Amazon Echo- how do you use yours/advice

chocolatepennyfarthing

Just bought an Amazon Echo on Prime day. Have used it for Prime music, weather/news etc. Just wondering if you have one what you use yours for and any ideas/hints/tips for it.

k3lvc

Those I've spoken to use them as paperweights/door stops after the novelty's worn off :rotfl:

Peter999_2

I use mine to switch on/off lights (Philips Hue), switch on/off lamps (belkin wemo power sockets). Controls the TV (logitech harmony remote).

I also use Plex media centre on a Nvidia Shield TV which works with Alexa. You just say "ask plex to play movie pretty in pink" and it starts playing or "ask plex to play riviera season 1 episode 7" etc.

It is a bit of an expensive toy but it is fun.

Doshwaster

I just got a Dot on Prime Day (at £35 it was worth a gamble) so I'm still experimenting with it. So far I have been impressed with the speech recognition and the quality of sound coming out of such a small speaker. Works well as an internet radio with TuneIn and RadioPlayer.

It runs well when connected to a USB battery pack which makes it easier to move around the house.

I've had limited success connecting it to a separate Bluetooth speaker. For some reason it keeps dropping the connection but it works fine as a BT speaker for my phone.

Some of the applets on IFTTT (especially the Google Docs ones) are quite clever: https://ifttt.com/amazon_alexa

I'm more into the Google ecosystem myself so maybe Google Home will be the long term best fit for me but at present Alexa does have a better 3rd party app support and is cheap enough to experiment with the possibilities of voice control.

Strider590

Peter999 wrote: »

I use mine to switch on/off lights (Philips Hue), switch on/off lamps (belkin wemo power sockets).

http://www.screwfix.com/p/mk-1-gang-2-way-10ax-light-switch-white/11822