There are plenty of cool and useful electronic gadgets out there these days that are designed to be fixtures in your home and life. There’s Siri and Cortana, the helpful voice-activated personal assistants in your smartphone. There are wireless speakers that can access your music library and play it in any room in your house, like SONOS. And there are even voice-recognition devices that will create a grocery list for you, like the SmartShopper. But I recently discovered that there is a new device available that can do ALL of these things, and more… the Amazon Echo!
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(Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. I purchased an Amazon Echo on Prime Day for $50 off, and I have really been enjoying using it!)
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The function I’ve used most so far with my Echo is playing music. All I have to do is ask “Alexa” (the Echo’s interface) to play whatever album or playlist I want to listen to! Also, when I’m reading a book that refers to a song, I can ask Alexa to play that song and it’s takes my reading experience to a whole new level. (You’re just going to have to try it to believe it!)
Another function I get quite a bit of use out of is list-making. As soon as I realize I am out of something, I can just holler over to Alexa to add it to my shopping list. Then, next time I’m at the grocery store, I simply pull up the Alexa app on my phone, and my list is waiting for me! You can also make as many custom lists as you want!
These are the two functions I use most often, but there are so many more things that the Amazon Echo can do! Here are a few more…
More Cool Things You Can Do With Your Amazon Echo
- Start the day by checking your calendar. Alexa will tell you what appointments you have coming up that day. You can also tell her to add a new appointment. (You can also manage your appointments manually in the Alexa app.)
- Set an alarm. If you feel yourself nodding off on the couch, you can tell Alexa to set an alarm for 20 minutes, so you don’t accidentally sleep the afternoon away!
- Ask Alexa about what the traffic is like when you’re getting ready to leave for the day. If traffic is heavy, you’ll know to leave a few minutes early.
- Check up on what’s happening with your favorite sports team. Alexa can tell you sports standings, or results from specific games or matches.
- Check the weather, in your own area or somewhere else!
- Ask about nearby restaurants, coffee shops, pharmacies, banks, etc.
- Quickly and easily re-order an item on Amazon. If you notice you’re out of paper towels, just ask Alexa to order some more!
- Learn something new! Curious about the distance from the earth to the moon? Wondering about what started the War of 1812? Just ask!
- Ask about movie showtimes and tickets.
- Ask about the day’s top news stories.
- Listen to an audiobook! Not only can you tell Alexa to start or stop your audiobook, you can also pause, skip to a certain spot or chapter, and even set a sleep timer.
- Listen to your favorite radio apps.
- For all of you Game of Thrones fans… apparently Alexa knows EVERYTHING about the Game of Thrones universe! You can ask her about quotes, characters, House words, and more!
- You can even switch Amazon profiles, so the kids can listen to their music, or your husband can listen to his audiobook, without changing or altering your own profile.
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- You can even use your Amazon Echo to order a pizza from Domino’s!
- Ask Alexa to request a ride from Uber.
It is also compatible with Vivint smart home products. So if you have Vivint smart home security, you can ask the Amazon Echo to turn on your lights, lock the door etc. with your home automation & security products.
Thanks for this info as I just did not know what this Echo did. Maybe I do need one!
I have this and the dot – love them! I have them connected to my thermostat and various lights\electronics as well as house alarm and can control them verbally. Want to get one for my mom as well – figure it can help her in cases of emergency – believe we can also have it text or call with connected cell – not certain yet though.
What is the dot?
Doesn’t Siri do most of this? I’m wondering about the difference…
It certainly seems like a nifty gadget, but am wondering the same thing. It looks like Alexa is a tiny speaker and microphone that you take with you from room to room, so that it will always be within “ear-shot.” Ok, neato! So, do you simply call out your wishes into the air? Alexa hears you and will obey? The part I’m stuck on is you must have to carry this unit around with you at all times, in order to maximize the giant list of things it can do, which isn’t necessarily out of the question, but I seem… Read more »
You don’t carry it anywhere – just set it up in a central location in your home, and shout out from anywhere!
Yes, Siri, can do a lot of these things, but Amazon echo is a speaker, so you can put on music while you’re cooking. Being hands-free is definitely a big advantage!
wow! Sounds awesome. Until now, I had no idea what the Echo was-I thought it was a speaker! ha ha. Thank you for the great explanation!
This is amazing! It’s like a personal assistant! lol – I need this in my life :-P
-Clarissa @ The View From Here
My husband is blind and disabled, the Echo has been such a good thing for him. He loves to listen to the audio books, the music, spends a good amount of time thinking up questions to ask her. The fact that you can verbally ask her and she does it. Such a blessing for him. I love the list/to do feature and especially the access to so much music.
How fun! Best wishes to you and your family, Vickie!
I also bought my Echo on Amazon prime day and saved that $50. Alexa tells joke! When I wake her up in the morning she tells me what is special that day. LucyBall’s birthday…so much more. She is learning my likes and the music she plays is exactly what I need. Let me kn
ow any other great ideas and uses for Alexa.
Awesome!
Alexa not only reads audio books to you, she will also read Kindle books,
whether you have bought and downloaded them from Amazon or merely
downloaded them from your local library in kindle format.
I LOVE my echo for list making!!! In the past I would think of something I needed, but if I was in the middle of doing something I would forget to add it to my list. Now, I can just say it the second I think of it and Alexa adds it to my list!!