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golddigger14s
Site Supporter
Location: Faxon, OK Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2011 Posts: 17818
Real Name: Chuck
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_________________ "The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it." Thomas Jefferson "Evil often triumphs, but never conquers." Joseph Roux
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Wed Dec 21, 2016 7:38 pm |
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edogg
Site Supporter
Location: Central FL Joined: Sun Apr 7, 2013 Posts: 3207
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My wife got one for her brother for Christmas. So no direct experience with the Dot...
...but we have a Tap and really like it. I like that it doesn't listen to us without pushing a button. Having a device always listening creeps me out.
Sound quality on the Tap is good and it works quite well. Amazons music service is quite good. We just signed up for a family pass for their paid service since there were some things we wanted that weren't on Prime.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Wed Dec 21, 2016 8:01 pm |
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lunacite
Site Supporter
Location: Snohomish County Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2012 Posts: 1146
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I have a full Echo in the living room/kitchen and a dot in the bedroom. It really shines in the kitchen. Hands-free timer setting and unit conversions while cooking are amazing. "set a timer for 35 minutes", "how many milliliters is 2 tablespoons", etc. The "flash briefing" news headlines update pretty frequently and I usually put them on right when I get home and I'm taking off my shoes & getting settled. We also have Philips Hue lights, and controlling them is pretty neat, especially because you can dim them without having to get up.
For music I actually prefer to use Spotify through the Echo than to go through google.
Voice interface is the next big push, and Amazon is on top right now.
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Wed Dec 21, 2016 8:14 pm |
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Sinus211
Site Moderator
Location: Marysville Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2012 Posts: 13503
Real Name: Mike
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edogg wrote: My wife got one for her brother for Christmas. So no direct experience with the Dot...
...but we have a Tap and really like it. I like that it doesn't listen to us without pushing a button. Having a device always listening creeps me out.
Sound quality on the Tap is good and it works quite well. Amazons music service is quite good. We just signed up for a family pass for their paid service since there were some things we wanted that weren't on Prime.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Oh, it's always listening. It just doesn't respond until you tap...
_________________Licensed/Bonded/Insured Hardwood Floor Installer/Finisher http://www.hardwoodfloorsnw.com/
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Wed Dec 21, 2016 9:25 pm |
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DGM33
Site Moderator
Location: Renton/Kent Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2012 Posts: 3548
Real Name: Jacy
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sinus211 wrote: edogg wrote: My wife got one for her brother for Christmas. So no direct experience with the Dot...
...but we have a Tap and really like it. I like that it doesn't listen to us without pushing a button. Having a device always listening creeps me out.
Sound quality on the Tap is good and it works quite well. Amazons music service is quite good. We just signed up for a family pass for their paid service since there were some things we wanted that weren't on Prime.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Oh, it's always listening. It just doesn't respond until you tap... Big Brother is always listening.
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Wed Dec 21, 2016 9:51 pm |
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BadKarma
Site Moderator
Location: Duvall Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2011 Posts: 8660
Real Name: Jaime
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Natural Speach Regonition software is big business and there are only a few that do it well. And some of it is still translated overseas. It is my opinion that it will be a must have in all devices in the next 7-10 years which means it will be online as a SaaS. I know how much We pay for it and what we get paid.
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Wed Dec 21, 2016 10:31 pm |
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edogg
Site Supporter
Location: Central FL Joined: Sun Apr 7, 2013 Posts: 3207
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Well at least it makes me think it's not listening...
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Wed Dec 21, 2016 10:32 pm |
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Inger19
Location: Everett Joined: Sun Dec 4, 2016 Posts: 308
Real Name: Inger
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Had the full echo when I lived with boyfriend. It was also integrated with whatever fancy stuff he used to turn lights on and off, lock doors, etc. so we could operate everything with voice. It was fantastic. She'll also tell you a joke. I mentioned that a Dot would fit in my stocking so we'll see if that turns out the way I hope.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Thu Dec 22, 2016 10:55 am |
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Benja455
Site Supporter
Location: White Center Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2011 Posts: 6489
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The GF got me (us?) one for Christmas. I like it more than I thought I would for many of the reasons listed above. If you have Amazon Prime and wifi - it's a no-brainer at the current pricing.
