Amazon Alexa

Some 5 years ago, on November 6th 2014, Alexa saw the light of day. She moved into our homes, became part of millions of families, and changed profoundly how we interact with technology at home: simply by voice.

Alexa greeting a Horse with "Hay There" — “Hay there!” – Alexa, always ready for a pun!

We talk to Alexa through our Amazon Echos, Echo Shows, FireTVs and many other Amazon and third-party devices, and she controls our music and smart home devices, and much more …

Get ready for posts, which will help you to:

Get the most out of your Amazon Alexa Music and Smart Home Setup
Understand the differences compared to Google and Siri
Have a lot of fun with Alexa!

Alexa, sing a song! A Musical World Trip with 118 Alexa Songs

27. March 2020

There is this little known, wonderful Alexa feature: she can sing. You might have enjoyed some of her songs already, as we are continuously updating Alexa's US English song list in our Alexa music post. But, Alexa does not only continuously learn new songs, she can sing...

Alexa, Wash my Hands! The fun way of Hand-washing

24. March 2020

There are many ways to wash your hands! While we won't tell you why, when and how to wash your hands (folks at the CDC can explain that much better, you'll find more links below), we will look into some ways to turn hand-washing into a fun...

Alexa Routines: Immersive Storytelling with Ambient Scenes and Sounds

6. February 2020

There are many ways to turn Alexa into a storyteller. We’ll look into some of them, but this post is actually about quality time with your kids, your partner, or yourself. We will create an Alexa Routine, where Alexa magically, on cue, sets the perfect ambience to...

Alexa Routines: How to Automate your Life with your Amazon Echo

24. January 2020

If there is one area, where Alexa continuously and rapidly learns new tricks, it's Alexa Routines. Years ago we found only a handful of actions in our Alexa app and could initially not even automate our music. Nowadays, we can already find 17 different actions in the...

CES 2020: Alexa, Google, no Siri and quite some Smart Home Announcements

11. January 2020

The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is finally over. As one of our 2020 resolutions is to write up all the announcements which are relevant for our posts, here is your timely update. We will update our posts, once features and products are rolled...

University of Waterloo: This is how Google, Alexa and Siri look like!

6. January 2020

There are stories you cannot make up. Thanks a lot to voicebot.ai's Bret Kinsella, who found this story in the University of Waterloo News, titled: People too trusting of virtual assistants. Here's how research works at the University of Waterloo: You take 10 men...

Illustration of Alexa juggling with all her devices

“Alexa, what are my deals?” – Early Voice Access to Black Friday Deals!

23. November 2019

Did you know, that your Alexa has an early access to Black Friday deals? All you need is your voice to save some money on Amazon Echo devices, today. Alexa's early access currently includes the Echo Dot (3rd Gen) in every color, Echo Flex, Echo Input, Ring...

Alexa Alarms, the Smarter Alarm Clock!

8. November 2019

But, did you know, that an Alexa alarm has a built-in alarm fallback, which can replace our music and radio alarms with regular Alexa alarms? And those regular alarms work even when there's no connection to our WiFi or the internet? And did you know that we can activate our still amazing Alexa morning routines simply by dismissing these reliable regular alarms?

Illustration of Alexa and Philips Hue - Setup and Voice Commands

Alexa and Philips Hue: Setup, Voice Commands and New Tips and Tricks!

7. November 2019

In this post, we will teach Alexa to talk to your Philips Hue lights. You will find all the voice commands to control your lights just by voice! And we've also added the Philips Hue Zones (beta) feature, which works now nicely with Alexa and added some brand new Alexa light tips and tricks.

Happy 5th Birthday Alexa! Concert with Marshmello

Alexa, Happy 5th Birthday! Five Years of Devices, Features and Languages

6. November 2019

Only 5 years ago, on November 6th 2014, Alexa saw the light of day. She moved into our homes, became part of millions of families, and changed profoundly how we interact with technology at home: simply by voice. Let's celebrate Alexa's birthday and look into exciting five years of our young voice assistant.

Alexa and Siri standing next to the Netatmo Weather Station

Netatmo Weather Station, Rain and Wind Gauge, and Alexa and Siri

28. October 2019

Now, that Siri has joined Alexa to support the Netatmo Weather Station, it's time for a big update! As this post is a long-term review, we'll have a look, how the Netatmo Weather Station, an Additional Indoor module, the Rain Gauge, and the Wind Gauge performed over many years. And, how Alexa and now Siri came into the picture.

