[jqp]

Wanted to post this in the IT Crowd (no facilitator yet) but it can go here - it could go in 3 or 4 circles.

I have had the Amazon echo for a few days now. Today I received the Echo remote control. Surely by now you have seed the ads.

The Echo is a voice controlled/remote controlled digital music player (mono), personal assistant, home automation hub, kid entertainer, adult entertainer.

I has a bose wave radio level of sound, complete with a base reflex baffle.

The Echo has an API, SDK, and a US$100 million fund to develop it with 3rd parties.


MUSIC
I have it playing lots of different music from different sources, all are cloud sources. I have uploaded more than a hundred songs from my digitized CDs to my Amazon Music Library. This is a little confusing because the Amazon approved music sources is a little confusing right now. My Prime Music seems to be different from my Amazon Music. And Prime music is a huge pool of albums and partial albums. If the Echo won't play the music it will usually play a sample og the music.

Home Automation
Works with the Nest wireless thermostat (now owned by Google  . Works with the Home Depot Wink, Samsung SmartTHings system, and a few individual devices. I am waiting for it to work with my Staples Connect HA hub, Staples is after all now selling the Amazon Echo!

Shopping/To Do lists
It's nice to tell Alexa to add something to your list before you can get to your desk with a pen. Echo can understand very well from a great distance relatively speaking.

Games
Bingo, Math Puzzles

Stub Hub
Quickly buying available tickets will take some setup but for those who live in NYC it may be a cool feature (so many, many venues)

HARDWARE

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Amazon+Echo+Teardown/33953

The KEY feature

This is not just another Siri or Cortana or OK Google - this is a VERY robust voice interface, that has been developing for 4 years. Many of the features have already been done, but this is all hands free. Yes, only as long as you are connected to a wireless network, but some are taking their Echo mobile with a ups battery. There are lots of wireless networks out there.  I want this to be the "two-way wrist radio" on my Dick Tracy watch.

Who has one, and what are you doing with it?

More info http://lovemyecho.com/



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