Great news! There are a couple of folks on the group I'm in on Roger that are from Australia; maybe they already know this! Tom Kaufman
-----Original Message----- From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of Dane Trethowan Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2017 6:00 PM To: PC Audio Discussion List <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> Subject: Re: Amazon Echo Alexa It will be! coming in September On 13/02/2017 9:52 AM, Tom Kaufman wrote: > That's too bad! Hopefully the Amazon Echo will be supported in Australia > soon! > Tom Kaufman > > -----Original Message----- > From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of Dane > Trethowan > Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2017 3:31 PM > To: PC Audio Discussion List <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> > Subject: Re: Amazon Echo Alexa > > Course - given Amazon Echo isn’t fully supported in Australia yet - I’ve got > to be a little careful applying firmware updates. > There have been reports here of people applying the updates and then finding > that their Echo won’t load again, no problem with the Echo itself of course > but all the workarounds we in Australia use to get the Echo working can be > wiped out it seems. > >> On 12 Feb 2017, at 7:24 am, Tom Kaufman <tomca...@comcast.net> wrote: >> >> Clifford: I've heard this too, but am not sure it's available in all areas >> yet! I have the tap, so maybe I'll get to see how it works! >> Tom Kaufman >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of Clifford >> Blackwell >> Sent: Saturday, February 11, 2017 2:21 PM >> To: PC Audio Discussion List <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> >> Subject: Re: Amazon Echo Alexa >> >> I believe I just read that the Tap is getting a hand's free update that >> might make it even more user friendly. >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Dane Trethowan" <grtd...@internode.on.net> >> To: "PC Audio Discussion List" <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> >> Sent: Monday, February 06, 2017 11:37 AM >> Subject: Re: Amazon Echo Alexa >> >> >> to your last comments about "The Pipes" first? Impressive, absolutely >> impressive. >> >> I had the Echo on my table behind my bed - shelf actually - and I >> listened to a few Classic Albums I came upon on Spotify, the tone was >> quite pleasing and something I could easily relax to but no, not as >> wonderful as my B&W A7 and I didn't expect it to be either. >> >> I think the Echo plays in mono so it was a damn good performance indeed >> if that's the case. >> >> Battery Base for the Dot? Makes all the sense in the world given that >> the Dot can stream to Bluetooth speakers and headsets, I wonder why the >> Echo won't do Bluetooth streaming both ways, you can stream to it of >> course but you can't stream from it. >> >> I'm thinking about whether or not to buy a Tap, in a review I read over >> the weekend it was compared favourably to the Bose Soundlink Mini and I >> had been thinking about getting the current version of the Bose so >> perhaps its best to kill some b irds with a stone and just get the >> Amazon Tap? Will think about it. >> >> >> >> On 7/02/2017 3:04 AM, John Gurd wrote: >>> I'm just catching up with this thread. Just to make it clear, the Dot does >>> not have a built-in battery. That's interesting you can get a battery base >>> for it (I didn't know that) but I personally don't think it would be >>> worthwhile. The Dot is fine for speech and books and even casual radio but >>> I wouldn't spend much time listening to music on it. I've never connected >>> it to external speakers. The Echo is much better for music but it is still >>> not as good as my Bose Soundlink Mini or Creative Roar. I noticed the >>> Echo is very susceptible to positioning: on a table away from a wall it is >>> quite mid-rangey with little base, on a carpeted wooden floor the base is >>> very good but it's speech is too base heavy. I have it on a table near a >>> wall and it sounds reasonably good. >>> >>> Apart from the Hive skill, the following are the ones I found of most use. >>> The Guardian newspaper because it is very generous with the unabridged >>> articles it provides and they can be accessed in categories. I was using >>> the Telegraph occasionally but I removed it as suddenly the few available >>> articles are now truncated to the first few paragraphs. The National Rail >>> skill is very basic but great for quickly getting the times and status of >>> a single pre-set up route. I've enabled Radio Player as well as the TuneIn >>> Skill and have sometimes found radio stations that for some reason TuneIn >>> won't find. I've dabbled with the Magic Door game which is a basic >>> Interactive Fiction with sound effects and although it's quite amusing I >>> ultimately found it a bit limited. I've just enabled the International >>> Space Station skill and enjoy finding out where it is at any given moment >>> and when it will pass Glasgow next as well as news about what the >>> astronauts are doing. Alexa has a lot of hidden talents herself but you >>> have to work quite hard to find them and doing so is very hit and miss. >>> >>> Oh, and just for you, Dane, I asked Alexa to play the Pipes. The first >>> time I got the Pogues instead and the second I got the Pipes of the Royal >>> Tank Command playing Chariots of Fire of all things. It didn't last long >>> as military bands are definitely not my thing. I'm not keen on the >>> Scottish Pipes on their own although there is a very excellent pipe-based >>> rock band called the Red Hot Chile Pipers. Sadly, Alexa will always think >>> you want the more famous Peppers. :) >>> >>> John >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of >>> Clifford Blackwell >>> Sent: 04 February 2017 20:05 >>> To: PC Audio Discussion List <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> >>> Subject: Re: Amazon Echo Alexa >>> >>> You can purchase a battery base for the Dot. I haven't wanted to spend >>> the extra money on this though so I can't verify how well it works. >>> ----- Original Message ----- >>> From: "Dane Trethowan" <grtd...