Echo Tips

In this episode we take a look at Amazon's most recent September event, announcements, and hardware releases. We in particular scrutinize the AI features that are suppose to make Alexa smarter. Lastly, we tell you how to join the "Preview Program", so you can be on the bleeding edge.

In this episode we take a look at a seemingly new feature that allows you to get your reminders broadcast across all your Echos or a select number of them. We also revisit the options for repeating reminders, follow-up mode, and a few other options.

We delve into Timer settings that allow you to get those vital alerts on all your Echos and/or your telephone. Never burn that pizza again!

We delve back into our treasure chest of past episodes and pull out a oldie but a goodie, about Guard Mode. That's right the ability to use your Amazon Echo like a guard dog for your home, to alert you when something might not be right at home.

In this episode we take a deep dive into Amazon Music's Explicit Content Filters, Parental Controls, and utter lack of features compared to some 3rd party services. Did you know you can't block a song, album, or artist! Its true. Even if it was for benign reasons, for example two artist with the the same name, an you simply don't want to hear one but only the other. Or worse yet the Parental Controls don't give you any clear blacklist or white-listing options. No worries Spotify comes to the rescue or does it? Submit Feature Requests for Amazon Music https://bit.ly/AmazonMusicFail

In this episode we demonstrate how you can give feedback to your favorite music stations on iHeartRadio and discuss the price hike on Amazon Unlimited Music.

This concludes season 5 of the Echo Tips Podcast. We cover a variety of past demos, just in case you missed them. Also have a listen to our possible new theme music and vote on what you like best.

In this episode we revisit Blueprints. Blueprints allow you to create custom skills for yourself, your family, and/or your business! Formerly covered in episode 154.

What does Amazon's AI, Google BARD AI, and OpenAI's ChatGPT, mean for the A-Lady. After some recent announcements from Google and Amazon about AI an their Virtual Assistants we explore what the future might hold. Show Notes: BARD coming to the Google Assistant: https://www.axios.com/2023/07/31/google-assistant-artificial-intelligence-news AI Plus Alexa https://www.axios.com/2023/07/26/amazon-alexa-ai-home META's AI Personas https://www.cnet.com/news/social-media/meta-will-let-you-use-ai-chatbots-with-personalities-report-says/

In this episode we take a look at how you can set alarms and timers on other Echos, no matter where they are located. We also revisit the Announcements feature and some new ways it operates.

In this episode we discuss two networks devoted to the vision impaired; namely AMI-Audio and Vision Australia. We also take a look at a set of reoccuring bugs with podcast playback and Audible audiobooks. Lastly, we visit some of the concerning news surrounding Belkin's WEMO and their smart devices. Link to Stacey's IOT Podcast dealing with WEMO https://staceyoniot.com/podcast-why-we-think-wemo-is-a-no-go-for-us/

There's some amazing Prime Day Deals, ending on July 12th. We discuss a few and then review the power of Alarms, Timers, and Reminders.

In this episode we revisit the brand new Hey Disney Skill. We take a look at the Disney Stories feature and trivia game.

In this episode you'll learn about the Hey Disney feature called Soundscapes. These can transfer you to a universe of your choosing whether its Disney, Marvel, or Star Wars!

In this episode we introduce you to the all-new Hey Disney! skill. There's a lot going on with this skill, so this is part one of several episodes about the Hey Disney Skill. Below find a list of some of the commands we used and some we'll use in the future. # Hey Disney Feature on Alexa Alexa, introduce me to Hey Disney Hey Disney! Start the magic Hey Disney, what can you do? Hey Disney! let’s go on an adventure! Hey Disney! play a soundscape Hey Disney, let's play Trivia Hey Disney, tell me a story

In this episode we demo the Nature Sounds, Sleep Jar, and Ambient Visions Skills. We also highlight the recent Amazon outages that may have affected Alexa's performance over the past few days.

Ever wanted to remind yourself of something as soon as you got home? What about work? Now you can using location-based reminders. In this episode, we’ll show you how to set up location-based reminders on your Amazon Echo device. Tune in now! From our Archives, previously episode 44.

Tune in to the latest episode of Echo Tips where we discuss Amazon’s recent decision to discontinue its celebrity voices for its virtual assistant. We’ll cover the launch of the feature in 2019 with Samuel L. Jackson’s voice and the addition of Shaq and Melissa McCarthy. We’ll also talk about what this means for users who paid for these voices and what we think the future holds for custom voices on the Amazon Echo. And how AI is going to make our Alexa devices smarter than ever. Referenced in this Podcast: The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/30/23742109/amazon-alexa-celebrity-voices-discontinued VoiceMod's Voice.ai https://www.voicemod.net/ai-voices/

Get ready for the latest episode of the Echo Tips Podcast! This week, we’re diving into the exciting new features of the Echo Pop and the newly revised Echo Show 5. Tune in to learn all about these amazing devices and how they can enhance your smart home experience. Don’t miss it!

Are you tired of missing your favorite TV shows? Tune in to the latest episode of the Echo Tips Podcast to learn how your Echo can help you stay on top of TV schedules and never miss a show again!