How to use Amazon Echo, on sale for Prime Day

Amazon is offering major discounts on its Amazon Echo products for Prime Day, which passes at 2:59 pm on Wednesday, Eastern Time. The cheapest model, the Echo Dot, is only $ 22 (usually $ 50), while the normal size is only $ 50 (usually $ 100). dollars).

If you are on the fence, know that you can do a lot more with the Echo than just asking Alexa the time that he will do. You can use an echo for many things, including calling people, booking an Uber, ordering orders on Amazon and even setting it up so that it also serves as a home phone intercom if you own multiple devices.

Before you start, make sure you have the Amazon Alexa app for iPhone or Android. You will use this app to take advantage of some tips in this guide.

Here are a lot of fun things you can do with echo.

You can use Amazon Echo to call phone numbers or anyone with an Amazon Echo. To call a phone number, you must first make sure that person is in your Alexa address book. Check:

• Open the Amazon app
• Press the menu button, then "Contacts".

Once you have confirmed that a person is in your address book, you can call him or her by asking Alexa to call the phone or Echo of a specific person. Here are the commands to try. (I have registered my own name, but I have traded it against the person you are trying to call):

• "Call Todd Haselton's cell phone."
• Or you can call the echo of your contact by saying "Call Todd Haselton's Echo".

You can also send voice messages to your friends or family with an echo. It's a bit like leaving a voicemail message, but your friends will receive an alert on their echo stating that they have a new voicemail message. Then, when they see the alert, they can ask their echo to play it. To send a voice message:

• Say "Alexa, send a voice message to Todd Haselton."
• Speak your message.
• Alexa will confirm that you want to send the message.
• Say yes."
• If you received a message, say "Alexa, listen to my messages".

If you have multiple echoes in your home, you can use them as a home intercom system. You may want to do this to invite children to dinner, for example. Here's how to do this:

• Say "Alexa make an announcement."
• Say your ad saying something like, "Hey everyone, dinner is ready!"
• Alexa will make an announcement to all the echoes of your house with the message you have delivered.

If you are at home and want to go for a walk somewhere, you can ask Alexa to get you an Uber or a Lyft. You must first install the Uber or Lyft skill. Here's how to book a trip with Echo.

• Open the Alexa app on your phone.
• Tap the menu button at the top left of the application.
• Tap "Skills and games".
• Look for Uber or Lyft.
• Tap Enable Skill and link your Lyft or Uber account.
• Now ask Lyft or Uber to go for a ride and say "Alexa, ask Lyft for a ride" or "Alexa, ask Uber to ask for a ride."
• Alexa will tell you how far away the nearest Lyft or Uber driver is. You can then confirm that you want to take a ride.

You can use your Echo to order products from Amazon. Sometimes, like Black Friday, Amazon even offers exclusive offers via Echo. To order items from Alexa:

• Say something like "Alexa order soap".
• Alexa will start listing items that might interest you, including products from previous orders, as well as the price. Say "yes" to confirm that you want to buy this item or "no" to hear another article recommended by Alexa. Tell Alexa to stop if you do not want to hear more recommendations.
• You can also order specific products by saying something like "Alexa, order me an Amazon Echo Plus". Alexa will confirm the price before deciding whether to buy it or not.

You can get a flash briefing on some news sites that you follow, including CNBC, AP and BBC. Customize your Flash Briefing by doing the following:

• Open the Alexa app on your phone.
• Tap the menu button at the top left of the screen.
• Choose "Settings".
• Press "Flash Briefing".
• Switch the news sites for which you want to hear news and press "+" to add new sources.
• Now say, "Alexa plays my flash briefing."
• Alexa will give you news of the sources you have chosen.

If you have a Fire TV, you can connect your Echo to Fire TV so that you can ask Alexa to play specific shows or movies. You do not even need to touch the remote.