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Thu Dec 22, 2016 1:22 pm |
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Chip
Site Supporter
Location: Edgewood Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2011 Posts: 860
Real Name: Chip
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My teenage son just got a Dot for Christmas. We were being goofy and asking it strange questions, so I asked, "Alexa, can you tell me a good fart joke?" Her answer, "I could, but I find them to be a little too longwinded". My son was instantly sold and thinks it's the coolest thing ever.
_________________ "Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped."
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Mon Dec 26, 2016 5:24 pm |
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rayjax82
Site Supporter
Location: Stanwood Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2012 Posts: 1920
Real Name: Chris
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I just got one for Xmas. So far it tells me jokes and plays music for me. I don't have a smart home, so I'm not sure what else I can do with it.
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Tue Dec 27, 2016 11:25 am |
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hkw84
Site Supporter
Location: Renton Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2012 Posts: 220
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Be sure to ask for Chuck Norris jokes!
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Tue Dec 27, 2016 11:48 am |
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jackass
Site Supporter
Location: Burien Joined: Sun Sep 22, 2013 Posts: 5878
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http://www.activistpost.com/2016/12/ama ... -387756233Amazon’s Echo built upon the voice search capability of Android’s ‘Ok Google’ and Apple’s Siri and turned it into a device that is capable of doing everything from answering questions to turning on your on your air conditioner. However, like all beneficial technology, when the government gets involved, this useful household item is converted into a spying machine for the surveillance state. In a seemingly unprecedented case out of Bentonville, Arkansas, the latest example of how police can use your technology against you is coming to fruition. Investigators in Bentonville have filed search warrants with Amazon, requesting the recordings made on a man’s Echo device between November 21 and November 22, 2015. The recordings belong to James A. Bates, who was charged with murder after a man was strangled to death in a hot tub. http://5newsonline.com/2016/02/23/bento ... a-officer/
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Sat Dec 31, 2016 8:22 am |
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BadKarma
Site Moderator
Location: Duvall Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2011 Posts: 8660
Real Name: Jaime
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jackass wrote: http://www.activistpost.com/2016/12/amazon-echo-saves-voice-data-police-now-accessing-heres-hear-delete.html?utm_source=Activist+Post+Subscribers&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=92eec1c93e-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_term=0_b0c7fb76bd-92eec1c93e-387756233 Amazon’s Echo built upon the voice search capability of Android’s ‘Ok Google’ and Apple’s Siri and turned it into a device that is capable of doing everything from answering questions to turning on your on your air conditioner. However, like all beneficial technology, when the government gets involved, this useful household item is converted into a spying machine for the surveillance state. In a seemingly unprecedented case out of Bentonville, Arkansas, the latest example of how police can use your technology against you is coming to fruition. Investigators in Bentonville have filed search warrants with Amazon, requesting the recordings made on a man’s Echo device between November 21 and November 22, 2015. The recordings belong to James A. Bates, who was charged with murder after a man was strangled to death in a hot tub. http://5newsonline.com/2016/02/23/bento ... a-officer/The first article is inaccurate. The voice recognition software behind SIRI is Nuance. They maybe saying "It is like SIRI" or it is similar, but it is not SIRI or Nuance. The assumption is that Amazon got it through acquisition in 2012. I would say that the article is not worth repeating and ignorant by the author.
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Sat Dec 31, 2016 12:06 pm |
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jackass
Site Supporter
Location: Burien Joined: Sun Sep 22, 2013 Posts: 5878
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Hmm, I don't see where you trace the pedigree of the voice recognition software or its relevance in the story. The main point is the Big Brother capability in these devices. On another note: http://www.infowars.com/shock-video-chi ... azon-echo/I remember some Bing testers were talking at SASQAG (sasqag.org) some years back and when the testers kids would search for single digits , i.e. one, two three early on in Bing during the kids early learning years, they would get X rated results. Originally from a CNET article here: https://www.cnet.com/uk/google-amp/news ... stigation/Lesson: your smart devices are listening and remembering.
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Sat Dec 31, 2016 2:59 pm |
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