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Raising Alexa
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Len
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Jan 23, 2015 10:39AM
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My current struggle is in getting the Echo to play some of my CD collection. It doesn't seem to recognize Telemann, though I have a 2 CD set in the Amazon cloud. Will try more Voice Training. Have had mine up for about a week, & am generally very impressed with it. I'm enjoying the flash briefings.
Len wrote: "Thanks to Ann K. Schwader for suggesting that I create a topic for "trying to housebreak an Echo." Mine arrived a week ago, and I love it. There is a dedicated help line for the Ech..."I found everything about the Echo pretty easy. The worst part was getting my wifi connected but that was just due to my complex password. I was able to get mine before X-mas and gave it to the family as the family gift. Everyone loves it. The only problem we have is deciding which music to play :)
I did the voice training via the app right out of the gate and Alexa has done well with translation.
My biggest wish is for them to support simple sports scores "What was the score of the Seattle game?" for instance.
Have you found any info on what the Echo team may introduce next in terms of capabilities?
I would like to have it work as a speaker phone, when paired with a phone. Or at least to pause/resume a music source when one is connected via Bluetooth.Also does anyone know if TuneIn has any live sports? I could not get Alexa to play any.
Got the invitation wasn't going to get one then listened to the podcast, still won't be here till June or July, did they make them to get order or get that many orders?
I am not aware of any dedicated radio stations for sports beyond something like ESPN radio. However, TuneIn does allow you to stream local A.M. and F.M radio stations covering all local sports in all of our 50 states and beyond. If you know which local station covers your favorite team and you have their broadcast schedule you should be fine I imagine.
I love mine but had some trouble pairing with bluetooth with my laptop. Then it worked, but since then it hasn't and I don't even see the bluetooth management page on my laptop. It shows in my devices (the page that shows printers, etc.) and it says it is paired, but it's not playing so I guess it's not connected.I emailed Amazon and they provided a number to get help and told me what to have open on my computer. Haven't called yet.
Other than that I'm very happy with it. I just spent the $25 to have more music in my Amazon library. I say more and not all, because I haven't ripped all CDs I have. It scanned and imported all music from my computer and external hard drive. I find it easier to select music from the app. If I'm online with my laptop I use the app in a tab there.
http://echo.amazon.com/
Ann wrote: "My current struggle is in getting the Echo to play some of my CD collection. It doesn't seem to recognize Telemann, though I have a 2 CD set in the Amazon cloud. Will try more Voice Training. Hav..."When I ask for specific albums, I end up having long conversation with Alexa. It eventually played Murray Perahia Bach Suites. Easier when I use the app.
I've added a lot of prime music. Discovered that they have some Pete Seeger playlists. Someone on Kboards mentioned his music.
Alexa plays music so well that I went ahead and committed to the Amazon unlimited music cloud service. I thought I had a lot of music - since I converted my entire CD collection to MP3 as well as my music purchases - but the limit is 200,000 songs. I figured that for around $25 bucks a year this was a good purchase - why spend $100 for an extra 16 gigs on a smartphone when i can get 4 years of cloud storage? I have over 10,000 songs available now for my smartphone Amazon Music app and also for playing on Alexa and on my laptop. Amazing and Wonderful! I can afford to wait while Alexa grows in abilities.
John wrote: "I am not aware of any dedicated radio stations for sports beyond something like ESPN radio. However, TuneIn does allow you to stream local A.M. and F.M radio stations covering all local sports in ..."My question is more hypothetical. As cable-cutters, with effectively no broadcast coverage, hundreds of miles from any 'local' sports coverage, we rarely take an interest in sports (if we did, it would probably be impossible to consider a life without cable or equivalent). It seems to be one of those things that we used to take for granted was 'free' in the pre-internet world, but which cable companies are prepared to pay to keep exclusive to themselves.
Though I think I read somewhere that this year's Super Bowl will be live streamed without need of a cable subscription.
I am impressed by how 'mature' it is for a 0.9 release. E.g. Family Library integration is included for music ('alexa switch music library'), an Echo exclusive I believe (on Fire you can only access the music library of the current user account). We still buy CDs and most of them in the last couple of years have AutoRip, so it is nice to be able to call any of that up (and Prime music is a very nice addition to that).We haven't done any 'training' and it seems to work well without that.
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To save anyone else from having to ask Amazon this question: right now, you cannot link your TuneIn account to your Echo. This is confusing, since you're asked to set up these accounts when you get your Echo! However, it's great to ask Alexa for BBC Radio 3 & other exotic programs & actually get them.
an update has made it possible to pause and resume a Bluetooth connected device with voice command.
I have used Echo to play radio stations through TuneIn radio with no problem. However, I have CNN book marked in my TuneIn radio account. I was unable to get Echo to play the CNN station on my Echo. It would just not recognize it. On a separate note be careful playing youtube video with people reviewing or demonstrating their Echo devices. Echo was listening a little to well and would follow the commands coming from the youtube video clips. ;-)
Mute the echo and use the remote to speak commands. You do not need to use Alexa wake word then, as holding the mic button does that.
It was only after the updates a few weeks ago that I have had no problems having my laptop connected with Echo speaker through bluetooth. I love this. Finally have good sound when playing videos and music through my laptop.This afternoon there was a livestream webcast of the Detroit Symphony concert. I get email from livestream whenever there will be a live concert online and now I can hear it with my Echo speaker.
Looking forward to getting mine but it won't be until July :(
Dave wrote: "Looking forward to getting mine but it won't be until July :("In the meantime, if you're a Prime member, use the time to beef up your free music library -- all the playlists, etc. sound a lot better on the Echo speaker. Just my experience, here . . . .
I have about 11000 tracks I've uploaded
Just wondering: has anyone else caught themselves being polite to Alexa? As in, "Alexa, stop, please?" I realize the word probably doesn't register with the Echo, but it's happened quite a few times at our house.
At first I didn't bother to be polite, because it's not a person. Later I started saying Alexa, Thank You. She has a few different responses, such as "It was nothing," "No problem" or "It was a pleasure." I found it very amusing.
Nick wrote: "Len wrote: "Thanks to Ann K. Schwader for suggesting that I create a topic for "trying to housebreak an Echo." Mine arrived a week ago, and I love it. There is a dedicated help line..."Looks like sports scores are on the way. NBA and NHL so far. Wish they had done NCAA basketball first - March Madness!
