What are some hidden Alexa features you can do with Amazon Echo devices?

Despite being widely popular, Amazon Echo devices and Alexa have several hidden features that many users may not be aware of. Here are some of the most interesting and lesser-known features of Alexa:

  1. Voice training: Alexa can learn your voice and recognize it better over time, which can improve accuracy and responsiveness. To access this feature, go to the Alexa app and select Settings > Device Settings > [Your Echo Device] > Voice Training.
  2. Drop-in: With this feature, you can easily connect with other Echo devices in your home, or even those of friends and family. Simply say “Alexa, drop in on [device name]” to start a conversation.
  3. Alexa Guard: You can set up Alexa Guard to listen for specific sounds, such as smoke alarms or broken glass, and send you a notification if it detects anything unusual. This feature can be used to help keep your home safer.
  4. Alexa routines: You can create custom routines that trigger multiple actions with a single voice command. For example, you could say “Alexa, goodnight” to turn off the lights, lock the doors, and play soft music to help you fall asleep.
  5. Announcements: You can use Alexa to make announcements across all of your Echo devices, such as telling everyone in the house that dinner is ready. Simply say “Alexa, announce [message].”
  6. Follow-up mode: Alexa will continue to listen for five seconds after responding to a request, allowing you to ask additional questions or give follow-up commands without having to repeat the wake word.
  7. Alexa Blueprints: This feature allows you to create custom Alexa skills and responses, so you can personalize your Echo device to fit your specific needs and preferences.

These are just a few examples of the hidden features of Amazon Echo devices and Alexa. By exploring the capabilities of your device and experimenting with different commands, you may discover even more useful and interesting features.

Amazon announces its over the air DVR – Fire TV Recast

(Disclosure, I will receive a small referral fee when you make a purchase through this link on this post.)

Amazon announced a new member to its fire tv line up, the fire tv recast. Fire TV Recast fills a void where many companies struggle to capture which is enabling streaming and recording for over the air broadcast.

A lot of cord cutters, people cancelling their subscription to cable or satellite will find this extremely useful. Many streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, Playstation Vue and even Amazon’s own Prime video lack the capability or service to stream live local channels. This product will enable this.

The idea is this. The fire tv recast will plug to an antenna which will receive over the air HD signals from your location. That feed will go into your fire tv recast which can be streamed through to your fire tv devices (stick, tv, cube and show). Here is the kicker, it can even stream to your fire tv app! This will mean you can watch local and national channels (ABC, CBS, NBC, CW, Fox and presumably other local over the air channels) anywhere you have an internet connection. It also has DVR capabilities so you can save and replay TV shows. As this is an Alexa enabled device, you can use voice control to issue commands to open the channel guide or to record a particular show. Did I hear Sunday Football NFL?

The only immediate negative feedback is the price. Compared with other fire tv devices, the starting price of $229 is a bit steep. At $229, you get 2 tuners with 500GB of storage which comes out to around 75 hours of recording. The more expensive option of $279, gives you 1 TB of memory which is around 150 hours of recording.

I wouldn’t be jumping on this at this price point but would be interested in the prices at Black Friday.

Fire TV Cube 3 months review

I was excited when the Fire TV Cube was released as it combined the functions of two of my favorite Amazon products, the Echo and Fire TV. I’ve always envied some TVs that had voice control. In my mind, I thought I could turn the TV off / on, change channels, record, navigate through DVR and change the volume. Wishful thinking. To do that you would need a device that would be able to understand commands cross platforms with the TV, cable box and your streaming device. I didn’t do much research and the price probably didn’t justify the premium upcharge for TVs that had sub-par voice command.

So when the Fire TV Cube was announced, it piqued my interest.

It’s been 3 months since I had my Fire TV Cube and I thought I would put together an extended review of my experience.

[Fire TV Cube Overview]

My family’s TV consumption is probably just avg when compared with the American household. The kids are allows to watch some TV when they return from school to decompress but it will be off through HW, dinner until they shower. It comes back on after dinner for about an hour for some prime time shows that we enjoy together as a family.

