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.
We talk to Alexa through our Amazon Echos, Echo Shows, FireTVs and many other Amazon and third-party devices, and she controls our music, 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!
Work from Home with Siri, Alexa and Google: The Silent Listeners
Was it your partner, whispering "I love you" into your - what turns out - active meeting headset? Or your three year old, opening the door to your bedroom/office only to tell you that she pooped in her underwear? Maybe it was your cat, scrolling through your...
Alexa, sing a song! A Musical World Trip with 118 Alexa Songs
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
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
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
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
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!
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...
“Alexa, what are my deals?” – Early Voice Access to Black Friday Deals!
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!
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?
Alexa and Philips Hue: Setup, Voice Commands and New Tips and Tricks!
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.
Alexa, Happy 5th Birthday! Five Years of Devices, Features and Languages
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.
Netatmo Weather Station, Rain and Wind Gauge, and Alexa and Siri
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, Play Some Music: All The Music Commands
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...
Every Human Lies – Eavesdropping on Siri, Alexa and Google
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...
Logitech Harmony: Who will win, Alexa or Google?
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...
Philips Hue: Who will win, Siri, Alexa or Google?
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...
How to create your own Easter Eggs with Siri, Alexa and Google
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...
Nanoleaf Aurora: Who will win, Siri, Alexa or Google?
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...
Alexa and Nanoleaf Aurora: Setup and Voice Commands
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 Assistant Showdown: Who has the Best Easter Egg Hunt? Siri, Alexa or Google?
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?
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...
How to teach your Logitech Harmony: Alexa, Hey Google turn on Roomba!
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
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
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...
