amazon – Tech Raman

Amazon brings Echo Show 8 to India | Price, Features Details

Lakshmi — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 05:33:38 +0000

Amazon is quite gung ho about the Alexa powered Echo devices market in India and keeps introducing its latest products to the Indian market. The latest to join its wide portfolio of Echo Smart devices here is the Echo Show 8 which has been priced at Rs 8,999. It will start shipping from Feb 24 So what does Echo Show 8 offer? Here is a quick rundown.

Everything You need to know about the Echo Show 8

The Echo Show 8 has an 8-inch display and find a middle ground between the Echo Show 5 with its a 5-inch display and the larger Echo Show having a 10-inch display. It has an HD display with a 1200×800 pixels resolution. It weighs 1037 gram. It’s available in black and white colour variants with a textured fabric clothing to dress it up.

The Echo Show 8 has a 1MP front camera for video calling. In case you are worried about the security aspects of the camera, then there is a camera shutter on/off physical toggle. There is also a mic on/off in case you want to keep it quiet. There are a total of 4 mics for the Echo to communicate with us.

So why would you want an Echo Show to begin with? The Show range of Echo devices has a display so you can watch movies and TV shows. It supports streaming apps like Amazon Prime vide, Voot and Apple music. With Alexa, of course, you can talk to the Echo Show like other Echo devices and gets answers to your queries, ask Alexa to share a joke or stories and even order on Amazon via the device and voice commands.

If your friends have Echo devices or Alexa app or on Skype, you can initiate video calling via the Echo Show with its 1MP front-facing camera. If you have other Alexa-enable smart living devices like Smart lights, A/c with Alexa supported plugs etc, you can control via the Echo show.

The Echo Show 8 like other Echo family of devices can converse in both English and Hindi and there are over 30,000 English skills and 800 Hindi skills to make good use of.

With the Echo Show 8, Amazon now retails a trio of Show family with the Echo Show 5 priced at Rs 8,999, the new Echo Show 8 at Rs 12,999 and the larger Echo Show selling at Rs 22, 999.

All-new Amazon Echo 3rd Gen Review

Lakshmi — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 05:21:59 +0000

Amazon’s Echo devices are like a family, new generations keep propping up and they get smarter or better in the process. So the latest addition to the Smart speaker family is the all-new Amazon Echo (3rd Gen) which borrows bits of goodies from the Echo Plus. In India it is priced at ₹ 9,999 and available in black, blue, grey and white color choices. And for those who are not aware of, Alexa now speaks even Hindi in India now. You can either change the language settings in the app or simply tell “Alexa, speak in English and Hindi.” and it will understand both the languages. Here is the Amazon Echo 3rd Gen review to help you understand it better.

Having used the previous gen Amazon Echo, the notable differences is in the audio experience having borrowed the speaker internals from the Echo Plus

Echo 3rd Gen design: Plus Factor

The third generation has got a wee bit stouter, slightly shorter and a tad bit wider than the previous Echo. It’s still the same cylinder and measures 5.8” x 3.9” x 3.9” and weighs 1.3kg. It is wrapped in the fabric around the sides of the speaker. While the blue and gray models have white plastic top panels and bases, the black and dark grey models have black ones.

The top panel houses the controls – four buttons to be precise (Alexa, microphone mute, and volume up/down), there are six pinholes for the far-field microphone. A rubber base keeps the Echo firm. The back of the speaker has a connector for the included power adapter and a 3.5mm audio combination input/output.

The top panel has a translucent light ring that glows blue when Alexa is listening or communicating, red when you mute the microphone or orange when it’s updating software or ready for setup.

3rd Gen Echo sound – Getting Better at it

Like I quoted in the beginning, the Echo has got better at the audio experience now. It sounds better and richer now. Not surprising because it now packs a downward-firing 3-inch woofer, 0.8-inch tweeter and Dolby Audio. If you are upgrading your second-gen, the difference is instantly noticeable. The 360-degree sound makes it a good smart speaker at its price. The bass has improved and roomier and rounded now. It is good to see Amazon upping the ante in delivering a smart speaker that sounds good too.

