Amazon Echo Introduction and Review

You also have an ability to purchase digital music via Echo!

A new feature of the Amazon Echo is home automation, it has the ability to control Belkin WeMo Switches and Philips Hue Light Bulbs by voice command. The intelligence and abilities of Amazon Echo are automatically update as the majority of its intelligence is based in the Amazon computing cloud.

How do I get one?Currently you can only purchase Amazon Echo by invitation only. In December 2014, a promotion for the Echo was posted to the Amazon Web site. After watching the introduction video I knew I had to have one being the geek that I am. I immediately signed up for the invitation. It wasn't until January 2015 did I get an invitation inviting me to purchase an Amazon Echo. Once ordered it arrived on April 24, 2015!

Note, you get a special discount on Amazon Echo if you are a member of Amazon Prime.

Initial Setup is a Snap!The initial setup of the Amazon Echo is very easy. A home wireless network is required and you should gather the SSID and Wireless Network Key before starting. This information is typically on a sticker affixed to the router provided by your Internet Service Provider. Here are the setup steps in a nutshell:

Unbox Amazon Echo, use the AC adapter to power if from a wall socket.

Install the batteries in the provided Echo remote.

Follow the instructions in the Echo application, this includes first connecting to Echo directly via wireless on your Fire, Android, or IOS device and then, using the Echo app, connecting it to your home wireless network.

Talk to your Echo! It awakens when you use the “Wake Work” Alexus, you can also change the “Wake Word” to Amazon if desired.

What about Home Automation?You can control Belkin WeMo switches and Philips Hue Light Bulbs with the latest iteration of Amazon Echo. Connect Pandora Outlet your Wemo or Philips devices to your wireless network and give them unique names with regard to their location. Then add them to the Amazon Echo by saying “Alexa, discover my appliances.” Newly discovered devices will be shown with the name in the Amazon Echo app under Settings Connected Home. You can also create appliance groups which can be activated via voice control.

What about the remote?A remote, similar to what you get with Amazon Fire TV is also included. You “pair” the remote with Echo during the initial install.

Once paired, the remote is used to communicate with Echo when you are too far away for Echo to hear you. You don't have to use the wake word to communicate with Echo using the remote, all you have to do is click on the microphone button and speak.

The remote also has other controls that allow you to turn the volume up and down. Move to the next and previous song selection. In addition, you have pause and playback controls.

Note: You can also raise or lower the speaker volume on Echo using the Volume ring located at the top of the unit.

Is Echo Spying on me?Echo only listens to what you say immediately after you use the “Wake Word” of Alexus or Amazon. Otherwise, it lays dormant. Echo does, however, use voice recordings in order to improve response and accuracy to your Pandora Outlet Store queries. The Echo application allows you to delete individual voice requests from History. There is also a Mute button at the top of Echo to disable the Microphone. Pandora Outlet Online You can simply unplug Echo from an AC source if you are holding a secretive United Nations Summit in your home living area.

Drum Roll Please, my review!The Amazon Echo is easy to setup and get running with only a page of instructions to read.

While playing music if offers sound Pandora Outlet response that I rate up there with a BOSE Wave Music System stereo.

Its microphone sensitivity is exceptional and can hear the wake word and command easily over the ambient music it is playing, even at higher volumes.

I am very please with the crisp response in which my Echo responds to the my commands and only surmise that it can do so with the power of Amazon “cloud computing”.

It is also very easy to use the device you installed the Echo application on to stream such services as Pandora through the Echo.

My Amazon Echo resides on the nightstand beside my bed. I use it as an alarm clock, to play background music while I write code, and to listen to NPR Radio in the morning. I am very excited about the home automation ability of Echo but have not had a chance to test yet. I envision that all lighting an appliances will be controlled in my bedroom via Echo in the near future.

One of the things I appreciate the most is how Amazon Echo automatically updates though the cloud with new updates and features and it does not require messy downloads and installs. This is a great selling point to me as part of my Information Technology day job focuses around updating installed systems.
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