Stop Sharing Conversations With Amazon
You might not be aware of this, but Amazon can listen in to your Alexa conversations as its way of improving the service. Google and Apple do it too, but if you want to opt out, you can. Just head to Settings> Alexa Account> Alexa Privacy> Manage How Your Data Improves Alexa.
There are two toggles here, one that’s labeled Help Develop New Features and one for sharing messages with Amazon for the same purpose. You can turn them both off.
Pick A Device To Set Up
You need an Amazon account to use Alexa, but you don’t need . Sign in on the app. Then click the hamburger menu on the lower right and select Add a Device. Here you can add any number of Alexa-supported devices to your account, from smart lights to smart plugs. But we’re focused on Echo devices, so tap Amazon Echo. At the next screen, tap the Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Plus and more selection. It covers almost every type of Echo that ever existed since 2014, even the discontinued devices. Make sure your Echo device is plugged in.
Echo Setup in iOS
Are Multiple Echos Worth It
The advantage of having access to Alexa’s features doesn’t hinge on building some sort of super Echo network in your house. Being able to use the Echo’s smart voice controls across your home is the real advantage: you can control your lights or heating via voice from upstairs or downstairs. If you have a loft room, the Dot or Flex will bring voice control that’s outside the range of your Echo downstairs and so on.
With multi-room audio support, there’s certainly something to be said for owning multiple Amazon Echo devices in close proximity.
With the Dot being so affordable, if you’re a fan of the Echo then it’s certainly worth the expansion, even if that’s just to give you voice control over your smart lights or heating from more rooms in the house.
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How To Buy An International Echo Device
The first thing youre going to need if you want Alexa is, duh, an Alexa-enabled device. If you live in the US or Europe, theres plenty of those to choose from, but its not quite the same story if you live in, say, South America or parts of Africa.
Your options, generally, are fairly basic – you can only buy specific international versions of the Echo Dot, second-generation Echo, or first-gen Echo Plus. Right now, there isn’t an international version of the Echo Show.
And if you want to buy one of these devices, youre going to need to do head to Amazon US, Amazon UK or Amazon DE and select the international version of the device.
Well get to the functionality of these three international versions below, but theres a couple of other factors to consider, too. Power sources vary by product, and theres naturally requirements with regard to voltage, wattage, frequency and multi-way switching support. And the same is true for Wi-Fi, though we expect if youre logging on to buy an Echo device, you have that covered.
Since youll be ordering from either the US, UK or Germany , also be sure to watch out for customs duties and import taxes.
Thankfully, if you live in a territory which is part of the program, these are estimated and collected as a deposit upon your checkout. But if not, youll be responsible for paying any fees upon delivery.
Is Myq Compatible With Alexa
Yes, it is! With the help of the application If This Than That , you can link your MyQ garage door opener and link it to work with Alexa. Doing this allows homeowners to have the capabilities to open or close their doors from anywhere.
To make this possible, there are a few things that have to be done to demonstrate compatibility. It is crucial to have an Alexa account. Once you have created and confirmed your Alexa account, now get the Alexa skill, My IQ Chamberlain. To get the Alexa skill is another way of saying that you are going to get the application designated to help ensure your MyQ Garage work with Alexa.
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Can Alexa Search Youtube Channel
For the channel, use “Alexa, please YouTube, turn on the VanossGaming channel.” For channels and playlists, you can also say Shuffle instead of Play. The standard Next, Previous, Restart, Pause, and Resume commands work. You can use “Alexa, ask YouTube what song is playing now” to ask what song is playing.
Clear Your Alexa History
Man the panic stations, this is not a drill. Alexa records everything you ask her and keeps a record of your questions that’s visible on the smartphone app. Seriously. Don’t worry though, if you’ve been asking her some slightly embarrassing or dubious questions you don’t want getting out into the wider world, you can simply delete them.
If you’re happy to do it manually, you can go into the Amazon Echo app to erase all trace of your shameful requests. You’ll need to go to Settings > Alexa Account > History, Here, once you’ve selected the question you want to do away with, click the Delete voice recordings button at the bottom. Phew, crisis averted. Until the next time you ask something embarrassing, anyway.
Easier than that though say Alexa, how do I review my privacy settings? and Alexa will send you a direct link in the Alexa app to your Alexa Privacy Settings.
Amazon’s also added a voice shortcut to give people a simpler way to handle the same task. Just say, Alexa, delete everything I said today to get rid of all the recordings from that day. Did someone say “new bedtime routine”?
Oh, and to delete your entire history of Alexa interactions, go to Manage Your Content and Devices on Amazons website and click Manage Voice Recordings.
