Posted on 12/10/2016 7:23:50 AM PST by petercooper
Hi FReepers, I won an Amazon Echo with a raffle ticket last night at a Christmas party. I have heard about the microphone recording people using it, and am not too keen on that. The question is, can I turn off the mic and just use as a speaker? Also, does it work playing music off an iPhone via Bluetooth?
Thanks in advance!
I would not trust the answers it gives. I recently heard a commercial of this “Echo” thing. A person asked the device, “How much does a blue whale weigh”? The answer from “Echo”: “300,000 pounds.”
Not on this planet, no!
Could be a problem if you have any family members or pets named "Alexa."
I got one shortly after they came out. Love it!! Having actually been snooped on, Alexa doesn’t concern me. I’ve been using it lately to play various people’s Christmas music- Perry Como, Mel Torme, Bing Crosby, Johnny Mathis, et al. I’ve used it for ordering from Amazon and taken advantage of a few of the exclusive Alexa deals which were quite good. I also own 3 Fire Sticks and can use the tv voice remote to tell Alexa to do stuff and play music through my new sound bar. I use Alexa now instead of my iPhone for an alarm clock since I can set it by voice from anywhere in the room. I also have some lights controlled by Alexa and wish I had more items attached like the thermostat and sprinklers. I was thinking this morning of ordering an Echo Dot for one of my adult children and that it was the best thing since sliced bread. Also, learning it’s functionality has been aided by weekly emails, “What’s New With Alexa?”
There was a day I’d turn everything off and unplug the phone so I wouldn’t be eavesdropped on, but after having it done for very real, I couldn’t care less now. I’m not plotting anything, it keeps someone employed, albeit perhaps suicidal because my life is so boring and I’m sure there’s bigger fish to fry.
” Alexa flash briefing” and it fires up a weather report, Bloomberg market minute, Fox News latest headlines, the BBC’s latest hourly news, AP global news, APs political news and the overnight sports scores. Lasts about 20 minutes, and by then I’m done showering and shaving. “
Great - propaganda and “fake news” on demand!
Over 30 years in computers & internet - if it can accept your voice, it can be hacked and used to intrude on your privacy by others......like NSA.
No, I don’t wear a tin-foil hat, but digitally, if it’s connected, it can be hacked and you can be listened to.
Don’t leave my webcam on for same reason.....and they have been hacked - same fundamentals.
do you use your voice search on your phone? i think this echo is the same kind of thing.
don’t be afraid of it, bro.
I would not trust the answers it gives. I recently heard a commercial of this “Echo” thing. A person asked the device, “How much does a blue whale weigh”? The answer from “Echo”: “300,000 pounds.”
Not on this planet, no!
Let’s see. Where to start?
First off the Blue Whale question was asked of Google Home, not an Amazon Echo.
Wrong commercial, wrong product.
The blue whale is the largest mammal on the planet, the largest known of which was over 110 feet long and weighed almost 400,000 pounds.
So what planet were you thinking about?
I have both the Echo and the Amazon Dot which is tiny but it essentially does the same thing. The Dot is a lot less money. I pair it with my Amazon Bluetooth speaker. The Echo sounds pretty good all by itself but you could use a speaker with it.
Open the f’in box and read the instructions, snowflake.
I have owned an Echo since they came out and you’re full of it. The idea of the Echo analyzing the content of your question and then phrasing the answer in a biased way is pure fantasy. Contact MARVEL comics with your ideas.
If you don’t trust the electronics to turn on/off the mic and are handy with a soldering iron, you could open it up and in-line to the mic, wire in a micro-switch. Means you’d have to notch a hole in the case though.
We use Alexa for everything. She reads our Kindle book when our eyes get tired, she plays my favorite music (when I turn off the damned TV). She gives us a great news briefing. She answers so many off the cuff questions. We saw Marsha Blackburn on the TV. Pretty lady. My wife asked, "Alexa, how old is Marsha Blackburn? ...answer "Marsha Blackburn us 64 years old."
Ever wonder what the spelling of a word is when posting a reply to FR? Ask Alexa...she knows.
Asking Alexa for today's weather is probably done 2 or 3 times a day here, or asking what the weather will be next Tuesday. And the forecasts are as accurate as any.
And when the day is done, she turns off the lights, and stops the (great sound) music that puts you to sleep.
Echo was our BEST PURCHASE in 2016. Don't miss out in it because if #FakeNews conspiracy theories and occasional misinformation thanks to Wikipedia.
(...and Merry Christmas)
I know...but they’re all grown and gone. I need a maid NOW more than ever! :)
Try it and see. And I wasn’t by myself when I did it.
I bought my wife one for Christmas.
I had quite a time getting it to work. I have no cell phone coverage out here in the sticks and just Windows 7 computers. The Alexa app requires either cellphone coverage or Windows 10.
I had to improvise—for a while there I thought I had a brick on my hands. ;-)
(The Amazon help desk was clueless, of course.)
Anyway I did get it to work by using two computers—adding a guest channel to my router configured as Amazon requires (since their proposed settings disabled the computer Internet link!), then connecting one (Internet disabled) computer to the router with an Ethernet cord and turning the other computer into the Wifi receiver.
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