Well, you might be pleased to know that getting your Echo dot to talk to your lights isn’t as costly as you might think. The device and Alexa app is easy to use, with many options to create your own custom routines and download new skills/“voice apps”. I love that I can “Drop In” to the second echo device in my son’s room to have a two-way chat with him from either the first echo device, or from the Alexa app on my iPhone. In addition to its native abilities, Alexa has more than 10,000 "skills," which is just a fancy way to say "voice-activated apps.

You already shout the answers at the TV when you watch; now you can do it with the validation you crave. Overall the two way intercom feature of the drop in function and the huge database of downloadable skills makes the echo dot more useful over the google mini but I will still prefer to play music and podcasts over the google mini due to its better sound clarity. The echo dot sounds deeper and more muffled, at times it sounds like mumbling when listening to the news podcasts whereas the google mini speaks the words very clearly. No more playing hunt the remote or having to waste valuable ‘rest’ time travelling across the living room to grab it.Once set up, you’ll be able to do pretty much everything you can with a regular telly remote, without having to actually pick it up. If you go to Settings > History* you can see what Alexa has clocked you saying, and delete them one by one. The breakthroughs and innovations that we uncover lead to new ways of thinking, new connections, and new industries.

As the video below explains, you can control both smart and non-smart TVs with Alexa, with the smart kind being a lot simpler (and free!I was happy enough with the first device that I bought a second one within a week and will get the Echo Show 8 once it’s out so that I can link it to my home security camera video feed. Switch on the lamp before getting out of bed, turn on the coffee maker on your way to the kitchen, or dim the lights from the couch to watch a movie — all without lifting a finger. Alexa is always getting smarter and adding new features and skills, like Fitbit for tracking your fitness, NextThere for planning your commute, Sleep and Relaxation sounds for better sleep, and fun games for the family.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Ask Alexa to play music, answer questions, find recipes, read the news, check the weather, set alarms, control compatible smart home devices and more.And aside from the normal uses, there’s plenty of more adventurous things your Dot can do when it comes to your lighting. For example I downloaded an app that plays background talking or dog barking noises and turns our smart lights on etc to pretend that we are at home when we are really away on holidays. If you’re the proud new owner of Dot, or are looking for some new things to try, we’ve got you covered. One of our favorite weather apps is Big Sky, a hyperlocal service that lets you know what it’s like outside not just in your city, but on your block. Saying too much might give away some of the fun, but suffice to say that it’s an interactive game that leads you on a magical adventure stuffed with riddles, gnomes, and a tropical monkey island.