Virtual assistants include Amazon Alexa and Google Home: devices which you can speak to, and they will understand what you say and respond (or carry out the requested action).
Saying things like “Alexa, what’s the weather like tomorrow?” or “Okay Google, tell me a joke” will make your smart home device reply in less than a second – something almost unimaginable a decade ago.
I’m one of those people who like to organize everything via their calendar. I need to ring a company up? Put it in the calendar (otherwise I’ll totally forget!). My wife asks me to hang something on a wall? I put it in the calendar… but probably still forget to do it! But either way, … Read more
I’m one of those annoying people who likes to track everything in their life on a calendar! Whilst I’ve used the calendar features on my other Echo devices, I love the calendar on the Echo Show – mainly because you can visually manage your calendar due to the Echo Show’s touchscreen. The Echo Show’s calendar … Read more
The speaker quality on Amazon’s Echo range has improved with each generation released, with the speaker of the third generation Echo Dot being 60% bigger than its ‘younger brother’ (the Echo Dot 2nd Gen). For example, the 1″ speaker on the 2nd Gen Echo Dot was only designed for being an assistant and an alarm … Read more
I was recently filming for another YouTube video, and I realized that I kept saying “Google Home” but I hadn’t discussed how “Google Home” can actually mean four different things. Hence I wanted to shoot this video and discuss the four things it means, why Google have made this so confusing, and why the situation … Read more
The Google Home range – which includes various Nest smart speakers and hubs including the ‘Mini’ devices – is a line of products known as ‘smart voice assistants’, and they rival Amazon’s Echo line-up. One of the features from Amazon Echo is the ability to ‘drop in’ on an Echo from anywhere in the world … Read more
“Digital wellbeing” is an idea that appeared a few years ago, and it aims to address addiction to digital technology – such as social media and computer games – by limiting how much time can be spent on them. Smartphones increasingly offer this feature too, and it was recently rolled out to the Google Home … Read more
The “Communicate” tab on the Alexa app shows various options, including ‘Call’ and ‘Message’. This allows you to contact your Echo devices, but also people in your contact list. So are these calls and messages free, or do they cost money? The communication options within Alexa and Echo (including calls and messaging) are completely free, … Read more
Google’s range of smart speakers – the Google Home range – are great: they provide a large number of benefits and features for free, and you can also play loads of music through Spotify, YouTube music and more. But I seem to remember that Google sells an item that improves WiFi coverage throughout the house … Read more
Google’s range of smart speakers – the Google Home range – are a rival to Amazon’s Echo range. Google Home devices (including the Google Mini and Nest Mini) give weather updates, play music, supports timers and gives reminders, and a whole lot more. But does this cost money? Also the devices can be controlled by … Read more
During the setup process for a new Amazon Echo smart speaker, you’ll have to link it to your Amazon account via the Alexa app. However sometimes this fails for unclear reasons, and you need to speak to Amazon customer services. In rare cases, the failure will be caused by someone else having already registered your … Read more