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smackfu posted:How much does mono matter if it's a single speaker? It seems like you would need to go up to something like a Sonos to get two speaker wireless stereo. It depends on how into sound you are. For me, for basic listening to talk radio and occasionally some music while running around the house it's fantastic. Now, when I watch a movie, then I turn on my surround sound system.
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Feb 7, 2016 21:43
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EugeneJ posted:Maybe they're waiting to put GPS in the Fire tablets before they enable Alexa on them? If I had to guess, they're probably working on finishing their integration with the Fire TV before they bring it to tablets. They have a ways to go to bridge the gap from what we currently have (a fenced off, limited, Alexa) to a unified system where you can control everything through voice (launch programs, open specific things, move active playlists between devices, buy things) And they're already competing with Siri/Cortana. They have a giant headstart with pushing Alexa outside their own devices and getting companies on board to add support. https://developer.amazon.com/appsandservices/solutions/alexa/alexa-fund
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Feb 7, 2016 22:09
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Does Echo have a GPS now? Or does it rely on a connected device to relay its coordinates for Uber/Dominoes/etc?
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Feb 7, 2016 22:39
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EugeneJ posted:Does Echo have a GPS now? Or does it rely on a connected device to relay its coordinates for Uber/Dominoes/etc? It has a device location (address) you can edit in the settings on http://echo.amazon.com or through the app. I think it defaults to your shipping address when purchased through Amazon. Call Me Charlie fucked around with this message at 22:46 on Feb 7, 2016 |
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Feb 7, 2016 22:43
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The thread title perfectly encapsulates how I feel about this thing. Is it worth it?
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Feb 12, 2016 07:32
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LODGE NORTH posted:The thread title perfectly encapsulates how I feel about this thing. Is it worth it? My friends talk about my Alexa occasionally and even use it while they are over, if that helps your decision at all.
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Feb 12, 2016 07:47
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The only thing that has me hesitant is that I see myself often confusing its functionality with Siri. As in, I can see it being 11PM one night and saying "Alexa, wake me up at 8 AM" and being told she can't do that and then being upset that I have to interact with my phone. Just things like that.
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Feb 12, 2016 07:49
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LODGE NORTH posted:The thread title perfectly encapsulates how I feel about this thing. Is it worth it? It depends. Do you have all of your music in Amazon's cloud or have a Spotify Premium account? Do you have an Audible account or any Kindle books? Do you have any smart home things that can connect to it? Do you use Google calendar? Do you want to put it in your kitchen and use it as a really expensive voice timer/measurement converter? Do you frequently have trouble spelling words you know how to say? A desire to get answers to basic questions or have a computer read part of a wiki entry to you? Are you easily amused by random things like playing Jeopardy or asking Alexa what the status of your pizza order is? If you answered yes to any of that....yeah. It's one of those weird things that goes from 'neat novelty' to 'how'd i live without this?' after a few weeks of use. LODGE NORTH posted:The only thing that has me hesitant is that I see myself often confusing its functionality with Siri. As in, I can see it being 11PM one night and saying "Alexa, wake me up at 8 AM" and being told she can't do that and then being upset that I have to interact with my phone. Just things like that. You can set an alarm (but you'd have to say something like 'Alexa, set an alarm for 8 AM') Call Me Charlie fucked around with this message at 08:16 on Feb 12, 2016 |
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Feb 12, 2016 08:07
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LODGE NORTH posted:The only thing that has me hesitant is that I see myself often confusing its functionality with Siri. As in, I can see it being 11PM one night and saying "Alexa, wake me up at 8 AM" and being told she can't do that and then being upset that I have to interact with my phone. Just things like that. You can absolutely tell Alexa when to wake you up just like you described.
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Feb 12, 2016 16:27
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I don't think he's concerned about alarms specifically, but the general idea of remembering which voice assistant to use for which functionality.
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Feb 12, 2016 16:30
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Throw an xBox Kinect into the mix, like in my apartment, and which AI I'm supposed to be talking to gets confusing.
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Feb 12, 2016 16:32
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I'm happy with it at the pre-release Prime-special price, but I don't think it's worth it at the current MSRP.
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Feb 14, 2016 09:24
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I do get legit confused when I try to use Siri via the "Hey Siri" function. Like I have to think for a second which wake word to use. My latest use for my Echo is to play the regular radio while cooking. Like, "Alexa, play KC101." Pretty low tech but it means we don't need a radio. It's funny how they replace the ads with filler that is not ads... I don't quite understand the economics there.
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Feb 14, 2016 15:54
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smackfu posted:I do get legit confused when I try to use Siri via the "Hey Siri" function. Like I have to think for a second which wake word to use. The radio station isn't replacing anything. They don't have advertisers who want to buy audio spots for their web stream. They might have some browser ads but it's not coming through on Alexa obviously. Your situation is way better than some stations that just play the same 3 Flo from Progressive ads over and over.
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Feb 14, 2016 16:02
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Just got the Echo yesterday and being able to control all the lights in my apartment with my voice is the coolest thing ever. It has trouble recognizing the word "Hue" when I say it though. You can program custom commands right?
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Feb 21, 2016 20:34
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mr. mephistopheles posted:Just got the Echo yesterday and being able to control all the lights in my apartment with my voice is the coolest thing ever. It has trouble recognizing the word "Hue" when I say it though. You can program custom commands right? Name all your lightbulbs and then you can put them into named groups in the Alexa app. I have two lights in a group that I named Living Room and I can say, "Alexa, turn on Living Room" and she'll turn them both on.
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Feb 21, 2016 21:06
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How well does this thing do with the sounds of a busy household? How far away can I talk to it without yelling? What if some people are having a conversation in the same room? What if the TV is on or the microwave is running?
