Well put. Thanks for your reply!

Much better than anything I've ever seen from either Siri or Google Now. Additionally, the microphone placement and circuitry in the unit even help make it work when it is already playing pretty loud music. Very impressive.

Just got an email from Amazon regarding some (apparently) previously undocumented features of the Echo. Nothing too outrageous, but still fun (for varying definitions of fun, I'm sure):

Dear Amazon Echo Customer,

Staying inside this weekend? Echo will keep you entertained.

Game night!—We saw how much you enjoyed Simon Says, so here are a few new ways you can use Echo to keep the games going:

• Decide who goes first by asking "Alexa, flip a coin."
• Settle an in-game debate with "Alexa, rock, paper, scissors."
• And, in case things get really out of hand and pieces go flying, you can keep playing with "Alexa, roll the dice."

Dr. Seuss's Birthday—Celebrate the author's big day by trying these questions:

• "Alexa, do you like green eggs and ham?"
• "Alexa, one fish, two fish."
• "Alexa, why do you sit there like that?"
• "Alexa, what was the Lorax?"

Software Development Kit Beta—For those who want to help shape Echo's future, the team is working on an SDK to help hobbyist and enthusiast developers create new apps and experiences. If you're interested in building your ideas during a limited-participation beta ahead of the SDK's public release, sign up here (link removed, since it appears to be personalized).

As always, the Amazon Echo team looks forward to your feedback via the Amazon Echo App, and be sure to tag your social media posts with #AmazonEcho!

Note: I haven't played "Simon Says" with the Echo yet, so I'm assuming "you" refers to the communal "Echo Owner."

Of course mine arrived exactly 2 hrs after I hit the airport last week. Finally got back to the home office to try it.

So... after a week... voice recognition is very good. BUT highly limited. Better voice recognition than Siri or Google, especially at longer distances.

Basically, I've found it to be an internet radio w/voice recognition and nothing more. Sound quality's acceptable to good.

A few things it needs immediately: Flight status! This was the first thing I asked it. I'd also like it to track flights and perk up if there were delays.

More user-definable lists. I'd love to have a packing list, a grocery list, a Costco list, etc.

I also wish it had an analog audio input. I also wish it would act as a Bluetooth speakerphone, so it could be used with Skype and mobile phones.

Overall, the hardware's good. Software needs help. But we'll see.

Ours just arrived today. Yea, was very surprised it was delivered on Easter.

This is AWESOME.

Do you honestly think that it will change anything? If you're everyone's gopher now, you'll just have a new tool to do the same thing.

On a side note, this thing reminds me of a smart fridge.

Received mine while out of town and finally got it setup tonight. Great!! Especially ability to link iHeartRadio and listen to my normal radio stations.

Not much else to report - only had it working for a few hours but its fantastic so far.

My biggest disappointment is that I can't get more of them :(

I broke down and bought an Echo when it went on sale on Friday. As I've posted in the home automation thread, I'm slowly automating my home with SmartThings as a hub. Increasingly, posters on the ST message boards kept mentioning how Echo is a game changer when connected to their home automation system, so I was persuaded to make the leap. (Until the BF and I move in together, my home automation efforts are largely on hold because I don't feel like rewiring outlets and switches now only to have to move them to a new place in a few months. So this helps satisfy that itch.)

I've only played with Echo for a couple hours, but I love that I can tell it to turn on or turn off a particular light (one that's part of my HA setup) and it will do so. I need to mess around more with IFTTT (I know it's now officially IF, but like everyone else, I'm still referring to it by the old name). For those of you going the home automation route, how have you integrated it into your home?

My music purchases are spread between Amazon and Google. Anyone have any tips for getting it to play music from my Google Music account (where I've also synced my personal library)?

ETA: Also, best message board people have come across for discussing Echo setup, features and functionality?

Looks like Amazon has released two additional products

Wired write-up on the two new Echo devices: New Amazon ‘Tap’ and ‘Echo Dot’ Gadgets Unleash Alexa on the World

$90.00 for the Echo Dot Echo Dot : Must use the Amazon Echo or Fire TV to order the device.

$130.00 for the Echo Tap : Released 03/31/2016.