[Fire TV Cube Physical Placement]

The Fire TV Cube is roughly the size of a large Rubix Cube.  When summoned, it flashes a blue to green spectrum LED lights on the front top corner of the cube.

Initially, we placed it behind the TV on the right where it protrudes enough for us to see the LED. After a while, we put it in front of the TV where it blocks the TV frame but not the screen. The problem we had was that our entertainment console is very short. We use Ikea’s lack bookshelf which we bought as a floor model and never bothered to upgrade. I’m sure the placement of the Fire TV Cube at your household is much more pleasant. Direct sight of your Fire TV Cube from your viewing angle is a must.

[Fire TV Cube Usage]

When the Fire TV Cube was announced, I didn’t do a deep research as it caught me a bit off guard. I ordered it and it arrived 2 days later so I came to the table with limited knowledge and expectations.

Setup was easy (I have a blog post pending) to discuss this. If you have ATT or a subscription provider that has a more modernized cable or satellite unit, you will be able to change channels using Fire TV Cube. Since we have an Amazon Echo on our buffet in the dining room which is connected to our living room, we changed the wake word of our Fire TV Cube to “Echo”.

The most frequent commands we find ourselves using is the following:

=====================

Echo, turn TV on / off

Echo, volume up / down

Echo, switch to Cable Box

Echo, tune to channel number <xxx>

Echo, tune to <station e.g. ESPN 1>

Echo, play <song>

Echo, what’s the weather

Echo, show my ring

=====================

In order to get the channels to change, we had to customize the settings a bit. There are numerous settings under Fire TV Cube that had to be tweaked in order to get things right. By default, the settings call for the cable / satellite box to be turned on whenever you change the channel.

This doesn’t make sense.

You can change this setting by going to the Fire TV Cube settings using the remote that it came with. You cannot change this setting in your Alexa app.

Sometimes summoning your Fire TV Cube can be frustrating. There are commands which seem to work better than others.

It’s a great start to further make your TV smart. I love being able to walk by my TV and having Fire TV Cube turn it off instead of having to search for the TV remote. My kids love to have it play their favorite cartoons that are on Amazon Prime. There is room for improvement and knowing that it can be further updated remotely is awesome.

One glitch it does have and I can’t seem to figure out is that it is stuck on metric system. i tried to change the temperature of my thermostat but it is set to metric. I checked the settings on Fire TV Cube and metric system is turned off. I have yet to spend the time to fix this.

Worth to buy the all new 2017 Amazon Fire TV

Amazon recently announced the all new Amazon fire TV in 2017 and as of now it is available for purchase for $69.99. In the earlier days, the question to consumers were if these devices warrant a place in our homes. It started with Google’s Chromecast then Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. You can also look at devices such as the different iterations of Roku, Apple TV, and more.

At my household, we have all generations of Fire TV Stick and Google Chromecast. We never quite got into the more expensive Fire TV as it was pricier. Let’s take a look at the 2017 Fire TV (pendant) edition and see how it differs from the previous generation Fire TV.

4K Ultra HD and HDR (high dynamic range) support

The biggest difference between the original Fire TV and 2017 Fire TV is 4K Ultra HD at 60fps and HDR support. The previous iteration of Fire TV only supported 4K at 30fps but the smaller Fire TV has the capability to stream at 60fps and support HDR-10. So if you bought a TV that supports HDR, then you can enjoy full HDR content. Below are the best bang for the buck HDR TV’s in the market as this article is being written.

One thing that is often overlooked is that Amazon Prime has a number of 4K content in their library. Back when 1080p HD became mainstream, I recall buying a TV that supported 1080P HDTV. However, not a lot of subscription TV had full 1080P but was limited to 1080i. The only way for me to get 1080P was through Blu-Ray DVD or PS3 games. It is different with 4K. You can find numerous content through Netflix, Amazon Prime, and even Youtube for 4K content. HDR is a bit more limited but available through the same streaming services.