Amazon Echo Features- Alexa at its heart

Like the rest of the Echo lineup, the heart of the Echo devices rests on Amazon’s smart assistant, Alexa. You can communicate with it, ask it to play songs, tell stories, ask questions (of course it politely says sorry if it’s beyond its comprehension) and there are thousands of skills developed by others to make use of the Alexa assistance. It’s an echo system that works fairly well and is growing.

The Echo can also pair with other Alexa speakers and if you have a couple of them you can create a stereo cluster of smart speakers. The Drop In feature allows you to communicate between the Echo devices.

Echo lacks what the Echo Plus has – built-in Zigbee smart home hub and temperature sensor. It may not be a deal-breaker if you are using Echo only as a smart speaker but if you are planning to interconnect different Alexa supported Smart devices from various brands in your home, it’s slightly at disadvantage but can be overcome by using an external smart home hub. Frankly, I use Echo as a smart speaker and only as a smart speaker and it doesn’t hinder me.

For those who are paranoid about Alexa eavesdropping always, there is a control for microphone and you can turn it off but when you do so the Echo would only be a bluetooth speaker deprived of its smartness. The Echo needs to listen actively and constantly to be at your call of service. Still, there is toggle control for your assurance.

Amazon Echo 3rd Gen Review | Verdict

Amazon has expanded its Echo portfolio vastly, there are multiple devices now and am lucky to have experienced most of them. The all-new Echo (3rd Gen) is currently my favourite one and Amazon has got it’s pricing right vis-à-vis its smartness and the audio experience. The new Echo sounds like an Echo Plus now and definitely the Echo I would recommend for you.

Tata Sky Binge Review : Who Should Be Buying This?

Lakshmi Rajan — Mon, 29 Jul 2019 11:46:34 +0000

Tata Sky Binge is a co-branded Amazon FireTV stick that brings the goodness of Tata Sky DTH to your streaming device along with bundle of video streaming platforms. The FireTV stick ofcourse comes free for the subscribers but there is a catch. Should you be picking this one? Our complete guide on the Tata Sky Binge would help you decide. India suddenly shifted gears and went on a fast lane when it comes to broadband penetration and speed. Hi,-speed data plans have become cheaper and more people are into streaming now. Amazon FireTV stick has been a popular name and it helps in converting your standard TV or even not-so-smart TV into a smarter box. What TATA Sky has done here comes with a co-branded Amazon FireTV stick that brings their DTH service enabled on to the platform. It offers live TV streaming and OTT platforms in one package.

How to get Tata Sky Binge?

First thing first, you need to be a Tata Sky subscriber. If you choose to install the dish or not is another matter, you are free to be part of the chord cutter generation but you need to have an active Tata Sky subscription. Assuming you are a Tata sky subscriber, you can give a missed call on “8460984609” or call up the customer care on “1800-208-6633” to get one for free. Yes, the stick itself comes free. No charges are extra for it. It usually costs Rs 3,999 on Amazon India (though the price drops during the special Amazon sales).

Tata Sky Binge Subscription – Let’s Do the Math

You get a complimentary 3 months Amazon Prime Video subscription for 3 months as a welcome kit, to get you started instantly. Post that, to continue you can pay Rs 999 a year or Rs 129 a month directly to Amazon India. If you are not aware, the Amazon Prime membership offers access to Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime reading and free Prime delivery when you order products in Amazon India platform. If you have an existing account, you can simply connect it with the Binge. Also, you get 30 days free trial for Tata Sky Binge. Amazon FireTV stick has many OTT platforms like Hotstar, Eros Now, Sun NXT, Hungama Play and many more. Tata Sky has tied up with the three OTT platforms I mentioned here. When you pay Rs 249 every month for Binge service, you get access to Hotstar, Eros Now, Sun NXT and Hungama Play which translates to a total of Rs 249 x 12 = Rs 2,988. This is in addition to your usual Tata Sky DTH subscription that you make depending on the channels you have opted for. FireTV Stick also lists Netflix, Alt Balaji and other platforms but you need a separate subscription for each.

How much do you really save?

Let’s do the math. Hotstar Premium subscription is available for Rs 299 a month, or Rs 999 a year. The Hungama Play subscription is usually available for Rs 149 a month, and Rs 1,399 a year. Similarly, Eros Now subscription is available for Rs 99 a month or Rs 950 per year. Rs 3,348 is what you would pay for yearly subscriptions for these three platforms. But with the Binge service, you end up paying a total of Rs 249 x 12 = Rs 2,988. You get a marginal Rs 360 savings a year with Tata Sky Binge. Not really a great sweetener you think? But this would work for two sets of people especially.

