Yeah, there's definitely still a learning curve to using an Echo. That said, at least this appears to be sandboxed into their own system rather than Amazon at large, so it's not like you're going to try to turn the lights on and next thing you know a box of 80 light bulbs shows up at your house.
I could see it almost revolutionizing the wake-up call/alarm clock part of the equation though.
I have only recently started using Echo's timers and such and once in the habit of turning to her and not the phone or the stove or whatever, it's a super convenience. Hopefully the hotel has a guide as to what does what - with that, I think Echo would be a lot more functional than people figuring out what switches do what, etc.
Got an Echo from my dad for Christmas, but decided to return it for the Google Home. Just started playing around with it. It is still a bit limited, but they seem to keep adding features. I'm already much more impressed with it than I was with the Echo my mom had at her house. Much more intuitive to interact with. As with Echo, I wish they would give it a customizable time after it answers to continue listening for another question, so you don't have to get its attention every time.
tsg (and others), Stringify has an Android app in beta now: https://www.stringify.com/2017/01/03/ces2017/
Whoomah!
Shit! More to learn!
Many non-Amazon devices announced at CES with Alexa built in, from household items to cars. Google Assistant also is being included in Android TVs and IIRC Hyundais.
it'll be interesting to see how this plays out - at this point, we can't tell whether Amazon is resisting the overbroad order simply on the grounds that it's overbroad, or whether it's resisting because they're keeping things people think they don't. Should be exciting!Originally Posted by KillerB
It'd be so easy to tell if the Echo was sending data at weird times that I can't imagine that Amazon has it sending anything other than when you expect it to.
Really? This is a company whose business model hinges on learning your preferences and suggesting products based on those preferences. I would be shocked if they don't have algorithms trying to learn about you from what the device overhears in your house and sends back to the cloud.
Let's put it this way - if it truly did only store a tiny amount of data in its buffer waiting for you to say "Hey Alexa" or whatever, they'd come right out and say they don't have anything stored and hence can't fulfill the request.
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