I bought the Echo Dot. My fiance and I are moving into a larger home this month, so we needed something. That said, I'm a little puzzled. If you read the ordering info it says:

Do we really believe this? I find it hard to understand why they'd do such a huge rollout announcement for something available in limited quantities.

(Optimally I'd like two, but have a hard time pulling the trigger on both right this moment.)

The bolded sentence makes it sound as if there is a single limited production run, and when it's sold there will never be more. That seems improbable, unless they have already designed an improved replacement?

Ordered an Echo Dot today as soon as I got the email. Been wanting something like that, and didn't want to shell out full price for another Echo.

I kind of believe the limitation, at least for now. Amazon limited Echo orders to one per account for a while, then went to two I think. So there are probably supply limitations, or they lose money on every device sold.

However, I only ordered one as I am sure there will be another iteration/variation out in due time. This has already happened - the Echo Dot got introduced as I waffled about buying a second Echo.

Ordered one. I'm interested in having a Echo for every room of the house and also one for travel.

I can't imagine anything I'd rather have less in my house than an Echo or its new little brethren.

Or you could use this link to order it: <mod removed referral link>

Anything? How about a mimeograph machine?

Amazon Echo
 

The best thing about Alexa is when the sales associate at the Amazon bookstore by house told her to shut up and she did. 😄

At least the mimeograph isn't listening to everything I say.

Ha! I don't say anything interesting enough someone would actually want to play back and listen to it. Regardless, I'm not that paranoid. I did have a college roommate who thought our water cooler was spying on us though.

It's more about Amazon's seeming attitude to privacy as evidenced by its announcement to remove encryption from Fire devices (and then backtrack in the face of outrage).

Just curious... did you find the Echo objectionable before it was revealed that Amazon intended to remove encryption on its devices?

Don't be so certain about that.

Echo Always listening - yes, but I didn't think the data was processed/stored on Amazon servers until the keyword is spoken.

Google does the same with 'ok google', Apple does the same with Siri, and I don't trust these companies any more or less than the other.

At any rate, the Echo is being used as a music box for a toddler ;)

This to me seems a lot like the smart fridges that Microsoft was trying to peddle a decade ago. It's not really fixing an issue. OK, so I don't need hands to put on music when cooking but usually I just put on music before cooking. It's not like this was a big issue in my life.

I have a friend with one of these. He was trying to show off how it would turn the lights on automatically when he told it and he came in to his place. It didn't work reliably and they have this thing called a light switch that works just incredibly well.

Yep, I still don't understand why people want them. If I want the weather or music, I just use my phone/iPad.

I can understand that, but I have to admit that I love ours. My phone/tablet is often not where I am, and the Echo is centrally located in a reasonably open floor plan. Simple things like "Alexa, set a timer for ten minutes," "Alexa, how many tablespoons are in a quarter cup?" or "Alexa, read Titan by John Varley" still make it seem like I'm living in the World of Tomorrow to me :D

So far this thing has been most useful for entertainment at family parties. Impressive, some of
the knowledge it's been programmed with.

Try asking it in order...
What is your name?
What is your quest?
What is your favorite color?

:D

Because Google/Siri aren't capable of being fully run by voice (yet). My Echo lives at my office and has become my de-facto office radio. I find its hands-free capability to be brilliant actually.

If I'm working in the middle of a project and something suddenly comes to mind, I can just quickly bark it out at Alexa and it gets handled. No needing to stop what I'm doing, pick up my phone/tablet, unlock it, find the app I need, then type on some crappy on-screen keyboard only to have autocorrect munge it. Additionally, the microphone array on the Echo really does work, much better than any tablet/phone.

I can see one of these for home use where your phone might not be convenient. I'm not sure what other people do, but when I get home, my phone goes on the charging stand in the kitchen or left in the car, where it'd be a pain to grab & use to change channels. I agree that entertainment options on modern tablets/phones are great, but virtually none of them were meant to be controlled remotely.

As far as it listening to everything, I've not found that to be the case, even keeping an eye on it with Wireshark (packet sniffing).

I still see it as a device which is half-baked for now. I think one of the problems Amazon faced was that they weren't really sure what they had created here, which is why it's had basically a year-long beta test. Now that they see what people are using it for and asking it, they're better able to tune the existing one (and create new ones). Still, the Echo lacks audio outputs, any sort of display, and has a hugely limited command set. Siri/Google are much better in this, BUT they still can't be controlled truly by voice only. If you say Play KKJZ to either of those, it will show you that KKJZ exists and has a website but won't start playing it -- Echo will.