Tata Sky Binge – For whom is it, actually?

If you have more than one TV, you would be aware of the fact each TV would be billed separately for the DTH plans as per the new TRAI policy and of course you need to pay for two set-top boxes. It makes it more complicated and also increases your monthly DTH charges. If you have a Tata Sky binge, you can simply use the FireTV stick on the second TV and enjoy the Live TV there instead of separate billing. So whatever you enjoy in your existing DTH plans can be enjoyed in the second TV via streaming with the stick. Also, you can catch up the last 7 day’s missed contents via the Binge app. You can also watch different content on the two different TV simultaneously. So essentially for your DTH subscription plan + Rs 249, you can access the contents in two televisions. Then, if you are living in an area where the monsoon plays havoc and you constantly get transmission lost signal due to weather conditions that happen with the traditional dish services. The Binge offers uninterrupted streaming of your favourite channels, provided you have a good internet plan with at least 4MBps connection for good streaming.

Tata Sky Binge App Overview

It essentially is a FireTV ecosystem with an added Binge App which you don’t get on other Amazon FireTV stick. Through the Binge app in the Firetv stick you can access the live channels, a familiar format if you have used Tata Sky app on your mobile. What I really find useful is the catch-up TV service where you can watch your favourite shows that you missed from the last 7 days. It also allows to pause the episodes and continue later at your convenience. Plus you get all the goodness of the FireTV stick with many platforms/apps hosted on it. The UI is user-friendly and clean without being uncluttered. Though there could be few improvements with the Binge live TV app to make it easier each time if it remembers our language preferences.

Verdict:

I already own two FireTV sticks in my home. The first generation one and the FireTV stick 4K. The new FireTV stick comes with a power button and volume button but the Tata Sky Binge fire tv stick doesn’t have them, so it’s the previous generation stick. I just put it here so you are aware of this small fact. But the FireTV experience nevertheless is the same. And both support Firetv voice commands. Should you buy Tata Sky Binge? If you don’t have a FireTV stick and you are an existing subscriber you get a FireTV stick for free. While doing the math, the Rs 249 extra every month you pay for binge service does not save you much but if you have two TV’s in your home and have a good high-speed internet plan, you save a lot on your second TV channel subscription and avoid separate billing. Also, storm or rain, you can enjoy uninterrupted watching plus the convenience of catching up the past episodes from the last 7 days. So, do your math and decide. ]]>

If you are a developer, it's time to code Alexa skills and get rewarded

Lakshmi Rajan — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 03:28:06 +0000

Developers making skills in the following categories are eligible in the program.

Education & Reference
Food & Drink
Games, Trivia & Accessories
Kids
Health & Fitness
Lifestyle
Music & Audio
Productivity

“Since we introduced Alexa in India last year, thousands of developers have published informative and engaging skills on the India store. In just over a year, the number of skills available for customers has doubled from 10,000 to more than 20,000,” said Dilip R.S., Country Manager for Alexa Skills, Amazon India. “We’re focused on enabling developers to create even more useful and engaging experiences for our customers, and we’re excited to see what experiences the developer community creates next.” If you are a developer and want to know how to create engaging skills for the Indian audience, Amazon has some tips to offer for improving their existing skills and best practices to promote their Alexa skills and reach more customers. If a skill qualifies for the reward, its developer will receive an email from the Alexa team. The email will cover the next steps for registration and payment account setup. Developers must make sure their country/region is correctly set to India in the profile section on the Amazon developer portal. Once the skill you developed is qualified for the reward program, the developer will receive an email from the Alexa team. The email will guide you through the next steps for registration and payment account setup. If you are an Indian developer coding skills for the Indian market, be sure to mark the country/region correctly to India in the profile section on the Amazon developer portal. I have read many success stories of developers in the Alexa blog page, so if you are a developer and had success in the Alexa skill market, do drop us a mail and share your experience. ]]>

The all new Kindle Paperwhite 2018 Review

Lakshmi Rajan — Wed, 28 Nov 2018 11:31:40 +0000

Its been more than 2 years since I turned paperless with Kindle Paperwhite, and the experience has been great since then. I rarely bought any paperbooks since then and I have been consuming pages on the best selling product in the Amazon’s Kindle range. It worked great through all my travels and my rough uses, though there were few minor uplifts Amazon could do and enter the all-new Kindle Paperwhite 2018. So what is new here? Go ahead read my all new kindle paperwhite 2018 review to find more. Amazon has picked some of the best features from its top end kindle particularly from the Kindle Oasis and introduced them in the new Kindle Paperwhite to make it more feature-rich affordable e-reader.