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Feb 21, 2016 22:37
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edit: wrong thread lol
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Feb 21, 2016 22:40
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Thermopyle posted:How well does this thing do with the sounds of a busy household? I've found it doesn't deal well with conversations in the same room. Ditto the television. I mute that if I need to give a command. In fact, I've had the television set it off a few times. Example: TV: Oh, absolutely. After I talk to you Thursday night Alexa heard: Alexa, add protector through the night I say: "Alexa, off" (while the TV is playing) Alexa heard: Alexa, off mood for hill valley school between three and suck It's very good at understanding what I want, but to do that, it has to accept garbage inputs like what tv is feeding it. Microwave, I've never had a problem. It occurs to me that if you need it to work in an environment with lots of noise, the remote might work better, since you'll be a lot closer to the microphone than all the other sound sources. I have not tested this. Bobulus fucked around with this message at 23:05 on Feb 21, 2016 |
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Feb 21, 2016 22:58
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Thermopyle posted:How well does this thing do with the sounds of a busy household? I have a 6-person household and it's a little hit-or-miss. It hears me, but it often misunderstands a single word (we specifically have a hard time getting it to figure out the difference between 15 and 50 ). The biggest problem, unsurprisingly, is if I'm talking to it and there are other household members making noise that are standing between me and the Echo.
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Feb 21, 2016 23:21
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Thermopyle posted:How well does this thing do with the sounds of a busy household? In a quiet room? It can hear you several feet away with a normal speaking voice. It has voice recognition so it's always listening, and as soon as it hears the trigger word (I use "Amazon" instead of "Alexa") it will try to interpret from any and all speakers. When it hears "Amazon" from the TV it starts listening for a command. 
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Feb 26, 2016 11:35
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I would pay multiple times the price of the Echo for a devices that had multiple small microphones you could place around the house and worked together as an array to pick out your voice and always work.
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Feb 26, 2016 17:26
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Thermopyle posted:I would pay multiple times the price of the Echo for a devices that had multiple small microphones you could place around the house and worked together as an array to pick out your voice and always work. The other solution is a very small house.
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Feb 26, 2016 17:42
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Or you could do one of those diy battery packs for the Echo and carry it around with you in one of those backpacks people put babies in.
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Feb 26, 2016 18:32
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Thermopyle posted:I would pay multiple times the price of the Echo for a devices that had multiple small microphones you could place around the house and worked together as an array to pick out your voice and always work. I think the included remote with its built-in microphone pretty much does what you want here. I mean I just tested it, by taking it into another room, speaking into it, and having the Echo correctly receive and process the request in the other room, but keep in mind you only hear output from the Echo, so having microphones around the house wouldn't really do anything for you. I think you maybe want a portable version of Echo, and in that case that's pretty much your smartphone with Google Now, Siri, Cortana, etc.
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Feb 27, 2016 06:25
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Nah, I want Star Trek. Just speak into the air at any time anywhere without doing anything special.
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Feb 27, 2016 06:32
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I really think "satellite" echos that you can assign to different rooms is the way to go. That way I could say "Alexa play [blah] in the office" while my wife is listening to [other blah] in the living room. Multiple microphones and a speaker in each room.
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Feb 27, 2016 17:33
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BigFactory posted:The other solution is a very small house. In our one floor condo, the echo is usually loud enough for the whole place, but the mic isn't quite good enough unless you yell.
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Feb 27, 2016 17:50
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Magnus Praeda posted:I really think "satellite" echos that you can assign to different rooms is the way to go. That way I could say "Alexa play [blah] in the office" while my wife is listening to [other blah] in the living room. Multiple microphones and a speaker in each room. Echo control of my multi-room Sonos is my dream.
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Feb 27, 2016 18:47
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smackfu posted:In our one floor condo, the echo is usually loud enough for the whole place, but the mic isn't quite good enough unless you yell. Still too big then
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Feb 27, 2016 19:57
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BigFactory posted:Still too big then In my small New York studio, it can hear me from any room.
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Feb 27, 2016 20:41
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Super Dude posted:In my small New York studio, it can hear me from any room. That's what I'm talking about
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Feb 27, 2016 20:43
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Anyone have a recommendation for an Echo compatible smart thermostat?
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Feb 29, 2016 02:55
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If you were interested in the Echo but didn't like that it's not particularly portable, you're in luck. 2 new Echo models are coming out soon, a portable Echo called the Amazon Tap and a mikemil828 fucked around with this message at 17:11 on Mar 3, 2016 |
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Mar 3, 2016 16:50
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The Dot answers the needs of people who wanted their Echo to drive Bluetooth speakers.
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Mar 3, 2016 16:55
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That still seems like something that should be on the regular Echo with a software update, at most. Probably gonna get a Dot.
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Mar 3, 2016 16:59
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mikemil828 posted:Tthe dot for some reason you need to use Alexa to order (for now at least), either have an actual echo or a fire tv. I'd guess it's a way to reward existing customers.
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Mar 3, 2016 17:00
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Apparently the Dot does have a speaker, though I had the same impression that it did not from the initial email.quote:Includes a built-in speaker so it can work on its own as a smart alarm clock in the bedroom, an assistant in the kitchen, or anywhere you might want a voice-controlled computer Though I guess they're hedging their bets as far as the quality goes: quote:Built-in speaker for voice feedback when not connected to external speakers clockworx fucked around with this message at 17:04 on Mar 3, 2016 |
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Mar 3, 2016 17:00
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beefnoodle posted:I'd guess it's a way to reward existing customers. It's probably because they don't want to stock too many of the dots in case no one buys it, so they limiting who can buy it for now, just like how the Echo was initially invitation only.
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Mar 3, 2016 17:30
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Seems too pricey, 59 I would have bought instantly I think.
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Mar 3, 2016 18:17
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