Below is the list of TV shows and movies that is available in HDR according to Amazon:

TV (full seasons): Bosch Seasons 1 and 2 (second season also available in Dolby Vision, Mad Dogs Season 1, Man in the High Castle Season 1, Mozart in the Jungle Seasons 1 and 2, Red Oaks Season 1, Transparent Seasons 1 and 2
TV (pilot episodes): Good Girls Revolt, Highston, One Mississippi, Patriot, The Interestings, The Last Tycoon, Z: The Beginning of Everything
Movie: CHI-RAQ
Documentary: Coral Reef Adventure, Dolphins, The Living Sea, Van Gogh: A Brush with Genius

Size:

If you have a sleek TV console or you mount your TV on the wall, you will appreciate the small form factor of the 2017 Fire TV. You no longer need to find real estate to place your Fire TV but can hang it on your HDMI port similar to the Fire TV Stick.

Performance and other upgrades:

Below are other upgrades. Processor and graphics processor has been upgraded as well as the bluetooth.

What is missing?

Sadly, the new Fire TV removed the ethernet port and the microSD slot. In order to connect it to wired Internet, you will need to purchase a separate ethernet adapter. The missing microSD slot is a bummer for those who want to increase the storage capacity for offline viewing.

OS6

The new Fire TV offers an updated version of Amazon’s GUI. There are quite a number of 1 – 2 star reviews complaining about this interface as it contains ads and not as smooth. The good thing is that Amazon can improve on the OS with updates.

Conclusion

If you have 2015 Fire TV, our recomendation is to hold off. There are just too many kinks that doesn’t quite convince us to recommend it. If you have a Fire TV Stick and want to move to 4K, then it is worth the upgrade.

Below is a full comparison chart of technical specs.

Amazon Fire TV 2015 2017
Size 4.5″ x 4.5″ x 0.7″ (115 mm x 115 mm x 17.8 mm) 2.6” x 2.6” x 0.6” (65.0 mm x 65.0 mm x 15.0 mm)
Weight 9.5 oz. (270 g) 3.1 oz (87.1 g)
Processor MediaTek Quad-core up to 2 Ghz Amlogic Quad-core 1.5 GHz | ARM 4xCA53
Dual-core @ 2.0 GHz + Dual-core @ 1.6 GHz
GPU Power VR GX6250 Mali450 MP3
Storage 8 GB internal 8 GB internal
Memory 2 GB 2 GB
Wi-Fi Connectivity Dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi (MIMO) for faster streaming and fewer dropped connections than standard Wi-Fi. Supports 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi networks. Dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi (MIMO) for faster streaming and fewer dropped connections than standard Wi-Fi. Supports 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi networks.
Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.1 + LE, with support for HID, and SPP profiles Bluetooth 4.2 + LE
Voice Support Yes, with Alexa Voice Remote (included) or free Fire TV Remote App (available for download on Fire, Android, and iOS) Yes, with Alexa Voice Remote (included) or free Fire TV Remote App (available for download on Fire, Android, and iOS)
Game Controller Support Yes, optimized for Amazon Fire TV Game Controller and most games are compatible with other Bluetooth controllers
Cloud Storage Free cloud storage for all Amazon content Free cloud storage for all Amazon content
Ports DC Jack, HDMI output, 10/100 Ethernet, microSD slot, USB 2.0 HDMI output, micro USB for power or optional Amazon Ethernet Adapter (no included Ethernet port or micro SD slot)
Audio Support Dolby Audio, 5.1 surround sound, 2ch stereo, and HDMI audio pass through up to 7.1 Dolby Atmos compatibility, Dolby Digital Plus, and Dolby Digital
Content Formats Supported Video: H.265, H.264, Audio: AAC-LC, AC3, eAC3 (Dolby Digital Plus), FLAC, MP3, PCM/Wave, Vorbis, Dolby Atmos (EC3_JOC), Photo: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP Video: HDR-10. H.265, H.264, Audio: AAC-LC, AC3, eAC3 (Dolby Digital Plus), FLAC, MP3, PCM/Wave, Vorbis, Dolby Atmos (EC3_JOC), Photo: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP
Output Resolution Supported 2160p up to 30fps; 720p and 1080p up to 60fps 2160p, 1080p, and 720p up to 60 fps
System Requirements Compatible high-definition or ultra high-definition television with available HDMI input, Internet connection, a power outlet High-definition television with available HDMI input, Internet connection via Wi-Fi, a power outlet.
TV Compatibility TV must support minimum HDCP requirements for protected content playback. Learn more. Compatible with (1) 4K ultra high-definition TVs with HDMI capable of 2160p at 24/25/30/50/60 Hz and HDCP 2.2, including popular models from LG, Samsung, Sony, Sharp, Toshiba, Vizio, and others or (2) high-definition TVs with HDMI capable of 1080p or 720p at 50/60 Hz, including popular HDCP-compatible models from Hitachi, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, NEC, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Toshiba, Vizio, Westinghouse, and others. TV must support minimum HDCP requirements for protected content playback. Compatible with (1) 4K ultra high-definition TVs with HDMI capable of 2160p at 24/25/30/50/60 Hz and HDCP 2.2, including popular models from LG, Samsung, Sony, Sharp, Toshiba, Vizio, and others or (2) high-definition TVs with HDMI capable of 1080p or 720p at 50/60 Hz, including popular HDCP-compatible models from Hitachi, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, NEC, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Toshiba, Vizio, Westinghouse, and others. Learn more.
Warranty and Service 1-year Limited Warranty and service included. Optional 2-year and 3-year Extended Warranty available for U.S. customers sold separately. Use of Fire TV is subject to the terms found here. 1-Year Limited Warranty and service included. Optional 2-Year and 3-Year Extended Warranty available for U.S. customers sold separately. Use of Fire TV is subject to the terms found here.
Regional Support Certain services may not be available outside the U.S. Certain services may not be available outside the U.S.
Accessibility Features VoiceView screen reader enables access to the vast majority of Fire TV features for users who are blind or visually impaired. Watch videos and TV shows with closed captioning displayed. Captions are not available for all content. Learn more. VoiceView screen reader enables access to the vast majority of Fire TV features for users who are blind or visually impaired. Screen magnifier enables viewers to zoom in and out, and pan around the screen. Watch videos and TV shows with closed captioning displayed. Captions are not available for all content. Learn more.

