to ask about Alexa

[BlueTitsRock]

DC has a birthday coming up and asked for one. Apparently a lot of friends have it. I have no idea what it does other than telling you the weather or spying on you. According to DC it does 'everything'

Is this actually something for kids (DC is 10) and if they have one in their room, what do they do with it? I read about it but really none the wiser. DC has a tablet computer but no smart phone (if that helps in terms what it can be used for).

Thanks.

Mostly use ours for music. There are many free radio channels on there.

@BlueTitsRock

DC has a birthday coming up and asked for one. Apparently a lot of friends have it. I have no idea what it does other than telling you the weather or spying on you. According to DC it does 'everything'

Is this actually something for kids (DC is 10) and if they have one in their room, what do they do with it? I read about it but really none the wiser. DC has a tablet computer but no smart phone (if that helps in terms what it can be used for).

Thanks.

Control anything "smart", play games, read audio books, answer Google queries, telephone etc

But its main function people use it for is it's a hands free radio alarm clock .

DC likes music. So you don't need a prescription Amazon music or Spotify account to listen to it?

Is it the Alexa Dot?

"DC has a tablet computer but no smart phone" so your DC has a large smart phone

Is most of the stuff to listen on there free?

Alarm clock may be handy for DC

@BlueTitsRock

DC likes music. So you don't need a prescription Amazon music or Spotify account to listen to it?

Is it the Alexa Dot?

Amazon music's basic service is provided for free if you have prime.

Spotify with adverts is free.

Amazon does quite deep discounts on them on black Friday if birthday is after then. The dot is a bit crap as a speaker compared to the normal ones

We don't have any paid stuff on there. Just means we can't chose particular songs or artists, just generic music types. So 80s Rock for example. Plus we get adverts. Plays normal radio stations as well.

Amazon does quite deep discounts on them on black Friday if birthday is after then. The dot is a bit crap as a speaker compared to the normal ones

good to know. thanks.

Oh if you put the Alexa app on your phone registered for the account the echo is on, you will have a full log of what DC asks and does if you're worried about security

My child uses hers for listening to music and we have Spotify linked to it otherwise I dont think it would be as good only having the radio so thats £15 a month for Spotify family but if you dont want to spend that much you can do a single device on amazon music for something like £4.99 a month. She really only asks it to play music and asks the weather/time/sets alarms. She's 9. You manage the alexa through the alexa app where you can turn off explicit songs etc. My child loves hers but if I'm honest having now got a google device in my kitchen I much prefer that. It seems to like spotify better and plays the actual song you've requested whereas alexa can have her moments as she prefers to be linked to amazon products. The only difference with a google mini is she will say hey google to wake it up instead of alexa

My dd asks alexa to fart. A lot. But it keeps her amused!! She also asks for jokes and how many days until...

Dd doesn't have access to a tablet or phone so basically asks anything that you might google

Music
Radio
Timers
Reminders
Add items to shopping list
Control your TV
Add items to diary
Play games
Ask questions
Set “daily briefing”
Intercom between rooms
Alarm clock
Play sleep sounds

With extra hardware:
Control lights
Control heating
Lock and unlock doors
Check garage is secure
Check garden gate is closed
Control blinds
Control fire stick
Control sky
Control virgin
Lock house, turn off all lights and electrical devices with one command

Etc etc.

Personally I prefer the google alternative which does all the above but has better ability to answer questions and provide information

Mine use theirs to listen to music and ask questions to help with homework or just for fun mainly. I also send messages to it like 'dinner's ready' rather than shouting up the stairs! We sometimes play quizzes together on our one downstairs. I also catch up on the news, ask the weather, do video calls (one downstairs has a screen) it scrolls photos and I listen to music or the radio on it.

She tells jokes, plays games, quizzes, answers general knowledge questions, sets timers for homework, creates to do lists, weather, traffic, recipes, radio, sleep sounds eg rain, oh and plays baby shark all the time 🤣

Personally I prefer the google alternative which does all the above but has better ability to answer questions and provide information

does the Google alternative have a name?

DS has one, he was 11 when he got it. He listens to music on it- Spotify playlists, digital radio (“Alexa, play Virgin Anthems!”) and music from my Amazon Music account; I can also use it speak to make “announcements” eg: “Tea’s ready!” from the app on my phone. You can also ask her questions - anything you might feasibly Google, but asking Alexa homework questions is frowned upon.

I also bought one for the kitchen, largely to use as a radio, but it’s great as a timer too.

The dc ask Siri and Alexa to afk the other to do stuff to the other. It can get silly.

We have echo's in every bedroom, lounge and kitchen.
They get used all the time, my Son talks to his friend on it

We were given two and use them as alarms and to send reminders. It’s a good radio and finds music you want just by shouting at her. You can get her to say silly jokes at odd times to irritate and amuse in equal measure.
It can send messages from the Shepherds hut to house. They can give information like the time, tide times, weather forecast.
They’ll covert measurements into different units for baking.

saw there is a Google home mini. Any thoughts on that? it is a lot cheaper too.

We have Alexa with a screen in the kitchen, a dot upstairs in the lounge and our dd (10) has one in her room. I can tell her dinners ready/bedtime etc through it. She listens to the radio, asks her questions, plays quizzes , listens to audio books (through BorrowBox on her phone and uses Alexa as a speaker). We've also got a few smart plugs connected and are getting a nest thermostat. We also use the shopping lists so we can all add things and they're be on the app on my phone when I'm shopping.

Forgot to say we got DDs echo dot when they had an offer if you subscribed to amazon music, I think it was £9.99 and we cancelled amazon music after the one month free trial which is very easy to do.

@BlueTitsRock

saw there is a Google home mini. Any thoughts on that? it is a lot cheaper too.

The assigner functionality is better.

It sounds ok for the size, but is only a tiny speak with no aux or Bluetooth out.

There are loads of speakers with Google and Alexa built in. You don’t have to buy a google or Amazon speaker.

Which is right depends on your budget and requirements.

My dd and ds both have dots in the their rooms and we have echos in the kitchen and living room. we use them for music, audiobooks (through audible at £7.99 a month) quizzes, alarms and they can both control their lights through it meaning no scary dash in the dark from the doorway to the bed 🤣

@BlueTitsRock

DC likes music. So you don't need a prescription Amazon music or Spotify account to listen to it?

Is it the Alexa Dot?

Help a dinosaur out. What is “prescription Amazon music”?