Amazon Echo is here.

[DavidR310]

Creepy sucker arrived today. Sound is good for the size and the mics are very sensitive to voices. I am surprised how well it can understand language.

For $99 I am happy.

Any questions?

[Gringo Bandito]

Sounds cool but will it blend?

[DavidR310]

lol, no but you could tell it to put a blender on your shopping list or shuffle a playlist.

[yellowsulphur]

Did you pay the Prime price of $99? Can you change the activation name or are you stuck with "Alexia"? Is this strictly an Amazon appliance or will other Internet services be able to utilize the device. If my shopping list contains XM193, diapers, chlorine, sulfur, and chocolate milk will "Alexia" become afraid and notify authority's? If I sleep talk about hot, non-pointy-elbowed, Japanese women will it contaminate my Google search index for my presentation the following day?

[DavidR310]

Did you pay the Prime price of $99? Yes Can you change the activation name or are you stuck with "Alexia"? Alexa said "yes I can change her name under the Amazon settings app" However my gf said it can only be changed to Amazon or Alexa.

Is this strictly an Amazon appliance or will other Internet services be able to utilize the device. It can connect with other services like iHeartradio. It does have bluetooth so you can use it like a big expensive BT speaker. Alexa does offer a PC companion app however I am about to do an OS install and will not test that out for a while. It communicates with those devices via an app. So if your device is app compatible, you can use whatever device you want, Android or Iphone.

If my shopping list contains XM193, diapers, chlorine, sulfur, and chocolate milk will "Alexia" become afraid and notify authority's?I sure hope not, you listed my xmas shopping list

If I sleep talk about hot, non-pointy-elbowed, Japanese women will it contaminate my Google search index for my presentation the following day?

No, Alexa uses Bing.

[DavidR310]

One thing it does not do is give you the score to specific games. It just gives news highlights. The weather function is great though.

[scbauer]

How did you order it? I tried to "preorder" the day it was announced but haven't heard anything since.


Sent from my iThing using Tapatalk

[DavidR310]

How did you order it? I tried to "preorder" the day it was announced but haven't heard anything since.


Sent from my iThing using Tapatalk

I asked for an invite then waited, waited and waited. Out of the blue, I get an email saying it was my last day to order it and that I was sent an invite several days ago and if I did not order on that day, my invite would expire. So I ordered it. I checked my inbox and never got an initial invite.

I read on another forum, that Amazon had a glitch and many people who got invites were never properly notified.

[DavidR310]

I just asked Alexa, "Play iHeart Radio."
She said "What would you like to hear?"
Me, "Kiis-FM"

And I am now listening to Kiss FM 102.7 lol.

[DavidR310]

Who does free hosting that will let me share a wav file uncompressed? I can upload an audio sample.

Another cool thing is if Alexa doesn't have an answer, she sends a link to your device with a bing search and your question already inputted. All you do is hit enter.

[DavidR310]

As a nursing student, this would a great gift for individuals with medical disabilities.

Also, if you have a playlist playing and ask Alexa a question, the music plays in the background.

[Casual_Shooter]

Requested an invite and never got the notification....

[wheels]

Requested an invite and never got the notification....

+1

this thing would probably cut down my manual searches by half.

[DavidR310]

+1

this thing would probably cut down my manual searches by half.

It really has the potential to be a personal assistant.

Imagine your late for work, you jump out of the shower and want to know the time without having to walk over by the clock. Ask Alexa. Since your running late, you don't have time to read the news report on your tablet. Ask Alexa for a news and weather report and listen while your getting ready.

Imagine your cooking and have several dishes going and want to set a timer for one of the dishes while draining a boiling pot of pasta. Just tell Alexa to set the timer. While your at it, tell Alexa to skip to the next song in your playlist. Oh and you just ran out of pasta sauce so tell Alexa to put that on your grocery list. Plus, your recipe is made for 5 people and your cooking for two and you want to reduce how much salt you put it. Just ask Alexa to convert for you.

It's use is limited in its beta phase. However the few things it does, it does well. Just adding a few more thing will make it a homerun.

[Bobby Ricigliano]

If my shopping list contains XM193, diapers, chlorine, sulfur, and chocolate milk will "Alexia" become afraid and notify authority's?

You must have picked up the Walmart receipt I lost on the way out of the store.