How to disable Prime Photos from your Fire TV

Prime Photos app is a nice feature which is installed by default on your Amazon Fire TV. Prime Photos app (Android and iOS) enables you to get unlimited photos and up to 5GB of videos and files. However, the photos are not in their original size. There is a neat feeling that you know all of your pictures you take on your phone is automatically backed up and you can view them on your Fire TV almost instantaneously when you get home. By default, the app will sync the photos on your phone with your Prime photos account the moment you connect via Wi-Fi. For most of us, that means our home.

With that said, there are some of us who do not want people to access your photos uploaded to Prime Photos on your Fire TV.

Here is how to disable Prime Photos from your Fire TV.

First, you go to settings -> applications -> Prime Photos

 

 

 

 

 

Navigate to ‘Access Prime Photos’

 

 

 

 

 

Disable it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, this is all you can do. As Prime Photos is installed by default, you cannot uninstall the app entirely from your Fire TV.

The Element 4K TV Amazon Fire TV Edition is out!

Amazon released the Element 4K TV Fire TV edition which kind a raised eye brows. An Amazon Fire TV that is a TV? It can be a fun play on words but why would Amazon do this for what reason? The Element Ultra HD smart 4K TV integrates Amazon’s Alexa features with Prime and can be integrated with over-the-air HD content all in one homescreen. You do not need a separate Amazon Fire TV to utilize the Fire TV features as it is all built it. The 43″ is currently selling for $449.99.