New features of Kindle Paperwhite 2018

In a nutshell, the new Kindle is:

lighter and thinner
waterproof
supports audio books
has improved hardware
and more importantly, has a flushed screen.

The new Kindle Paperwhite is more flatter

The main element of the new Paperwhite design which is more notable too is the flushed display. The previous generation of the Paperwhite had a pronounced bezel around the display like a photo frame. It was more visible and in 2018 it does look outdated. Many consumers also complained about dirt getting into the edges of the screen. Amazon takes care of that with a flat flushed display. Yes, the bezels are still around there but it is not raised above the screen. Personally, I don’t mind the black bezels around, it gives a good grip plus the hands doesn’t cover the reading content. So the design looks neater, the flushed screen makes it a lot easier to wipe clean and the screen doesn’t trap any micro particles. Since I got both the Kindles with me, side by side it makes lot of visual differences plus the new design is also more practical in keeping the screen in daily use. A minor change but makes more sense. The new Kindle is also marginally lighter and thinner. Otherwise, it follows the similar Paperwhite design. The construction is plastic with a rubberised non-slip finish. The bottom houses the power button as well as the micro USB port for charging. There are no other buttons. The display again is the same with a 6-inches screen size with a resolution of 300 pixels per inch, the resolution which I find to be apt for reading. Though the new Paperwhite has one extra LED totalling five now. The previous generation itself was good in outdoor reading under sunlight, the new one only betters it a tad more. For uninitiated, the Kindle doesn’t use LCD technology but uses Paperwhite display technology with E Ink Carta and built-in light which is soft on eyes, gives an almost similar book paper book reading experience and with the built-in lights can also be used in dark. Do note, the entry-level Kindle does not have the built-in light.

With Waterproof the new Paperwhite 2018 is more durable

Another notable highlight is the new Kindle is waterproof with an IPX8 rating. What does it mean? This Kindle can be dunked under water up to 2 meters for 60 minutes without any worries. Now you don’t have to worry about your Kindle Paperwhite in rain or if you would want to read floating in a swimming pool or tub. Like bathroom singer, bathroom reader anyone?

Now supports audio books

I am not a fan of audio books but for all its worth if you do listen, the new Kindle Paperwhite does support audio books now and is compatible with Audible. Audible is Amazon’s audiobook company and Amazon allows in many cases to buy both readable and spoken book at the same time. WhisperSync feature will allow you to jump from readable format to audio book seamlessly. Kindle Paperwhite now comes with Bluetooth, so you can pair your speakers or headphones with it.

The New Paperwhite offers different profiles

This is a very handy introduction with this Paperwhite which many might appreciate. It gives shortcut access to different profiles. You can choose different fonts, sizes and spacing as per your choice and save them as presets and access them quickly. While this might be a small feature, avid readers will appreciate it.

Store more books on your new Kindle Paperwhite 2018

One great thing about Kindle is you can store a lot of books, a real lots. Now the storage has been doubled for the base variant with an 8GB storage and there is even a 32GB model. The bigger storage means you can store anywhere between 2000 to 8000 books now, allowing you to carry around a mini library with you anywhere. Amazon is a rich platform allowing you to buy books directly or choose various reading subscriptions models. If you are an Amazon Prime member, there is Prime books giving free access to many books and if you want to reach a still wider access there is Kindle Unlimted for pro readers.

And few more changes…

Last but not least there are some refreshes to the home screen layout which now is not static but gives new suggestions from Kindle unlimited, Prime reading and Goodreads along with some fun facts. You can also invert the screen color so the background is in black instead of the text, just in case you prefer that.