You can also now delete all of your Alexa voice recordings on your account by saying, Alexa, delete everything Ive said.
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What Is Alexa Mini
The Arri ALEXA Mini is essentially a reduced version of the ALEXA XT. Its functionality and controls make it the premium camera that deserves its name. Key Features: Same sensor as the entire ALEXA range. The ALEXA Mini uses an ALEV III sensor for natural skin tones, low noise, natural colors and fourteen levels of dynamic range.
Set A Default Music Service On Amazon Echo
With a speaker built into the Echo, many people buy an Echo for music. Out of the box, your Amazon Echo will have access to your Amazon music library – in other words, anything you’ve purchased from Amazon and, if you have a subscription, Amazon Prime music or the subscription service.
There’s also the ability to connect the Echo to your Spotify, Deezer or Apple Music account, so you don’t have to use Amazon’s music service. You can select the default music service you want, meaning music will always be played from that account.
To do that, open the Alexa app, go to More > Settings > Music & Podcasts and change your default music and profanity filter at the bottom.
It’s also worth noting that your Amazon Echo will read books to you by simple commands “Alexa, read my book” for Audible playback or “Alexa, read my Kindle book” for reading your Kindle library.
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Can Alexa Play Music From Your Phone
You can connect your smartphone, tablet or even desktop computer to Alexa via Bluetooth to play music and other media. Amazon Echo already has a huge selection of compatible music streaming apps. Echo can play Amazon Prime Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and many more services.
Make Alexa Your Default Android Assistant
As an Alexa and Amazon Echo user, you’re not confined to using it on your smart speaker. iOS and Android smartphone and tablet users can ask questions, access skills and control their smart home via the Alexa app. However, Android phone owners have the added benefit of being able to make Alexa their default phone assistant. Here’s how.
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Set Up Echo With The Alexa App Or A Web Browser
As we mentioned, your Amazon Echo guide will tell you to download the Alexa app from the App Store or .
Once in the app, click Devices and then the + icon in the top-right. This part of the app has got a little more complex in recent times as the number of Alexa-capable devices has exploded.
Tap on Add Device, then select what type of device it is . Finally, select the right option from the list of Echo devices.
Alternatively, you can use this website to set up a new device, whether that’s setting up your Echo in the first place or adding other devices or services at a later date.
How To Make Calls With Amazon’s Alexa
Method 1 of 3. Set up a call to Alexa. Upload the article. Open the Alexa app. The Alexa app icon is blue with a white circle with speech bubbles. Press the Communication icon. On the bottom navigation bar you will find the Chat tab with a speech bubble icon. Confirm your name. Give access to your contacts. Please check your phone number.
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‘alexa Are You Invading My Privacy’ The Dark Side Of Our Voice Assistants
There are more than 100m Alexa-enabled devices in our homes. But are they fun time-savers or the beginning of an Orwellian nightmare
One day in 2017, Alexa went rogue. When Martin Josephson, who lives in London, came home from work, he heard his Echo Dot voice assistant spitting out fragmentary commands, seemingly based on his previous interactions with the device. It appeared to be regurgitating requests to book train tickets for journeys he had already taken and to record TV shows that he had already watched. Josephson had not said the wake word Alexa to activate it and nothing he said would stop it. It was, he says, Kafkaesque.
This was especially interesting because Josephson was a former Amazon employee. Three years earlier, he had volunteered to sit in a room reciting a string of apparently meaningless phrases into a microphone for an undisclosed purpose. Only when Amazon released the Echo in the US in 2014 did he realise what he had been working on. He bought a Dot, the Echos cheaper, smaller model, after it launched in 2016, and found it useful enough until the day it went haywire. When the Dots outburst subsided, he unplugged it and deposited it in the bin. I felt a bit foolish, he says. Having worked at Amazon, and having seen how they used peoples data, I knew I couldnt trust them.
If youre an authoritarian country, why not just run the audio stream straight to a government surveillance agency?
Stress Rhythm And Intonation
plays an important role in English. Certain are stressed, while others are unstressed. Stress is a combination of duration, intensity, vowel quality, and sometimes changes in pitch. Stressed syllables are pronounced longer and louder than unstressed syllables, and vowels in unstressed syllables are frequently while vowels in stressed syllables are not. Some words, primarily short function words but also some modal verbs such as can, have depending on whether they occur in stressed or non-stressed position within a sentence.
Stress in English is , and some pairs of words are distinguished by stress. For instance, the word contract is stressed on the first syllable when used as a noun, but on the last syllable for most meanings when used as a verb. Here stress is connected to : in the noun “contract” the first syllable is stressed and has the unreduced vowel //, but in the verb “contract” the first syllable is unstressed and its vowel is reduced to //. Stress is also used to distinguish between words and phrases, so that a compound word receives a single stress unit, but the corresponding phrase has two: e.g. a burnout versus to burn out , and a hotdog versus a hot dog .