@internode.on.net> >>> To: "PC Audio Discussion List" <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> >>> Sent: Friday, February 03, 2017 5:57 PM >>> Subject: Re: Amazon Echo Alexa >>> >>> >>>> Have you tried any "Skills" yet? I've tried a few such as 20 >>>> questions, Mystery Radio Theatre etc. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On 4/02/2017 10:18 AM, Tom Kaufman wrote: >>>>> Yep...that's the one; it has a chargeable battery and seems to have >>>>> good battery life; seems to charge up fairly quickly! >>>>> Tom >>>>> >>>>> -----Original Message----- >>>>> From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of >>>>> Dane Trethowan >>>>> Sent: Friday, February 03, 2017 3:44 PM >>>>> To: PC Audio Discussion List <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> >>>>> Subject: Re: Amazon Echo Alexa >>>>> >>>>> And the Tap is the one you have right? Is that battery powered? >>>>> >>>>>> On 4 Feb 2017, at 6:13 am, Tom Kaufman <tomca...@comcast.net> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> Dane: The Dot can be connected to a stereo, but not the Tap. >>>>>> Tom Kaufman >>>>>> >>>>>> -----Original Message----- >>>>>> From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of >>>>>> Dane Trethowan >>>>>> Sent: Friday, February 03, 2017 5:25 AM >>>>>> To: PC Audio Discussion List <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> >>>>>> Subject: Re: Amazon Echo Alexa >>>>>> >>>>>> Now that I’ve had mine up and running for a little longer than 24 >>>>>> hours I’m probably in a better position to reply to this eMail than >>>>>> I was Yesterday. >>>>>> Firstly a note to anyone in Australia or outside the US or UK who >>>>>> may be thinking of going down the Echo path, is it worth it? Well >>>>>> yep, I reckon it is and even better is the fact that setup requires >>>>>> no hacks or cracks to be applied as was previously the case. >>>>>> Your Echo will still think you’re somewhere else - Mine thinks I’m >>>>>> in Seattle - but I can still get standard time for my local >>>>>> location, this can be set easily in settings, in my case I chose the >>>>>> Australian time zone and the NSW Eastern Time region, works fine! >>>>>> If you’re in Australia then probably one of the best places to get >>>>>> an Amazon Echo is from eBay, they sell for as little as around $100 >>>>>> Australian depending on the model you want. >>>>>> I had my Echo 24 hours after I ordered it, the eBay store I bought >>>>>> from dispatched the item using Australia Post Express Post. >>>>>> The first thing I had to do was to find a wall adapter to make the >>>>>> supplied power supply compatible with our AC mains socket, that done >>>>>> it was just a matter of plugging the supply into the mains and >>>>>> connecting to the Echo, the power lead plugs into the bottom of the >>>>>> Echo and protrudes from the rear of the unit. >>>>>> Echo will say “Hell” and I think she tells you you’re in setup mode >>>>>> so you know you can proceed with the setup which is all done from >>>>>> the Amazon Alexa home page. >>>>>> For those using Echo now and who have it set up the home page is >>>>>> well worth exploring if you haven’t done so already, so much there >>>>>> to tweak and see. >>>>>> Even though I’m in Australia I’ve had little trouble having my Echo >>>>>> recognise the voice commands I’ve issued. >>>>>> There’s a lot I can’t use but a hell of a lot I can, I can use >>>>>> Spotify Premium with Echo however I can’t use Amazon’s Unlimited Music >>>>>> Service. >>>>>> Radio is an oddity I have to admit, I can’t get Echo to tune into >>>>>> many stations using voice commands however I can manually have Echo >>>>>> tune into stations if I use the Tunein interface from the Echo Home >>>>>> Page so go work that one out, if anyone manages to listen to radio >>>>>> 2GB in Sydney Australia with their Echo then I’d be interested to >>>>>> know how you did it with voice commands? >>>>>> The Echo can be paired with an amazon remote controller, has anyone >>>>>> done this? >>>>>> I’m a little disappointed with the Bluetooth facilities offered, yes >>>>>> you can stream to Echo using Bluetooth so that’s nice and handy if >>>>>> you want to use Echo as a speaker for your mobile device etc but I’m >>>>>> surprised that Echo can’t stream the other way - say stream the >>>>>> output using Bluetooth to a pair of Bluetooth headphones etc. >>>>>> To summarise, this purchase was well worth the while for me and I’m >>>>>> sure I’m going to be served well for many years to come, I may even >>>>>> consider buying one of the other Echo models such as the Dot, the >>>>>> Tap can be connected to a stereo or television, is that right? >>>>>> >>>>>>> On 2 Feb 2017, at 2:15 pm, Tom Kaufman <tomca...@comcast.net> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> II am enjoying mine (I have the one that is known as the Tap) >>>>>>> mostly listen to music on it...but it can do other things like tell >>>>>>> you the weather, tell you a joke (haven't tried that yet) am sure >>>>>>> there's lots of things you can ask her to do! >>>>>>> Tom Kaufman >>>>>>> >>>>>>> -----Original Message----- >>>>>>> From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of >>>>>>> Dane Trethowan >>>>>>> Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2017 10:05 PM >>>>>>> To: PC Audio Discussion List <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> >>>>>>> Subject: Amazon Echo Alexa >>>>>>> >>>>>>> Hi! >>>>>>> For those of you who have one of these - can’t say what it is again >>>>>>> or the device will get upset when its name is called <smile> - then >>>>>>> I sincerely hope you’re enjoying your as I am mine. >>>>>>> Unfortunately Australia isn’t one of the support country’s for the >>>>>>> product yet - I’m in Seattle apparently - so I still need to do a >>>>>>> little tweaking. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> ********** >>>>>>> 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. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>> ********** >>>>> 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. > > > >
