synching to one's own account (if I were to keep this for private use) seems to be an issue. The other issue is that since various pictures are shot in portrait mode, those don't really display well on the device (limitation understood of either working well with landscape OR with portrait mode, but it definitely is an issue). On the plus side, I was able to remotely upload and select a background picture.

Another feature I was hoping to find, but was rather disappointed, was some mind stimulating (or other) games, that my mother could play. Asking Alexa for a crossword puzzle yielded nothing. Asking for a Trivia questions did come up with some questions, but I wasn't really impressed.

Next, I decided to try its AI in music choices. Asking for Chassidic music yielded nothing. Asking for Jewish Music yielded..... "Hatikvah" :( So I decided to try by artist. Asking for music by Avraham Fried yielded one song, and nothing else. Asking for Yom-Tov Ehrlich yielded nothing. Asking for MBD did come up with an album being played. Asking for Jewish Acapella music yielded nothing. Some requests came up with offers to buy albums from Amazon (understood, and fair) and some came up with an offer to try Prime Music for $3.99/month (which I might have signed up for if I felt the device was worth keeping and that this could well entertain my mother).

So my bottom line verdict is an Amazon return label. Hoping for a better device (with a larger screen and hopefully Google quality AI and voice technology) in the future.
« Last Edit: July 10, 2018, 12:20:25 PM by ExGingi »
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Offline ludmila

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Re: Echo/Alexa Devices
« Reply #11 on: July 10, 2018, 06:57:53 PM »
Thanks, was thinking of getting one, but after reading your post I'll pass for now.
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Offline Yonah

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Re: Echo/Alexa Devices
« Reply #12 on: July 12, 2018, 10:21:47 AM »
I have several Echo Devices around the house and office (a few dots, a spot, and an original echo) - here is what I find them useful for:

- Alarms and timers - especially in the kitchen.
- Music - I do agree with some of the above commenters that Amazon is lacking when it comes to Jewish music, but it also supports other streaming services like Spotify, and Pandora, and (although I haven't tried) you can also access local radio stations via iHeartRadio. It also has multi-room audio enabled - so you can play the same song in multiple places. Prime music (not unlimited) has a fair amount of music in general, but there's one big caveat - you can only stream from one device at a time.
- Intercoms - i.e. I can intercom another device directly and/or announce to all devices on my account.
- Weather
- I do occasionally use it for phone calls, but not too often
- Among the games I have played are primarily Jeopardy J6 (1 extra question from that night's Jeopardy episode) and sports jeopardy.
- I also linked it to my home automation system, so I can use it to turn lights on and off.
- they can also give you news and sports scores, and random factoids that you would get from google (i.e. Alexa, who is the president of croatia)
There is definitely a use for them,  you just need to know where to look.

Offline mercaz1

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Re: Echo/Alexa Devices
« Reply #13 on: July 12, 2018, 11:16:05 AM »
has anyone got rid of their echo when they realized that it records conversations

Offline ushdadude

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Re: Echo/Alexa Devices
« Reply #14 on: July 12, 2018, 11:39:14 AM »
i bought the echo show when office depot had it on sale. The main reason I got it was to answer my ring doorbell....IT DOESN'T EVEN DO THAT. IT says "ring compatable" but all that means is that you can ask it to show you a live feed. It doesn't ring when someone presses the button. pretty pathetic.

I use a google home mini for music and timers. everything else i just use my phone.
Also, i keep the microphone off at all times and only turn it on when i'm actively using it.

Offline ushdadude

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Re: Echo/Alexa Devices
« Reply #15 on: July 12, 2018, 11:39:41 AM »

I was actually thinking of getting my elderly mother a digital picture frame to which I could remotely upload pictures,


get a nixplay frame. Amazing!

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Re: Echo/Alexa Devices
« Reply #16 on: July 12, 2018, 11:54:56 AM »
get a nixplay frame. Amazing!
Which one?
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Offline ushdadude

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Re: Echo/Alexa Devices
« Reply #17 on: July 12, 2018, 03:49:19 PM »
Which one?
Whichever had the features you like. I just like that you can send photos either from the app or email and they don't charge a monthly fee like other frames do

Offline ushdadude

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Re: Echo/Alexa Devices
« Reply #18 on: July 13, 2018, 09:27:13 AM »
Which one?


They have a sale ending today in certain models . Code:
FREEDOM20

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Re: Echo/Alexa Devices
« Reply #19 on: July 17, 2018, 09:09:06 AM »