Verdict

The new Kindle Paperwhite is a modest update to the already most popular Kindle out there. It adds some few premier elements. Kindle has been a good companion for me last few years, making me to carry my library smartly wherever I go and whenever I want to read. What I really liked about the new Kindle Paperwhite is the flushed display and the waterproof might be welcomed by those who would want a relaxed reading at a swimming pool or in the bath. The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is undoubtedly the best e-reader out there and the new Paperwhite adds some refreshing changes to it.]]>

5 Alexa Kids Skills to try out in India

Lakshmi Rajan — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 07:06:19 +0000

new kids skill additions ,ranging from nursery rhymes to brain teasers and immersive adventure and game skills. If you haven’t checked it, I would suggest you to check it out HERE. While there are many skills sets, here we list five new skills that would help children explore, innovate and create. Experience an interactive adventure with Chhota Bheem Skills to try: Chhota Bheem Adventures Engage your kid with the best interactive experience featuring India’s most popular hero, Chhota Bheem. The Chhota Bheem Adventures skill for Alexa is a game which lets children immerse themselves in the world of Dholakpur. The experience is not just limited to original voices of Chhota Bheem and friends but also has enough sound effects and visuals to directly teleport the audience to Dholakpur. Just Say, “Alexa, Open Chhota Bheem Adventures” and set off on a mission to explore the caves which have recently been unearthed in Dholakpur with Chhota Bheem. Adventure Ride with Mike Skills to try: forest fortune Indulge your kids in an interactive and adventurous ride of King George’s hidden treasure. This adventure encompasses a Royal Treasure map, exploring through the Wild Forest, interacting with friendly animals and humans, overcoming obstacles and learn fun facts from Mike throughout the adventure. Just Say, “Alexa, Open Forest Fortune” and take your kid through a royal adventure to hunt for King George’s hidden treasure. Life Lessons with Panda Rescue Skills to try: panda rescue Introduce your kid into the fun and interactive world of Panda Wilderness School. In the game, Kids get to be the assigned care taker of an orphan baby panda and teach important life lessons by making the right choices as they move through the game. Just say, “Alexa, open Panda Rescue”. Gamify learning with Playablo Skills to try: Playablo Make learning fun with Playablo, a gamified learning app. featuring thousands of short 7-question quizzes, Playablo helps your child identify his or her strengths and improvement areas and the robust feedback system will help you keep track of your child’s progress. It also features several gameplay elements like points, leaderboards and peer-to-peer competition that will help your child retain what he or she learns in school. Just say, “Alexa, open Playablo” and help your child rediscover the joy of learning. Chronicles of Appu’s Adventure land Skills to try: Appu’s adventures Based on themes and rhymes from Appu’s world, this interactive skill is designed to help develop and improvise listening, comprehending and problem-solving abilities in children. Just say, “Alexa, open Appu’s Adventures” and let your kid experience the interactive world of Appu’s adventures. ]]>

Amazon updates the Echo Lineup and Introduces the Echo Sub, a sub-woofer for your Echo devices

Lakshmi Rajan — Sat, 22 Sep 2018 10:01:46 +0000

Amazon has updated their Eco line-up in India including the Amzon Echo Dot, Echo Plus and also have introduced a new Echo companion device, Echo Sub Smart speakers. The Echo Dot comes at a price tag of Rs 4,499, Echo Plus costs Rs 14,999 and the Echo Sub can be picked for Rs 12,999. The new lineup can be pre-ordered on Amazon India, while the new Echo Dot and Echo Plus will ship next month, the Echo Sub will be shipping later this year.

Key features of the new Amazon Echo Dot

new curved shape
all new fabric finish
Available in Charcoal, Heather Gray and Sandstone
More powerful sound

The Echo Dot is the entry level Echo device. It can connect to your home theatre or other speakers via Bluetooth or 3.5mm cable for extra, bigger sound. Like the other Echo devices, it also has Alexa-on board allowing the user to get talk to the device to listen to your favourite music, get weather information or other news, set timers and alarms and control compatible smart home devices.

Key Features of the new Amazon Echo Plus

A three-inch woofer and “increased back volume”
Now has an embedded temperature sensor
All new fabric design
Available in Charcoal, Heather Gray, Sandsone

The Echo Plus is the larger Echo device available and comes with a larger 3″ Neodymium woofer. It also comes with built-in Zigbee smart home hub, making Smart connectivity with the compatible devices easy and automatic without the need for additional hubs or apps. The Temperature sensor allows you to set temperature based routines using other smart home devices. For example, when the living room reaches 32 degree Celsius, Alexa can send a notification to your phone and turn on the AC connected to a smart plug.