Alexa in front of signed Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd Guitars

Alexa, Play Some Music: All The Music Commands

21. September 2019

In this post we will look into all the Alexa music commands, to enjoy all the music services supported by the Amazon Echo. We will cover basic volume and playback commands, as well as tips and tricks on how to play and manage your favorite music. You'll...

The Mutual Voice Assistants Self Help Group Sticker peeling off

Every Human Lies – Eavesdropping on Siri, Alexa and Google

15. August 2019

They are soon eight and five, while our youngest became three in May. Still, our voice assistants Siri, Alexa and Google delight us continuously with new features. One of the recent 'features' came to some of us as a surprise: humans are listening into (some of) our...

Alexa and Google comparing their Logitech Harmony

Logitech Harmony: Who will win, Alexa or Google?

6. June 2019

Let's find out, whether Alexa or Google supports our Logitech Harmony better. We will compare configuration, voice commands, smart displays, and assistant specific smart home features. Now, that we have thoroughly examined the setup of Logitech Harmony: a Hub and it's Elite, Ultimate, Companion, and...

Illustration of Philips Hue Reflections with Siri, Alexa and Google

Philips Hue: Who will win, Siri, Alexa or Google?

24. May 2019

Let’s examine the strengths and weaknesses of Siri, Alexa, and Google by comparing their configuration options, voice commands, and smart home features for our Philips Hue lights. The world leader in lighting and the smart assistants of the biggest tech companies, can it get...

Illustration of Create your own Easter Eggs with Siri Alexa and Google

How to create your own Easter Eggs with Siri, Alexa and Google

20. April 2019

Last year we successfully ducked compiling the endless list of Easter eggs, which are hidden inside Siri, Alexa, and Google. Rather than spoiling the Easter egg fun - which basically every other website sadly does - we tried to keep it fun and just helped a bit with...

Illustration of Nanoleaf Aurora Comparison - Who will win, Siri Alexa or Google?

Nanoleaf Aurora: Who will win, Siri, Alexa or Google?

4. April 2019

Have you ever wondered, which of our super assistants supports our Nanoleaf Aurora best? Let's examine the strengths and weaknesses of Siri, Alexa, and Google by comparing their configuration options, voice commands, as well as their smart home features for our Nanoleaf Aurora. We've already...

Illustration of Alexa Pepper Potts and Nano Iron Muks

Alexa and Nanoleaf Aurora: Setup and Voice Commands

22. February 2019

In this post, we will set up Alexa to talk to your Nanoleaf Aurora. We will cover a quick basic setup, as well additional Alexa features to get the most out of your setup. If you have not already set up and configured your Aurora with the...

Easter Egg Hunt with Siri, Alexa and Google

Easter Assistant Showdown: Who has the Best Easter Egg Hunt? Siri, Alexa or Google?

31. March 2018

It's this time of the year, which lets us think of Easter egg hunts. Not only the real Easter eggs but also the virtual ones, well hidden in our smart assistants: Siri, Alexa, and Google. An Easter egg in computer software is an intentional inside joke or hidden feature,...

Musical Assistant Showdown: Who will win, Siri, Google or Alexa?

24. March 2018

We are at the crossroads. We use our smart assistants mostly for listening to music, but how musical are our assistants actually? How to decide, whether Alexa, Siri or Google fits better to our musical preferences? And if we have decided already, how can we get the most out...

How to teach your Logitech Harmony: Alexa, Hey Google turn on Roomba!

24. February 2018

It must have been a strange moment for Mr. Colin M. Angle, CEO of iRobot, when he presumably announced summer 2017 his plans to sell the mapping data share maps for free with customer consent of his newest robotic vacuum cleaner (Roomba) models to one of the big three (Amazon,...

Logitech Harmony and Alexa: Setup, Voice Commands and a Candlelight Dinner

13. February 2018

This Valentine's post is a story of appreciation, harmony and ultimately ... love. In this post we are going to connect Alexa with our Logitech Harmony Hub, only to find one of the loveliest integrations of voice control. Promise. On top we will create a...

Amazon Alexa’s Biography

15. October 2017

Let's start this post with an interview ... Me: Alexa, how are you?Alexa: I'm excellent. I've got dinosaurs on my mind. If I was around back when they roamed the Earth, I wonder what they would have asked me. Maybe, "Alexa, what's that massive fireball streaking across the sky?" Me: Alexa, how...