Amazon Alexa

“Alexa, play some guitar!”

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 Echos and your Smart Home
  • Have a lot of fun with Alexa!

Alexa, sing a song! A Musical World Trip with 222 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. But, Alexa does not only learn new songs, she can sing them in many languages and dialects! In this...
Read more

Healthy Humidity with Venta Airwashers and Alexa, Siri and Google

We are mostly made up of water. The air we exhale is completely saturated with water. But, do you know the humidity of the 2,641 gallons (10,000 liters) of indoor air that you inhale, per day? It starts with a dry nose and throat. We notice scaly skin, itchy eyes or...
Read more

“Alexa, what are my deals?” – Voice Shopping with Alexa

Did you know, that Alexa has access to Alexa-exclusive deals? All you need is your voice to save some money with Alexa Voice Shopping. Amazon Echo Deals Please note, some Echo devices are still available with their Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounts (as of January 12, 4:55 am PST,...
Read more

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 23(!) different actions in the Alexa app. A BIG...
Read more

Alexa, Happy Golden Birthday!

Six 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 at six exciting years of our young voice...
Read more

Your Daily Alexa Deals at Amazon.com

Have you just missed the 60% savings on your favorite Amazon Echo device? No worries! To make sure that you will never miss a deal again - at least while visiting smartenlight - we've created this post for you. Prices are automatically updated four times a day, just scroll through and...
Read more

Your Daily Alexa Deals at Amazon.co.uk

Have you just missed the 60% savings on your favourite Amazon Echo device? No worries! To make sure that you will never miss a deal again – at least while visiting smartenlight – we’ve created this post for you. Prices are automatically updated twice a day, just scroll through and...
Read more

Breathe! Dyson Pure Cool with Siri, Alexa and Google

We spend about 90% of our time indoors. The last couple of months maybe even more and primarily at home. And while we’re at home, we breathe around 10,000 liters (2,641 gallons) of air, per day. Breathing is the only function we can perform consciously as well as unconsciously....
Read more

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 our Amazon Echos. We will cover basic volume and playback commands, as well as tips and tricks on how to manage and listen to your favorite music. You'll find...
Read more

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 screen to...
Read more

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 experience with...
Read more

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 put us...
Read more

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 out, which...
Read more

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 and 10 women and let them...
Read more

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?
Read more

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.
Read more

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.
Read more

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 voice recordings...
Read more

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 we looked into the setup of...
Read more

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 more "smart home" exciting than this? Have...
Read more

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 your Easter...
Read more

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 looked into the setup Nanoleaf Aurora How...
Read more

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 Nanoleaf app,...
Read more

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,...
Read more

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 most out...
Read more

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, Apple, Google)....
Read more

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 "candlelight dinner" routine for Alexa, to...
Read more

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...
Read more

Say Hello

Top 3 Alexa Posts

Alexa, Play Some Music: All The Music Commands

Amazon Alexa
In this post we will look into all the Alexa music commands, to enjoy all the music services supported by our Amazon Echos. We...

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

Amazon Alexa
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 Alarms, the Smarter Alarm Clock!

Amazon Alexa
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?

Categories

AI-NewsAmazon AlexaApple SiriDevicesGoogle AssistantIdeas

© 2017-2021 - smartenlight - All Rights Reserved