What is Amazon Echo Sub

The most interesting introduction is the Amazon Echo Sub, a companion device for your Echo speakers. This is a wireless Echo subwoofer for those who wants to add some extra bass to their Echo speakers. The Echo Sub has a 6-inch woofer which can deliver 100 watts deep bass. The device can be paired to any other Echo device to create a 1.1 or 2.1 pairing for a stereo sound effect. It also has an equalizer to adjust the bass, mid-range and treble of the pairing via simple voice command, say “Alexa, turn up the bass” and so. Cool right? ]]>

New Amazon Alexa Kids Skills in India brings in more contents | Details

Lakshmi Rajan — Thu, 12 Jul 2018 05:15:58 +0000

Kids embrace technology faster and it comes natural to them. At my home, Alexa Echo is the only music player my kid uses and he is at ease with the voice interaction. Apart from music, he also converses with Alexa for certain questions like how far is moon from earth, what is the capital city of a particular country and so on. With Alexa Echo range getting popular in India, Amazon has launched a new category of Alexa kids skills tailor made for children under 13 years of age in India. Some of the popular characters and titles I grew up reading when I was kid myself finds place in Alexa now such as Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle, ChuChu TV, PAC-MAN, Hungama, Appu Series, Videogyan, HooplaKidz, Playablo, Moshi Twilight, and Bob the Train. These skills can be accessed on all Amazon Echo devices as well as the free Alexa app for smartphones. Amazon has been constantly adding new skills to their skills store in India which has over 15,000 skills spread across various genres like music, news, food, games, smart home and more. Adding to it is the new 350 Alexa kids skills, which can challenge the children with brain teasers and quizzes, listen to nursery rhymes and stories and have fun learning about various topics from wildlife to English, using simple voice commands with Alexa. There are also various nursery rhymes, songs & rhyme-game skills.

How to discover the Alexa Kids Skills?

The kids skills can be accessed via Alexa app or http://www.amazon.in/kidskills , or just by asking “Alexa, what kid skills do you have?”.

Alexa Kids skills from popular brands

Nursery rhymes, songs & rhyme-game skills

ChuChu TV: One of the world’s most watched kids edutainment channels, brings hundreds of nursery rhymes, stories, songs on colors and animals for kids to Alexa. Just say “Alexa, open ChuChu TV” or “Alexa, ask ChuChu TV to play animal songs”.
Appu’s Adventure: Based on themes and rhymes from Appu’s world, this interactive skill is designed to help develop and improvise listening, comprehending and problem-solving abilities in children. Just say “Alexa, open Appu’s Adventures “.
Hungama Rhymes: Kids can explore audio rhymes on animal kingdom, festivals, educational and fun rhymes from Hungama and Appu Series. Just say “Alexa, open Hungama Rhymes”.
HooplaKidz: The skill makes learning with songs and rhymes interactive, fun and refreshing with its karaoke and quiz. Just say “Alexa, open HooplaKidz”.
Bob the Train: Bob the Train comes alive to talk, sing, tell stories and interact with kids like a friend. At the end of every song, Alexa will ask a question which kids can answer. Just say “Alexa, open Bob the Train”.

Brain teasers, quizzes, trivia & joke skills

Amar Chitra Katha’s India Quiz: India’s favourite storyteller has put together this fantastic quiz that will help kids expand their knowledge of Indian mythology; from gods to kings. Just say, “Alexa, open Amar Chitra Katha Quiz” or “Alexa, open ACK Quiz”.
Suppandi’s Crazy Brain Teasers: Tinkle’s favourite simpleton is here to rack your brains with clever riddles that are way too smart for him. Help him out with these wacky questions and exercise your brain muscles as well. Just say, “Alexa, open Suppandi Quiz”.
Would You Rather Family: Answer the most ludicrous and silly questions ever created for kids in this Alexa skill. Kids can play alone or with friends and family and burst out in laughter over their answers. Just say, “Alexa, open Would You Rather Family”.
Other skills on this theme include Shambu’s Jungle Quiz – popular for helping kids learn all about the animal kingdom, one question at a time, and Beano – popular for ultimate True and False quiz.