What I don't understand is the Amazon Tap. There are plenty of bluetooth speakers out there, far less expensive or with better sound.

I did pick up an Echo Dot. For the price, it's a decent, fully-featured internet radio receiver. Even better is that it IS voice controlled. No remote to lose, no need to fire up the TV and scroll through page after page of listings, etc.

I mean, you can turn on "Hey Siri" and "OK Google" to run them handsfree. I turned Hey Siri off because it was triggering randomly too much. BUt it works fine otherwise. And you certainly can tell Siri to play a song. If it's in your library it will start playing right away. If you have an Apple Music subscription and the song is in Apple Music, it will also play right away. Siri will only do an internet search if it can't find the song in either of those places.

Can you flesh this out with some examples? Ms mia uses Echo as a music player and timer, but (to my knowledge) nothing else. I find the music player function frustrating because the syntax seems to be complex and I am prone to pause while speaking, which Echo interprets as the end of the command. I would like to be able to suggest some other tasks that she could try.

My Dot was ordered today and is scheduled for delivery June 15. Not sure why Amazon can never crank their supply chain a little harder. Is there some revolutionary technology inside that Foxconn can't make? There were tight supplies when the original Kindle came out but that was (my guess) because the e-Ink was tough to make.

I enjoy Alexa, but it sure is tough to talk about her as she always listens. I was describing to my brother how when I walk in the door after work I say, "Alexa play music," and sure enough, she started up music. So I have to talk about her as A-L-E-X-A.

Guess someone left their NPR on while they were gone and Alexa went rogue!

http://qz.com/637326/amazon-echo-hom...-a-thermostat/

I use the lists feature extensively, mainly as a to-do / reminders list. If I have something on the workbench and are using both hands, it's much easer to say Alexa, add dinner with Chris to the calendar or add expense report due by Friday to shopping list.

Some of the features Amazon's pushing, like voice ordering, I don't see as practical at all, for now. I can see some of this eventually working if they started doing more local deliveries of groceries and such, but that's not my pattern with them. I've not ordered toilet paper, produce, (common) food, or any other item which I'd regularly need to restock on. I do order printer toner, but I order ~20 different types of cartridges due to wide variety of printers at my office. If I were to ask it for a box of pens, what would show up at my door? How would it handle products with stupidly-long names created by idiotic marketing departments? My old Motorola Droid Razr Maxx HD comes to mind.

The Echo is also available on http://zrealizujkupon.pl/shops/mediamarkt for pretty reasonable price - $95. Quite a handy stuff for anyone who has intention to save up the time and adores useful things.

How do you travel with this?

The downside of living in a multi-person Echo household.

Me: Alexa, play Puccini on Spotify.

[Alexa starts playing heavy metal.]

Me: Alexa, play Tosca on Spotify.

[Alexa starts playing something that isn't opera.]

Me: Alexa, play Verdi on Spotify.

[Alexa starts playing something else that still isn't opera.]

...

Any guesses as to who was controlling Alexa? Hint: It wasn't me.

Whose Amazon account was it on?

Maybe they should have it on a phone or something. :D

My account, though we're both connected to it, and his Spotify account. He was controlling via Spotify.

Echo ($129) & Tap ($79) On Sale 8/8/16
 

For those interested in jumping into or expanding Alexa's world, Echo and Tap are on sale today at several online and B&M merchants including:

Bed, Bath & Beyond
Best Buy (But Tap is $99)
B&H Photo
Lowes
Staples
eBags

I went with a Tap from eBags to compliment the Echo I picked up on Prime Day. It is $79.99 on eBags, but not taxed for me. I also had $3 in points. All of my Amex cards had $10 back on $50 at eBags. Coupons are not allowed, but the Amex Offer already gave me the acknowledgement e-mail. For another bonus I went through the Chase Ultimate Rewards mall so hopefully I will get another 8 points/$ in UR even though I used an Amex to purchase.

My final price will be $66.92 with another $4 in eBags points, $10 in UR points and $1.50 in MR points for future use.