Amazon Echo (and Alexa app)

[Chipfiref]

Hard to believe there is no topic devoted to the Amazon Echo!

What do you most frequently with your Echo? You talk to it of course.

That is the strength of this device - they have really worked out the voice interface.

Now it seems to be gaining unstoppable momentum, unlike the Fire Phone (dead).

I predict next we will see from Amazon a watch, a large watch with the Echo technology built in. But I digress...

The Echo is a very effective voice interface to the internet of things

Here is what the Echo can do now 8/30/2015

Add items to a shopping/todo list
get info from the internet
play different kinds of music from different sources
set and cancel alarms
send all your words to the cloud
be made deaf temporarily with a simple button on the top
use a voice remote control
read books to you
repeat what you say to it
play games with you
help you play pranks on others using the voice remote control
voice control home and yard devices
support IFTTT
be programmed using the new SDK for Echo


This is all pretty far removed from the image some had of the Echo - as merely a money machine for Amazon. The reality is that those who already use Amazon enough to have Amazon Prime are probably not going to order a lot more stuff just because they have the Echo.

No doubt it does give Amazon a real foot in the door to the consumer market the way Apple marketing and to some extent Apple design has given them a foot in the door.

Many companies will want to partner with Amazon due to the Echo.

The big elephant in the room is that Echo is cloud based. Unlike a robotic personal assistant of the future, without the internet and/or power you have no Echo.

 

[soccerballtux]

speaking and processing /parsing audio (responses it gives you) requires a lot more brain activation and load than just interacting with an interface and reading.

It and all these things are mostly worthless to me until we're at 3-4-sigma accuracy so that I don't have to think about whether it answered rightly.

much easier to hit the button on the wall that say 'alexa garage lights off'. if you want to PTFO on the couch, however, it can't be beat

 

[Chipfiref]

Some of the usefulness comes from not having to touch anything when your hands are full, or you can't walk over to the wall just now.

For example I have no switches near my sliding glass door, and I am taking stuff out to the deck with my hands full.

But you are correct it has a long way to go to be foolproof.

 

[soccerballtux]

so whats your lights on command? I find them all too difficult.

 

[Red Storm]

I love the idea of the Echo, but I want it with Google Now not Amazon.

 

[Kaido]

I predict next we will see from Amazon a watch, a large watch with the Echo technology built in. But I digress...

You know what...I'd buy that. Especially if it was screenless (or had an e-ink screen like the Pebble) & also worked in a fitness tracker. Basically a Fitbit with a mic. The Echo works amazingly well; it'd be cool to have that functionality on your wrist, especially without having to interact with a visible, physical GUI. That'd be awesome for smarthome control!

 

[Dulanic]

I love the idea of the Echo, but I want it with Google Now not Amazon.

I almost wish they had gone this route with the OnHub... I so could use a wifi extender in the middle of the house that could replace Alexa. I do have the echo and thoroughly enjoy it and use it all the time, but I do miss Google Now functions.

 

[DeviousTrap]

so whats your lights on command? I find them all too difficult.

You find the light command too difficult?

"Alexa, turn on the living room lights"

 

[drbrock]

Alexa is the best electronic device I have purchased in a long time.

1. One of the only machines that can understand my voice. (insanely deep)
2. Great alarm clock and music player.
3. Works with the winkhub flawlessly.
4. Getting the news in the morning while getting dressed is helpful too. Beats listening to the today show.

 

[Chiropteran]

I love mine. I have a 1.5 year old son, so it's incredibly handy to be able to say "Amazon, play elmo" when I need some elmo music to calm him down after a tantrum. "amazon, is going to rain?" is easier than sitting down at the computer and checking the weather forecast.

It's also neat how my son watches me command the echo and he tries to talk to it himself. It doesn't yet recognize his attempt to pronounce "elmo", but when it does me and my wife will be in trouble.

It's fun to do "amazon, wikipedia *whatever*" to get some basic information about just about anything. And the spelling capability is really handy for my wife.

I love the idea of the Echo, but I want it with Google Now not Amazon.

Google now annoys me because it seems like 90% of the time it just gives me a search result instead of actually doing what I ask for.

Echo has it's flaws, but in my experience it's a lot more usable as a true hands free interface, google now is only like half hands-free, as I'll have to look at results and pick one myself most of the time.

 

[notposting]

Echo has it's flaws, but in my experience it's a lot more usable as a true hands free interface, google now is only like half hands-free, as I'll have to look at results and pick one myself most of the time.

We have one (along with 2 boys, one almost 5, other just turned 2, wtf they grow up with this shit?!? ) and our almost 5 year old will ask "her" what the weather is like.

I think it works because it isn't trying to be the all knowing, all powerful, whatever it is, that people seem to want. But it is nailing certain simple tasks, has spot on voice recognition (actually, I think they can all understand voices fine, it's just the backend processing), and the continuing development along with opening it up to developers is going to be really interesting.

If they shill in a tasteful suggestion product suggestion here or there, or preferably just data mine the shit out of my music playing, questions, and then target me when I hit the website, I'm probably okay with that.

(lol they are usually pretty good, but I've also seen suggestions for $20K deep sea ROV's come up, I wonder what late night browsing session they were tracking to come up with that...hmmm tentacle porn...:whiste

 

[Dulanic]

I love mine. I have a 1.5 year old son, so it's incredibly handy to be able to say "Amazon, play elmo" when I need some elmo music to calm him down after a tantrum.

LOL, I know that feeling. My 3 year old son loves it. He walks up in the cutest little voice and goes "Alexa please play itsy bitsy spider"