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Post by Shirls on Jan 23, 2018 11:49:27 GMT
those of you who have one to do all your chores!
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Post by Marianne Marlow on Jan 23, 2018 13:49:32 GMT
I wish I had alexa. But don't you have to get one of those echo amazon things?
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Post by helenmat on Jan 23, 2018 16:47:10 GMT
My parents and daughter have Alexa dot and I have the google home mini, they are very similar, you can play the radio on them from online streaming, ask the time or the weather, I ask it to read the news. It will also set alarms and reminders, add things up and work out maths. I got mine to read out a recipe the other day and you can ask it for an exercise routine. I even asked it to tell me a joke the other day. I like it. Having said that you can do most of the stuff on a computer or iPad/phone. I only paid £30 for my google home so not bad.
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Post by OP on Jan 23, 2018 17:12:26 GMT
Yes is the answer Marianne. There is now the cheapie version that does most of what the big brothers do. You also need an account with Amazon to stream music and a prime account. It's not expensive. As helenmat says the things one can do are endless. I'm quite a gadget man so I have gone into home automation quite a bit, built up over the years. Now I have Alexa turning lights on and off.
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Post by helenmat on Jan 24, 2018 0:13:33 GMT
Yes is the answer Marianne. There is now the cheapie version that does most of what the big brothers do. You also need an account with Amazon to stream music and a prime account. It's not expensive. As helenmat says the things one can do are endless. I'm quite a gadget man so I have gone into home automation quite a bit, built up over the years. Now I have Alexa turning lights on and off. You can use the free Spotify app to play genres of music without a subscription and play digital radio. I don’t have any accounts.
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Post by sweetpea on Jan 24, 2018 0:35:01 GMT
I was wondering if one of these gadgets would be good for my ageing mother. She struggles to remember things & also has vision problems. I know there would be a certain amount of set up (presumably a one-off task) which I would do but perhaps then she could tell it to remind her to do things or to play certain songs etc. When doing some research earlier, I came across this article click here where tip 6 is " Alexa is damn near useless in the company of pet birds"!!!!! Discuss!
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Post by OP on Jan 24, 2018 7:45:56 GMT
Alexa is not perfect, but unless you have parrots, the larger variety) the echo will hear you perfectly. As for your mum sweetpea you personally could set up reminders, place calls to your mum and things like that if you had the Alexa app on your phone, tablet or something. She could actually call you without using her mobile phone.
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Post by Shirls on Jan 24, 2018 8:51:12 GMT
Thank you everyone. Now I want to know how it works!!!!
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Post by OP on Jan 24, 2018 9:02:39 GMT
You find a place to put the Echo unit, plug it in then ask it, say "Alexa how do you work?". Just what the answer will be is anybodies guess. Really, you plug it in and talk to it, ask it questions.
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Post by Shirls on Jan 24, 2018 9:04:41 GMT
O.K. Thanks Colin.
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Post by helenmat on Jan 24, 2018 9:34:21 GMT
I think the Amazon Echo/Dot is probably a little more advanced than the younger Google Home mini etc. For instance google cannot make calls yet, it’s coming but not yet. I do think Google’s voice is much clearer though. I don’t have any issues with the budgies.
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Post by helenmat on Jan 24, 2018 14:53:00 GMT
Yes you can easily just move it from room to room, just unplug it and plug it back in. I have two actually, one upstairs and one down.
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Post by OP on Jan 24, 2018 15:02:56 GMT
Yes you can easily just move it from room to room, just unplug it and plug it back in. I have two actually, one upstairs and one down.I know you said yours is the Google one helenmat, but can you listen in on the one upstairs to one downstairs. Like a baby minder?
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Post by clt80 on Jan 24, 2018 22:25:29 GMT
We got gifted one the other year from my brother. It is currently being used by the babies for their radio. All I've ever done is say echo play radio and it plays it for them. Once they go outside I will be able to have it back and work out all the other features. It responds to three names, alexa, echo and dot i think. We stopped using the name Alexa for it as everytime we said the word alexa my dog Lexie would think she was being called and come running in. It was confusing for her.
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Post by suesbird on Jan 24, 2018 22:52:27 GMT
Good one Shirls, I have been wondering about getting one and what they can do. I thought you had to pay for Spotify. At last people explaining, not like my Kids who raise their eyebrows😡
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