Some more features:

Resolution: 3840 x 2160 (4K UHD)
Refresh rate: 120Hz / 60Hz (for 4K UHD)
Processor: Quad-core T1-938
GPU: ARM Mali Multi-core 3D GPU3GB
Memory: 3 GB
Storage: 16GB internal
Ports: HDMI x 4 (HDMI 2.0 with HDCP 2.2), Component/Composite x 1, Optical SPDIF x 1, TV/DTV x 1, USB 2.0 x 1, USB 3.0 x 1, Ethernet x 1 (10/100/1000Mbp), VGA x 1, Headphone x 1, RCA Input x 1
Wi-Fi: Dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi (MIMO). Supports 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi networks.
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.1 + LE, with support for HFP and A2DP for private listening via Bluetooth headphones, HID, and SPP
Streaming resolution: 2160p, 1080p, and 720p up to 60fps
HDR: No

Comparison Chart:

The remote will have a voice button so you can press to talk to Alexa similar to your 2nd gen Fire TV remote.

As of now, you cannot buy this particular remote for the Element Fire TV edition by itself.

It will have other streaming apps such as Netflix, HBO, Hulu, and others what you would expect on your Fire TV stick. This is a great way to get Fire TV feature if you were looking for a TV. You can get the Element Fire TV edition and not have to buy a separate Fire TV.

Rumor – Amazon planning a 4K device between Fire TV and Fire TV Stick

Amazon’s own streaming device – Fire TV, has been extremely success. The Fire TV sells for $89.99 and the Fire TV Stick with the Alexa Voice Remote goes for $39.99. As of today, both items are out of stock and you need to wait till it gets in stock in 4/5 and 4/15 respectively. The Fire TV Stick is great for someone who doesn’t want to break bank but want to make their ‘dumb’ TV smart and utilize their Prime membership. The Fire TV is for those who want to enable 4K, more storage, and faster processor.

With 4K content becoming more widely available, Amazon may be bucking the trend again with the mid-level Fire TV that would sit between the Fire TV and the Fire TV Stick. AFTV News found a GNX benchmark test on 2/7 with codename “AFTN”. Is that Fire TV Next-gen? It comes standard with Android 7, quad core CPU @ 1.5GHz using Amlogic Cortex A53 ARMv8 chip, ARM Mali – 450 graphics chip, 1.5GB of RAM, 4.4 GB of storage. This will support not only 4K but also HDR content.

It is possible this may replace the Fire TV Stick.

Sizzling Deal, Echo Dot for $29.99!

This is the best deal for an Amazon Echo dot or Echo. Amazon sent out an email for black friday where you can get $10 gift card when you order from Alexa’s Best Deals. Order anything on the list over $20 through Alexa and get $10 gift card. The 2nd Gen Echo dot is currently on sale for $39.99. With the $10 Amazon credit if you order through Alexa, the price comes down to $29.99! Compare that with original price of $49.99, it is 40% off!

To see the full list of qualifying Alexa’s Best Deals, click here or the below link.

alexa-10-off

alexa-echo-dot

You can also purchase the Amazon Echo for a low $139.99. With the gift card, it will bring down the price to $129.99 which is almost 30% off. But you will need an Alexa enabled device to purchase it. You should be able to make the purchase through your Alexa enabled Fire TV controller. Give it a shot!

alexa-echo-deal

Difference between Fire TV Stick and Chromecast Ultra

chromecast-ultra-1Google announced their latest streaming device, the Chromecast Ultra. Chromecast Ultra is the next step to Chromecast where you can simply plug the device into the HDMI port and cast content from the Internet. While the Fire TV Stick is a good competitor to Chromecast, Chromecast has a slight edge in terms of featured content. A lot of apps support Chromecast and even some TV’s have Google’s Casting built in such as Vizio‘s Smartcast. With Chromecast, you can cast content from Youtube and from a Chrome browser. Neat!

What Chromecast distinguished itself apart from the Fire TV Stick is the capability to stream in 4K Ultra HD / HDR. For Amazon, only the Fire TV has this capability.

Amazon’s Fire TV and Fire TV Stick’s advantage is its access to Prime videos and its library. Amazon also has more 4K content as well as exclusive content. Google Play is lacking in this area.

Both have mirroring capabilities from their respective phones but Google may have a slight edge over the ease of use.