• Open the Alexa app on your phone.
• Press the menu button at the top left of the page.
• Tap "Settings".
• Choose "TV & Video".
• Press the + button next to Fire TV.
• Tap "Manage Devices".
• Choose "Link another device".
• Choose the Fire TV in your home with which you want to associate your echo.
• Press "Continue".
• Choose the Alexa devices with which you want to connect the Fire TV. You can select multiple echoes.
• Tap "Link devices".
• Now say a command like "Play Man in Castle High on Fire TV".

Amazon has recently launched a new Alexa function called "Routines". When you speak with a certain predefined command, such as "Alexa, hello", you can configure Alexa to perform certain actions, such as reading the weather, start playing music and tell you how long it will take for you return to work. Here's how to create a custom morning routine, but you can also change one of these steps to create something else.

• Open the Alexa app on your phone.
• Tap the menu button at the top left of the application.
• Tap "Routines".
• Press the top button saying "When this happens".
• Choose "Voice".
• Enter the phrase "Hello."
• Tap "Save."
• Now choose "Add Action".
• Tap "Weather".
• Press "Add".
• Now, press "Add Action"
• Tap "Traffic".
• Now, tap "Add Action" again.
• Tap "Music".
• Enter an artist, like Bruce Springsteen.
• Choose your music provider, such as Spotify.
• Tap Next.
• Tap "Create".

Now, when you say "Alexa, hello." Alexa will show you the local weather, the time it takes to get to work, and then start playing Bruce Springsteen. (Note: If you have not yet set up your ride in the Alexa app, you can do it by going to Settings> Traffic.)

Alexa can give you a brief overview of your favorite teams. First of all, you have to tell the teams you follow. To do this:

• Open the Alexa app on your phone.
• Press the menu button at the top left.
• Tap Settings.
• Select "Sports".
• Tap Add Team. "
• Find your favorite team.
• Tap "Save."
• Repeat until you have added all the teams you are following.
• Now, speak "Alexa, what is my sport update?"

Alexa will read the latest scores and upcoming games for each of the teams you follow.

You can ask Alexa to remind you to do things too.

• Say "Alexa, remind me to eat sweet potatoes", or anything that you need a reminder for.
• Alexa will ask you when should this remind you. Say something like "Today at 3 pm"
• Alexa will confirm that she will call you back at the predefined time.
• You can view, edit or add reminders in the Alexa app by pressing the menu button and then selecting "Reminders & Alarms".

Alexa can be very useful in the kitchen, especially if you want to set several timers at a time. You may need to set the oven on a timer, then create a second timer for a chilled item in the refrigerator. To set multiple timers:

• Say, Alexa has set an oven timer for 30 minutes.
• Then talk with another timer, for example, "Set the fridge for an hour."
• You can check a timer by saying "Alexa, what's the oven timer?" Or "Alexa, what is the fridge timer?"
• Alexa will alert you when the specific stopwatch is completed.

If you have several echoes in the house, you can link them to play music at the same time in different rooms. I have a group "downstairs" for my echoes, for example, where my living room, my dining room and my kitchen play the same music. To do this:

Open the Alexa app on your phone.

• Tap the Devices icon at the bottom right. It looks like a little house.
• Press the + button at the top right.
• Tap "Add multi-room speakers."
• Create a group name, such as "Downstairs".
• Choose the echoes you want to include in the group, then tap "Save."

Now you can talk something like "Alexa, play Beethoven downstairs" and Alexa will play music on the speakers of this group.

Amazon keeps a record of everything you ask Alexa. For privacy reasons, you may want to delete these records regularly. You can do it in two ways. To delete what you said recently, just say "Alexa, delete everything I said today" or "Alexa, delete what I just said." To delete everything at the same time, follow these steps:

• Visit the Amazon Device Page
• Select the menu button to the left of the Echo device you want to manage. (The menu button looks like three small dots stacked on top of each other.
• Tap "Manage voice recordings"
• Press "Delete".