Amazon Echo Dot

Ahhh - Alexa needs more discretion when it comes to who addresses her. I'm in the middle of Miles Davis and the 20 year old going on 14 (not my daughter) comes in in the middle and says, "Alexa, Rick Astley, Never Gonna Give You Up." Bitch!
 
Ahhh - Alexa needs more discretion when it comes to who addresses her. I'm in the middle of Miles Davis and the 20 year old going on 14 (not my daughter) comes in in the middle and says, "Alexa, Rick Astley, Never Gonna Give You Up." Bitch!
Could be worse, they could use it to order a bunch of stuff from Amazon. Make sure you turn that off or set up a 4 digit code.
 
She was just having fun, but the four digit unlock code is cool. I'll try that
Make sure you look at the skills, too. Some great stuff in there. Controlling Plex running on media streaming devices, controlling J River Media, using it with Remote apps like SimpleControl and Harmony, etc.

You can also setup IFTT (If this then that) to have it work with different internet devices. For example, I have a security camera on the porch and when it senses motion, I have it blink the Hue lights in my office since I often have headphones on in the space.
 
I hear you. Bought a second Dot as a gift. I'll be getting one or two more for me. I love these things and they're getting more skills at lightning speed, much like phone apps. Has anyone opened these things to see signs of an AD/DA chip? If so, what kind of quality is it?
 
I received my Echo Spot. It looks great and works with my Arlo Cameras. You just say “Alexa, show me the door camera” (or whatever you name the camera) and it pops up on the screen in a couple seconds. Anyway, I will mess around with it a bit more tomorrow. It will replace the Dot in the office since it also has analog out and Bluetooth out (I use both).

It has its own camera, which I turned off with software, but if you put this in a bedroom, you might want to put tape over it.
 
I just got an Echo for my birthday. Setup was easy and I linked it to Spotify. Right now it has replaced the clock radio in the bedroom. I guess now I will have to order some smart outlets, some thermostats, a security camera...
 
^^^
EDIT: Heck, just found out don't even need to tell Alexa to turn on the TV first. As long as it's set up as a favorite in Harmony and has been discovered by Alexa, even with the TV/HT turned off, can just say, "Alexa, turn on Discovery Channel". It'll fire up the whole system and tune to that channel.
I bought myself a Harmony Hub and remote. It is the cheap version with the remote that does not have an LCD screen,but I mainly wanted it for the Alexa skills. I set it up over the weekend and it works great for my purposes. I was a little disappointed by the 8 device limit, but I will just have to get out another remote to control my rarely used Blueray player. They required my Denon to be setup as two separate devices if I want to access zone 2. That being said, I moved the Office Dot to my favorite spot in the living room, so can control a lot of functions without needing a remote.

One feature of the Spot that I like is the ability to tell it to show photos (from files uploaded to Amazon) and it will show them. It will also show lyrics (if you have that feature on) for songs it is playing.
 
Maybe we saw the same deal? I picked up a second Hub and remote for the basement system rather than trying to run an IR blaster all the way from the Hub in the livingroom. It is the Companion setup, I think. It's not a touchscreen like the Ultimate, but I think it is one above the basic so has RF remote, not just IR...or think that's the deal, anyway.
 
Maybe we saw the same deal? I picked up a second Hub and remote for the basement system rather than trying to run an IR blaster all the way from the Hub in the livingroom. It is the Companion setup, I think. It's not a touchscreen like the Ultimate, but I think it is one above the basic so has RF remote, not just IR...or think that's the deal, anyway.
Maybe so. It was less than $70 for the hub and remote. I may grab one of the Touch remotes with the LCD screen down the road since it lets you add 15 devices ( instead of 8). I still have the Simple Control app, which requires a longer Alexa command, but it will fill in some of the holes caused by their 8 device limit.
 
I've had an original Echo since it was first released (appx 1 year ago) and keep it in the kitchen. I always thought the only thing missing from it was an aux out. So I'm glad to see the Dot.

We've really enjoyed having the Echo Dot Speaker. My wife especially loves it. It's great in the kitchen because it keeps our shopping list up to date (Alexa, add milk to the shopping list), handles timer functions (Alexa, set a timer for 20 minutes), does kitchen math (Alexa, how many teaspoons in 3 tablespoons?), and provides background music (Alexa, play my Salsa Loca station on Pandora). Sound quality is just ok, but again, for background music it's fine.

I was wondering about having a stereo on all the time as well. Although I suppose you could just plug it into your regular stereo, turn it on when you want to listen, and tell it what to play off of Spotify. More of a party trick than anything, though, I think. Usually I find I'd rather scroll through music on my phone than voice control everything.

Thanks for the info. I am also looking a good quality speaker for my amzon eco dot. Would you please suggest me a good one under $100, i think you have a good experience about its.
 
I have three echo dots. I use a blu tooth adapter on my stereo and tell the echo to connect and then use the echo to play through it. Listen to spodify, amazon, tunein iheart etc through my stero which sounds way better than the echo dot.
 
Sounds interesting, but I would be surprised if Bluetooth gave you better quality than just using the analog outputs on the Dot. However, we won't know until someone tries it, so I will be interested in what you think about it when you get it setup. I don't think the TP-Link would work with my receivers since I believe when they are unplugged and plugged back in, you still have to manually start them. Also, I would worry about cutting power to them rather than turning them off. I could see it working for radios with aux inputs, though. I have a couple Tivoli Pal radios that would be ideal for that type of setup.

If it can send out audio via Bluetooth and/or analog outputs, then maybe it could be used in two setups? Get a Bluetooth receiver for one room and a direct connection in another? Of course, the rooms would have to be side by side so Alexa could hear you from either room.

For my specific needs, I think the placement in the kitchen, at least to try it out, will offer the most bang for the buck. For the kitchen, it will be nice for audio (iTunes/Pandora/Prime), but I also anticipate using it for adding stuff to the grocery list, turning on a Wemo switch (light) in the living room, and hopefully some other things I am not currently anticipating.
I have a blu tooth adapter on my family room stereo. It is hard wired into the stereo. Just tell the echo dot to connect, then play everything through it. You do have to turn the stereo on, but if it has a remote control that would be easier. I listen to a friend's brother who is a dj in a radio station that is not local to me. The echo finds it through tunein. i use my basement echo hooked in hardwired to my stereo and exercise listening to music played through the echo.
 
I have a blu tooth adapter on my family room stereo. It is hard wired into the stereo. Just tell the echo dot to connect, then play everything through it. You do have to turn the stereo on, but if it has a remote control that would be easier. I listen to a friend's brother who is a dj in a radio station that is not local to me. The echo finds it through tunein. i use my basement echo hooked in hardwired to my stereo and exercise listening to music played through the echo.
I have a new Sony receiver I am testing that has Bluetooth built in. When the Echo Dot sends it a signal it will turn on automatically. Right now, it also turns on my TV at the same time, so I have to look into the setup options when I get a chance. Anyway, it is a nice feature for moving from bath to bedroom just by telling the Echo to connect. I use the Echo Dot hardwired to a Tiviloi Pal in the bathroom. Very nice when I am getting ready for work.
 
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