Amazon Alexa

[malcolminthemiddle]

Anyone using Amazon Alexa in Thailand? Where did you buy her? How do you find her? Thanks in advance.

[ChrisP24]

I brought one (an echo dot) with me on a trip from the US last year, and it worked fine, other than at one of the places I stayed that required a new wi-fi login each day, which meant I had to connect the Alexa device to my laptop to log it onto the wi-fi each morning.  Later I moved to a condo without that restriction, and after the first connection I didn't have to do anything differently than I do at home. 

 

I'm surprised that they're not more common there by now. 

Edited August 28, 2022 by ChrisP24

[gargamon]

You really want Amazon recording all your conversations? Same with google and apple when you use their voice search capabilities on their phones. Maybe they'd appreciate all the moaning and sex noise though.

[malcolminthemiddle]

5 minutes ago, gargamon said:

You really want Amazon recording all your conversations? Same with google and apple when you use their voice search capabilities on their phones. Maybe they'd appreciate all the moaning and sex noise though.

You know Amazon record all conversations or are you just saying that?

[gargamon]

1 minute ago, malcolminthemiddle said:

You know Amazon record all conversations or are you just saying that?

They have the capability. The voice request(and all other noise in the room) is passed from your alexa to Amazon servers where it is processed. They don't necessarily record it all but could. I worked for a telecom equipment provider way back when and occasionally had the need to visit telephone switches. The workers routinely listened to juicy conversations, without the involved parties being aware. The few I heard were interesting.

 

First thing I do with any new device is disable the voice search capabilities. 

[recom273]

I have 3 - I bought them from Lazada, they are OK, but they aren’t designed for this country and some functions don’t work, like Spotify, (but some people get them to work)
 

I only have three skills, which I use to control apple homekit, and another that allows me to stream music from my home server along with BBC.

I have one scene that automatically reads the news and my calendar for the day when I eat breakfast - and a function that syncs my shopping list to my iPhone shopping list, and my apple calendar, That’s about it.
 

I don’t worry about amazon, if they want to listen to my wife snoring, no problem, you could always mute it if you felt they were analyzing your sex habits. However I am concerned about third party skills mining my data and whatever else, so I avoid using them.

 

For me they are an ultra cheap and readily available alternative to apple HomePod.

Edited August 30, 2022 by recom273

[Stocky]

We've got 5 now dotted through the house, 2x Dot 3, 3x Dot 4. One came from Amazon UK, the other 4 from Lazada. They work fine, I have succeeded in getting Spotify to work, as well as BBC Sounds, Global Player, TuneIn and Skype. There are 5 Sensibo air conditioner controllers linked in, and numerous smartplugs. The intercom 'Drop In' feature is a great help living in a 4 storey shophouse. To do lists and shopping lists link to the Alexa app on the phone, and you can use the drop in feature from the phone too. I find them invaluable.

 

I also don't worry too much about possible eavesdropping. I suspect that's the least of my worries heading deeper in to the digital future.

 

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Edited August 30, 2022 by Stocky