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Works With Alexa Program
Connected Device Certification: Boost Your Product’s Exposure
Works with Alexa is a certification program that raises the bar on responsiveness, reliability, and functionality, ensuring your customers have the best smart home experiences. When your products are certified, they can carry the Works with Alexa badge in the Amazon Smart Home Store and on product packaging. This increases customer confidence that your products integrate seamlessly with Alexa, which in turn increases traffic to your products in the Amazon Smart Home Store and offline channels.
How It Works
To qualify for the program, your product must satisfy the eligibility and product requirements in the Works with Alexa Program Guidelines. Once you have thoroughly tested your product, you can register and submit you product for certification in the Works with Alexa console. If your product is certified, you can use the Works with Alexa badge in accordance with the trademark usage guidelines.
Give Your Vision For Conversational Ai A Voice
Amazon Alexa is leading the way in making spoken language the next user interface. Alexa is the voice service that powers Amazons family of Echo products, , and other third-party products. Echo is a device that you can talk to from across the room to play music, get the news, set timers, make hands-free calls, manage to-do and shopping lists, control lights, your thermostat and so much more.
Technologies We Focus On
The Alexa AI team contributes to the magic that is Alexa. Our goal is to make voice interfaces ubiquitous and as natural as speaking to a human. We have a relentless focus on the customer experience and customer feedback. We use many real-world data sources including customer interactions and a variety of cutting-edge techniques, like highly scalable deep learning, to train our speech models. Learning at this massive scale requires new research and development. The team is responsible for cutting-edge research and development in virtually all fields of human language technology. Learn more about our teams approach to customer-obsessed science from this blog post by Rohit Prasad, vice president and head scientist for Alexa AI. You can also visit the website to read more about the projects, research, and team members working in conversational AI at Amazon.
Alexa Science
We encourage the publication of research that will contribute to a future of more natural and engaging computing experiences. Learn more about the Alexa AI team on the Amazon Science website.
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Verbs And Verb Phrases
Auxiliary verbs such as have and be are paired with verbs in the infinitive, past, or progressive forms. They form tenses, aspects, and moods. Auxiliary verbs differ from other verbs in that they can be followed by the negation, and in that they can occur as the first constituent in a question sentence.
Most verbs have six inflectional forms. The primary forms are a plain present, a third-person singular present, and a preterite form. The secondary forms are a plain form used for the infinitive, a gerund-participle and a past participle. The copula verb to be is the only verb to retain some of its original conjugation, and takes different inflectional forms depending on the subject. The first-person present-tense form is am, the third person singular form is is, and the form are is used in the second-person singular and all three plurals. The only verb past participle is been and its gerund-participle is being.
| Third person | John will run |
|---|
Further aspectual distinctions are shown by auxiliary verbs, primarily have and be, which show the contrast between a perfect and non-perfect past tense , and compound tenses such as preterite perfect and present perfect .
For the expression of mood, English uses a number of modal auxiliaries, such as can, may, will, shall and the past tense forms could, might, would, should. There are also subjunctive and imperative moods, both based on the plain form of the verb , for use in subordinate clauses .
Phrasal verbs
Using The New Alexa App
The Alexa smartphone app is the gateway between you and Alexa, and this where you can fine tune the experience.
In July 2020 the app was changed to attempt to make it a bit more useful, as previously, you only required the Alexa app to make changes to things like smart home devices, routines or logging into services.
Home
The new Home screen has been totally redesigned to be more useful. You can now speak to Alexa by hitting the button at the top, which is useful if you want to run a routine while away from a smart speaker. Then there’s a list of suggestions, from frequently played media and radio stations, access to lists and shopping, and quick-links to creating things like Alexa routines.
Communicate
This tab enables you to quickly drop in and call Alexa devices in your home, and those of friends and family. What’s more, you can also create Announcements , view the cameras of compatible devices, and make calls.
Play
The Play tab is the home of media via Alexa, which will mix up between commonly used sources. This could be radio stations from TuneIn, Spotify playlists, Amazon Music tracks all in one place.
It’s not the most useful tab, surely just ask Alexa or head to your normal apps but it’s a nice way to see what you’ve listened to in one place.
Devices
The meat and drink of the Alexa app in terms of the smart home, this tab is home to the settings for all your Alexa speakers, and any smart home device you’ve looped into the ecosystem.
More
- Lists
“Alexa, play .”
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