Immersive & adventure game skills

Forest Fortune: This interactive, pick-a-part story game, will take kids through a royal adventure to hunt for King George’s hidden treasure. Just say “Alexa, open Forest Fortune”.
Panda Rescue: Kids get to be the assigned carer of an orphaned baby panda and teach important life lessons by making the right choices as they move through the game. Just say “Alexa, open Panda Rescue”.

Educational skill

Playablo: The skill uses gamification to help kids learn English. Just say “Alexa, open Playablo”.

Fun & interactive story skills

PAC-MAN™ Stories: This skill is designed to provide a fun and educational ‘choose your own adventure’ experience where children of all ages can make the right moral choices to complete each adventure set on PAC-MAN Planet. Just say, “Alexa, launch PAC-MAN Stories.”
Amazon Storytime: This skill offers a growing collection of professionally narrated short stories read by Aidy Bryant (known for her roles on Saturday Night Live) and Tom Kenny (known as the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants). Just say, “Alexa, ask Amazon Storytime to read me a story”.
Moshi Twilight: This skill can help settle little listeners at bedtime. It features surreal stories with dreamy melodies and calming narration, guided relaxations and soothing sounds, all with a magical Moshi twist. Just say “Alexa, open Moshi Twilight”.

With all these skills under its hood, Amazon Alexa is shaping up to be an engaging platform for family.]]>

Catch up with the Football frenzy with Amazon Alexa

Lakshmi Rajan — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 06:48:26 +0000

More than half of the world population is catching up with the Football updates and that is a quiet a big number for any game. The biggest football tournament with 32 national teams taking part is currently underway in Russia and the fans across the globe are cheering their favourites. Honestly, I am not a hardcore football fan but I do like to be updated with the news and a quick analysis of what is unfolding, interesting facts and also make sure I don’t miss my favourite matches. With Alexa at home, now it has become easier for me to stay afloat with the Football madness. Cheat code: Alexa also helps me to handle the barrage of inquisitive football trivias my son asks !

Here is a quick guide to get Alexa be your perfect football assistant.

Brush up with the Football Facts and History

Make sure you stay up-to-date about the tournament with right amount of background knowledge. Learn interesting tidbits with skills like Football Vocabulary and Football Facts. You can even improve your own game on the pitch with skills like Football Drills. For some baseline knowledge on the tournament as a whole, you can ask things like:

“Alexa, what teams are playing in the World Cup?”
“Alexa, who won the last World Cup?”
“Alexa, when is the last time France won the World Cup?”
“Alexa, what country has won the most World Cups?”
“Alexa, who is the top scorer for Argentina?
“Alexa, what group is Sweden in for the World Cup?”

Stay updated with the Football Game schedules and updates

Need some talking points to sound informed during the tournament? Alexa can help. Get up-to-the-minute updates by asking things like:

“Alexa, what World Cup games are on today?”
“Alexa, when does Argentina play next in the World Cup?”
“Alexa, who scored for Germany?
“Alexa, what’s the score of the Panama game?”

“Alexa, who scored for France?”

And on a lighter now .. Alexa has her favourite too 🙂

While making sure that you have all the information about World Cup this season, Alexa has also made up her mind on favourites. Find out if you think alike:

“Alexa, which is your favourite football team?”
“Alexa, who is your favourite football player?”
“Alexa, which footballer has the coolest hairstyle?”
“Alexa, which is your favourite football anthem?”

“Alexa, who will win the World Cup?”

https://youtu.be/clF8FHkqDUk]]>

What is Alexa? Should you buy Amazon Echo? What Can It Do for You?

Lakshmi Rajan — Sun, 04 Feb 2018 18:47:55 +0000

Warning: Alexa can spoil you but in a fun way and once you are into it, there is no going back. I grew up on diet of Star Trek and the likes, so naturally devices responding to voice command had always fascinated me since then. Then came the Assistant, Siri and Bixby of the Smartphone world and people got the glimpse of the future forward. Voice is going to shape up the future and control the gadgets around you and is so much of fun and convenient at the same time. ( as a side effect, it can make you lazy too!)

What is Alexa?

