Hi Guys! I'll be taking a break from my engineering Macademics posts to talk about a new gadget that I purchased; Amazon Echo Dot!
I know Amazon's echo products have been out for awhile, however, when it was Amazon Prime Day, I seized the opportunity to get one and see what the excitement that the various advertisements make it seem.
When first opening it, you do have to do some slight configurations before it's ready for you to use. I downloaded the Amazon Alexa App which allowed me to connect the Echo Dot to wifi. I also took the time to go through the voice exercises to get Alexa familiar with my voice.
With the Echo Dot, I also bought a smart plug. Pairing these two items together allows me to turn my bedroom lights on and off by saying "Alexa, turn on/off my light." This was a little tricky because the plug requires a separate app that also connects the device to the wifi. It took a few tries before I was able to successfully execute the command "Alexa, turn on my light!"
Right away, Alexa can make lists, set alarms, sing you a song, and give you a news report (I'm sure these aren't the only things but these are the first things that I was able to do without having to do any additional configurations). The best part about Alexa is that you can teach her new skills to help her adapt to what you like. Because Alexa has been around for awhile now, there's tons of skills that you can add to your own device or you can use the APIs to create your own! Your Echo device can also connect to any bluetooth speakers and can reference your Spotify or Amazon Music playlists.
Now that my life is calming down a bit, I'll definitely be using my free time to code or acquire new skills for my Alexa. Although my day job does consist of coding, that doesn't mean I can't code for fun on the side!
Do you guys have any tech products you want me to talk about? If so, let me know!
Previous Macademics Posts:
Comments