You can buy a third party battery for the Echo from Amazon. to charge it you
use the charger that comes with the unit. I think they cost about $50.00 US
dollars. I am not sure if one is available for the Dot.
-----Original Message-----
From: John Gurd
Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2016 2:41 PM
To: 'PC Audio Discussion List'
Subject: RE: Who's the better BFF: Amazon Echo or Google Home?
Ah, I forgot to answer that part of your question. No, the Dot is not
battery powered. You get a little USB style cable.
And yes, practise does indeed make perfect (well, close enough, anyway) when
it comes to voice commands. Just imagine doing it with a Scottish accent and
you'll see how hard I have to work sometimes. I'll admit sometimes I've
either had to put on an English accent or talk like I'm speaking to an
imbocile! Actually, most of the time the speech recognition is good so it's
not that bad, and it does seem to learn over time. And of course you have to
hit upon the right phrase as the Echo isn't that flexible with how commands
are expressed. I suspect Google Home will be an improvement in that regard.
Google Home isn't out here in the UK yet.
I'm still enjoying playing with the Echo though and have to confess at being
surprised at how much I like it. The UK voice is very good, and when I've
had it read the odd newspaper article I've been really impressed with how
natural it sounds. I believe in the US it can read Kindle books (as opposed
to Audible/Audio books) but sadly that function isn't available in the UK so
far. If it were I might be tempted to buy a few books from the Kindle store.
John
-----Original Message-----
From: Pc-audio [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dane
Trethowan
Sent: 27 November 2016 14:54
To: PC Audio Discussion List
Subject: Re: Who's the better BFF: Amazon Echo or Google Home?
Yes, we�re discussing the Amazon Echo on another list as it happens and I
just wanted to confirm that the Dot indeed is a battery unit.
The whole Voice recognition game has gone ahead ahead in leaps and bounds,
obviously I don�t have an Amazon Echo - not yet - or a Google Home but I do
have my Samsung Galaxy S6 with �OK Google� and �Google Now� installed and
the things that combination can do - if you�re prepared to spend the time to
speak your mind as the saying goes - is astonishing.
For example I can tell the phone to �Play Radio 1070 KNX with Tunein� to
which Google responds, �Playing KNX 1070 News Radio� and that you then hear.
To stop playing all I have to do is to wake up google , �Ok Google� and say,
�Stop Play�, to which Google Responds, �Sure!�.
I have Google do a whole heap of other things besides, I just mentioned this
example as its one I�ve only refined the voice commands for over the last
few days, practise makes perfect <smile>.
On 28 Nov. 2016, at 1:42 am, John Gurd <[email protected]> wrote:
Yes, it's the smaller unit by far but has all the features of it's bigger
sibling. The Dot can be connected by audio cable to a larger speaker or
even an amplifier. I haven't done this. It also has Bluetooth. There is a
misnomer that it doesn't have a built-in speaker but it does. The sound
quality is much like an old-fashioned transistor radio but I have listened
to music from a random playlist in the background from amazon Prime and it
is okay for casual radio listening. I can also tell it to connect via
Bluetooth to my iPhone and play my book from the Voice Dream app via the
Dot. It certainly sounds fine and can play at a reasonable volume for the
equivalent of a transistor radio.
If I should be fortunate to get the bigger Echo for Xmas I'll keep it in
the living room and move the Dot to the bedroom. That way I can use it to
control the heating and lighting from either place by voice and it will
serve as an alarm clock as well. Incidentally, it also tells Jokes and
Interesting Facts on demand. In fact it is quite a good dictionary and
calculator too.
John
-----Original Message-----
From: Pc-audio [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dane
Trethowan
Sent: 27 November 2016 02:27
To: PC Audio Discussion List
Subject: Re: Who's the better BFF: Amazon Echo or Google Home?
The Echo Dot is the smaller unit right? Does it run on battery power too?
On 27 Nov. 2016, at 6:58 am, John Gurd <[email protected]> wrote:
I just got the Echo Dot to try it out as I already have a Hive home
connected system. I can control some lights and the central heating
thermostat with it. It's fairly rudimentary but has a lot of potential
that I hope will be realised in the near future. I've found it handy for
a quick news summary, checking my local train service, and for simple
questions and even a casual dip into radio such as BBC radio 4. Overall,
I like it enough to anticipate getting its bigger brother for Xmas.
John
-----Original Message-----
From: Pc-audio [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jim
Noseworthy
Sent: 25 November 2016 11:43
To: 'PC Audio Discussion List'
Subject: RE: Who's the better BFF: Amazon Echo or Google Home?
Hi:
In my opinion, if you're not wanting to use Audible, Google home wins the
vote; however, if Audible is important, then forget Google home. I have
access to both devices.
Cheers.
-----Original Message-----
From: Pc-audio [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dane
Trethowan
Sent: Thursday, November 24, 2016 4:53 PM
To: PC Audio Discussion List <[email protected]>
Subject: Who's the better BFF: Amazon Echo or Google Home?
All I can say is that Home and Echo are incredibly powerful tools as this
article demonstrates all too clearly.
http://newatlas.com/amazon-echo-vs-google-home/46423/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=4cc9032d68-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-4cc9032d68-92350869
--
**********
?Oh, I?m an activist and I?m OK / I sleep all night and I tweet all day.?
**********
Those of a positive and enquiring frame of mind will leave the rest of the
halfwits in this world behind.
**********
Those of a positive and enquiring frame of mind will leave the rest of the
halfwits in this world behind.
