Category: Alexa & Echo

Tried to add a second Echo to the bedroom for stereo sound. Original order the new echo dot as the price and picture with the pre-christmas deals looked very similar. Quickly realised my mistake as already caught out trying to pair a standard Echo and a Dot. No harm done as was able to quickly re-gift to a friend that needed another Dot.

I then had a few delivery nightmares with Amazon in the lead up to Christmas where the delivery drivers app had seemed to have forgotten where I lived and get getting failed delivery notifications as they could not find the address, so held off ordering a replacement until post Christmas.

I finally got around to ordering another Echo 4th gen, but now appears not only must they be the same model but same generation as well to stereo pair. The Lounge Studios work a treat with the subwoofer as the main HiFi solution the flat but once again stuck with just mono in the bedroom as I am not going to spring for nearly £180 to have two 4th Gen devices when the 5th Gen are rumoured not to be too far away.

Alexa and her sister Echo have developed an annoying habit at the moment of grouping all the objects in a room and turning then all on or off, even when just want to command one object.

“Alexa, turn on the lounge light” now turns of the Xbox, the lounge lamp and the lounge TV, Trying to turn on the “night lights” she informs me that the garden lights do not support that function and which lights do I mean.

I have gone back thru Kasa and Tapo settings, renamed a few devices and even swapped their rooms but group mode seems to be all Alexa can handle at the mo. I assume this an Amazon issue, but continue to look for a resolution.

After many months, Amazon have finally issued the OS update to the UK to enable Show Mode on the Fire 10 tablet.   Was quite annoyed when found this wasn’t enabled from the off as it was a feature that had been touted in the press at the launch.

Any way, its available now, and good to get visual confirm of what Alexa heard and actioning and getting the weather displayed as well as spoken.   Intention is to install in the kitchen so readily available for cooking timers, receipes and travel updates before heading out.

After treating myself to a Kindle Fire 10 as a stop gap until I could justify the price of an iPad Pro was looking forward to trying out the Show Mode that was heavily written about in the Tech Media at the time

Suffice to say the firmware for the UK version has not come out yet and still no sign of the Amazon Docking Station to make this a permanent fixture.  The Fire 8 HD requires the latest 8th Gen iteration to enable

Not  sure if my bad research at the time in July or if Amazon his the fact it wasn’t  coming to the UK versions of Fire 10.

Will be watching out for the latest developments on the Amazon support website

Well, Santa was good to the girls and each received a Smart Plug to control the lighting in their respective bedrooms, and also means I when I say “lights Out” I can really enforce it!

The elder ones clubbed together get me an iKettle, my initial reservations about it accidentally turning itself on and boiling dry were soon dissipated once the sheer practicality becomes a reality.  It also senses and reports back the water level so wont turn on if too low.

Just woke up, check the water level on the phone and start it boiling,
Want Coffee, not tea; drop the water temperature a tad to prevent scalding the coffee.
Need to feed the dog and need the water at a certain temp for his feed; no problem, the app will tell you how

and once connected to Alexa, even better, just holler at the Echo to turn the kettle on!