Story goes that the name Alexa was chosen to evoke the legendary Library of Alexandria from ancient Egypt. It also gives a more human sounding name to the AI at work. So that’s Alexa the Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology developed by Amazon which is now working on the Echo devices and many other devices from other manufacturers who have implemented Amazon’s voice-activated virtual assistant on their products. In this article though, we will keep our purview restricted to Amazon’s own Echo lineup of devices, one of which I been using for a while now. Alexa lets you speak your wishes to an Echo smart speaker (or other Alexa-powered devices) and see the command executed be like stuff like playing your music, dimming the lights, turning on the TV to even booking a cab for you.

How does Alexa work?

Alexa is developed on natural-language processing system and you can talk naturally with it and make it respond to you and do things it is capable of. For an example, when you are listening to a music you can either say Alexa stop, Alexa shut up or Alexa enough and it understands that. You don’t have to memorize specfic commands to communicate with it. Alexa is always listening and is quick to respond. To get this all started of course you need an Echo device, Amazon Prime membership (In India, when you buy an Echo device you also get a complimentary one year of Prime membership free) and WiFi. It’s all in the cloud. Once you are done with the initial setup, you are ready to engage with Alexa. Alexa doesn’t discriminate all it needs is a name-call , you can choose to call it Alexa or Amazon or Echo for it to respond. Once you ask say “How is the weather in Bangalore today” , the always active mics of the device picks the query, instantly send it to the Amazon cloud and answers you , in case you ask something it cannot comprehend, it says a polite sorry.

Why should you get Alexa Echo devices?

If you ask an one-liner – it is so much of fun. My son and me are having fun time playing out tracks alternatively on the Echo and having awesome father-son bonding time. But there is more to it why you should get interested with Echo. Echo is a speaker at the heart (with an odd exception being the Echo dot, will talk about that in a while). I am an audiophile as well as a tech enthusiast , I have piled up quiet a many bluetooth speakers and few of them are to be honest a better speaker than the Echo, but still these days I spend more time listening on Echo for the simple reason it is simply convenient to speak to Alexa to play my song as I enter my home than turning on the Speaker and searching for the song on my playlist. Alexa listens and plays for me. This sets it apart from other audio devices I own now. Plus, I could also ask Alexa to run through the news, dictate a recipe when am in a mood to stir something in kitchen and can also ask some random general knowledge question at it. If you are like me, who like to welcome future to your home, Alexa echo should interest you.

Amazon Echo – The Devices

In India, Amazon sells now three devices – the Echo Dot, Echo and Echo Plus. There is the Amazon Show and Spot with screens, which are yet to be launched in India. All Amazon Alexa devices offer essentially the same Alexa functions but they differ in few ways. If you own an awesome bluetooth speaker already, you can simply buy an Echo dot and can pair it up with your bluetooth speaker. Else, you can buy Echo or the bigger sibling Echo Plus but do note that the later two cannot be paired with other bluetooth speaker. You can group multiple Echo devices though and play the same music on all of them at the same time. Echo, the one I own has its own speaker and if you are more into Smart-home stuff and connected devices you should be looking at the Echo Plus, which has a smart hub built-in.

What can you do with Alexa in India?

Amazon has included Prime Music which is yet to be officially launched here with the Echo devices. To cater to the Indian audience they have Prime music, Savann and TuneIn for the music buffs. They can pull the music of your choice. Alexa is quiet fluent with the English songs but when you go local, it does struggle to pull out specific songs in local languages. It’s more like a hit or miss. Though, it could play radio channels and playlist more accurately than individual songs from Indian languages. Being an AI, it is only a matter of time when it is ease at local languages and their nuances. The only time you would be using the Alexa app, is to configure your device initially and also enable skills. Amazon has opened their platform to developers and there are thousands of skills to be enabled. There are many local skills that bring local flavour to your Alexa experience. You can also setup some routine for the devices. I have set a routine to play a particular devotional song my mom likes to hear at a particular time of the day. You can make your own routines and also reminders. You can also add to your shopping list and let me also add that there was an instance my son innocently ordered a Lego, which triggered the usual SMS that we get when an order is placed. Luckily, I noticed the SMS and still had time to cancel the order. So Alexa can do a bit of stuff for you. Now that you are familiar with Alexa, in the next couple of articles I will talk about the Echo I own and also the various popular skills available in Indian market. ]]>