At this event, Google also announced Google Home which has its AI, Google Assistant, which will seamlessly integrate information from various Google apps from calendar, maps, traffic, and location to give you information such as news and weather. Although Amazon’s Alexa is amazing, it doesn’t compare to the integrated offering that Google can offer. This is when the Fire phone’s failure is coming to bite Amazon.

Chromecast Ultra Amazon Fire TV Stick – Gen 2 Amazon Fire TV – 2nd Gen
Launched Nov. 2016 Sep-16 Dec. 2015
Price $69 $39.99 $99.99
HD Type All up to 4K, Ultra HD, HDR Up to 1080p – 60hz up to 2160p 4K – 30Hz
Chip CPU Marvell Armada 1500 Mni Plus Mediatek 8127D
Quad-core ARM 1.3Ghz
MediaTek 8173C
Quad-core ARM Cortex A72 (2x2Ghz, 2×1.6Ghz)
RAM 512mb 1GB 2GB
Storage 256mb 8GB 8GB
Connectivity HDMI, Wifi, Ethernet (adopter) Bluetooth 4.1, Micro USB, HDMI, WiFi Bluetooth 4.1, Micro USB, HDMI, WiFi, Ethernet, Dolby
Dimension 52x52x13.5mm 86x30x12.6mm 115x115x17.8mm
Weight 40g 32g 270g
Remote No Yes Yes

Trigger Alexa with Fire TV remote

fire tv remote alexaIn May, Amazon enable Alexa on its Fire TV remote. This allowed Fire TV owners to use Alexa as you had an Amazon Echo. If you already have an Echo, then this would not be foreign to you.

Movies / TV
With Alexa, you can trigger it to control a movie. You can ask Alexa to play a movie, TV show. It will also search from your active add-on subscriptions as well as third party apps. You can also use it to trigger a certain app.

Examples:
Play the movie [title]
Start playing the TV show [title]
Launch the app [title]
Open the [title] app

Music
You can also trigger music you have on your Prime Music library to simply listen to one of the Prime stations. You can rate a song by saying you like it or do not like the song. This will help Alexa rate the type of song it chooses for you. You can completely skip songs or rewind but cannot fast forward or rewind or change volume. Bummer. This is possible with Echo.

Audible and eBooks
Through Alexa, you can use your Fire TV to read eligible Kindle books in your library. You can even see the title and book cover on your TV. Neat!

News Flash Briefing
One great feature I love with Alexa is that you can ask her to read you the news flash. Go into the Alexa app and select your news source. You can select national, international, local news, sports, and weather source / location. All you say is “Alexa, What’s my news flash?” or “Alexa, Whats my flash briefing?” and it will read a 5-10 min briefing of the latest news from what you selected. I use it when I sit down and enjoy my breakfast. You can also set up your commute location and it’ll give you the congestion condition!

Shopping
No surprise to anyone, you can use Alexa to buy things on Amazon. It is a bit clumsy as you need to know the exact item you are interested in buying in order to buy through Alexa. If you ask Alexa to buy something, it will select the top result for that category and display the item. It is a bit easier to re-order something if it is something you have purchased in the past such as detergent, razor blades, diapers for example.

Weather / Traffic
Asking Alexa for the weather is also another one of my favorites. My kids use this almost every day to determine if they can wear shorts for the day! I don’t use the traffic much as I don’t commute to an office 🙂

Q&A / Jokes
This is kind of an easter egg hunt. You can ask “Alexa, how are you doing today?” or “Alexa, good morning” and she will read back a quote or a comment.

Wikipedia
Alexa also has access to a database of facts. You can ask how far you are to say New York city, ask for conversion such as cooking, time zone, and more. You can ask celebrities or athlete’s age!

Lists (To do / Shopping)
Alexa can aggregate shopping list and to do list. You can use it as a personal assistant to remind you to do something and check it on your Fire TV or on your app later. You can also have Alexa read out your shopping or to do list using your remote.

There are much much more features which you can do with sports scores, movie info, local search, and some features which are voice only where nothing will display on your Fire TV. For all features, check out:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201859020