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.

We have an echo dot clock in the bedroom, an echo dot in the kitchen and the bigger version in the living room.
You can connect to Bluetooth and play all your own music through them from your phone or tablet. You can also have the music come out of more than one speaker at the same time.
We don't have the echo plus version that has an inbuilt ability to operate the lights (for instance) with the smartbulbs, but we do have adaptors for the light plugs to go into on the socket and so we can operate them voice controlled, without the need for smartbulbs.
The sound is great for such tiny speakers.
We love ours.
😊

Ds7 and ds8 use theirs a lot
Listen to music
Ask it to tell jokes
Chat with it
Play games with it (eg yes and no game)
Ask it anything you might google.
Call me on my mobile when I’m at work (!)
Set alarms and reminders

My wife based our smart home set up around Alexa. I use it mostly for an alarm clock, and to do measurement conversions in the kitchen, and sometimes to settle trivia arguments faster than googling!

She can pull up radio stations with no subscriptions needed and is compatible with basic Spotify (with ads). She can give summaries of the news, read wiki articles aloud and play audio books and if you have one with a touch screen, can also pull up YouTube.

There’s also a small range of games, like jeopardy, who wants to be a millionaire, and some choose your own adventure formats.

You can also use the Alexa app on your phone to “drop in” - so if you’re out of the house you can basically ring the Alexa to talk to whoever is near it.

I initially hated it in the house, due to the privacy concerns. If you’re getting any smart device (including a phone with an ‘assistant’ function like Siri) make sure to have a good look at the settings and decide what level of privacy settings you’re happy with, as some actually store a lot more data and audio for the purpose of making the product better/more responsive/catching when it didn’t deliver the right answer. You can turn this off in most.

@MaskingForIt I think OP meant SUBscription, not PREscription

@MaskingForIt I think OP meant SUBscription, not PREscription

pretty much. I posted before I had coffee

[quote BlueTitsRock]**@MaskingForIt I think OP meant SUBscription, not PREscription

pretty much. I posted before I had coffee [/quote]
🤣🤣🤣

[quote BlueTitsRock]**@MaskingForIt I think OP meant SUBscription, not PREscription

pretty much. I posted before I had coffee [/quote]
Although getting Alexa on prescription would be amazing - they're free in Wales!!

I use my two as speakers - my Alexa is linked to my Spotify (although she sadly won't play Jaja Ding Dong) which is nice as I have music everywhere in my flat between the two of them. I also use them as a radio for news & weather mostly or for the time if I'm not near a clock. DP and I also use them for quizzes and enjoy some of the fun features. We do ask Alexa questions but we often just google on our phones instead.

My Alexas are also capable of communing with my smart light switches- DP does this more than me- and they can call mobile, which is handy when I invariably leave it somewhere in the house. Alexa refuses point blank to be friends with the tv though.

I use mine to annoy my DH when I’m upstairs by setting up reminders via my phone

They're great for audio books! Amazing for the radio and podcasts etc

P.s. I prefer Alexa to Google!

it can do so much,we use it to hlep us in our home education

DD is 10 and has one. She uses it for listening to music, she also asks it to burp a lot 🤣 and if she wants to know anything she asks it. Not homework though.

She can be used for revision too. You can make your own quizz on it. And everything other posters named. She can be quite fun and practical.

Mine turns on the lights and the TV although can’t change channels so that is not especially useful. We check the weather forecast on it and we ask for music but to be played on the proper speakers, the sound from Alexa is not high quality. I can’t really imagine that a ten year old would have much fun with it.

The daily Harry Potter quiz is fab!!

I love the routines. My latest one turns the lounge blue and plays baby shark when you shout “oh no, there’s a shark”

And courtesy of someone on mumsnet who suggested it, I have a fanfare play when I get home.

I think there is a new Alexa Dot out so expect discounted prices on the previous generation one. @Aposterhasnoname HOW?? Please share.

Go into routines on the Alexa app and set one, it’s really straight forward.

The shark one just turns the light on and makes it blue (smart bulb) then plays baby shark on Amazon music.

There’s a few skills that do fanfares, I think mine is called, imaginatively, fanfare.