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You’ve probably arrived on this page looking for the best smart speakers or pondering over whether you should buy a HomePod, Echo Dot, or the slick-looking Google Home Mini. Here are some things you should really consider before buying a smart speaker. After all, ditching your conventional home theater setup for a committed smart speaker is big deal.

Here we’ll talk about what smart speakers are capable of. How feasible is it to have one, and whether you really need one or not? I have an Echo Dot smart speaker at home, and I often use Siri on my iPhone. So I suppose I am in a good position to talk about the topic.

What Is A Smart Speaker?

For the uninitiated, a smart speaker is an artificial intelligence-powered speaker. It can answer your queries, play games with you, read the news, set alarms, reminders, play music, control smart home gadgets, and do a lot more.

If you ask me what are the best smart speakers you can buy, there are three answers. We have the Amazon Alexa speakers (Echo series), Google Home , and the Siri HomePod . The smaller speakers like the Amazon Echo Dot and the Google Home Mini are the most sought-after smart speakers. It is so because they’re tiny, powerful, and feature-packed.

That said, we also have bigger smart speakers like the Sonos One, that support Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. However, they’re on the more expensive side of the price spectrum. In a nutshell, a smart speaker is a WiFi-connected speaker that uses the same assistants as your phone (Siri, Google Assistant, or Amazon Alexa).

How Smart Is A Smart Speaker?

Smart speakers have come a long way since their creation. They almost feel human when you interact with them, showing a level of refinement in the gadgets. However, all of that refinement and features are only with you as long as you have an internet connection.

They are relay points that listen to your voice, send them to the cloud, process it, and answer your queries. These are WiFi-connected speakers and they need an active internet connection to work.

If you lose internet connectivity and try to use your smart speaker, you’ll hear something like, “Sorry, I’m having trouble connecting to the internet. Please check the help section of your Alexa app.” I didn’t have to look it up because I remember that from my Echo Dot. That is so because there have been connectivity issues in my area lately, which means the internet isn’t stable, which translates to my smart speaker being no good at times.

Another disadvantage of smart speakers is that most of them are not portable. Smart speakers usually don’t come with batteries, which means they need an active electricity supply all the time. So if you have a power outage, you can’t even use it as a Bluetooth speaker because it needs electricity to run.

To summarize, a smart speaker is a regular speaker with a sophisticated circuit. It packs the same artificial intelligence as your phone, which means that it also needs an internet connection, just like your phone. So smart speakers are really smart in terms of design and price since you can get the cheapest smart speaker for as low as $40 (Rs 2,900).

Should You Buy A Smart Speaker?

Now that you know what is a smart speaker and the prerequisites of owning one, let’s talk about whether you should buy a smart speaker. If you live in an area with frequent power cuts or unstable internet connections, it’s probably not a good idea to go for a smart speaker.

However, if you’re looking for a speaker that can do much more than just play music, go for it. You can use a smart speaker just to know the weather, news, fuel prices, play music, games, and much more. Just remember it’s all fun and games till the WiFi acts up.

Also, if you’re an audiophile or someone with a refined taste in music-listening, don’t go for the entry-level smart speakers. I have an Echo Dot and I have listened to a Google Home Mini as well. Both miss out on the mid-range and do an okay job with the bass.

Rounding up, it’s functional to have a smart speaker because it can double up as a personal assistant and smart home control. However, you should keep in mind that a basic Bluetooth speaker at the same price might give you a similar, if not better, music quality and portability.

The post The Pros And Cons Of Owning A Smart Speaker: Let’s Find Out! appeared first on Fossbytes .

You’ve probably arrived on this page looking for the best smart speakers or pondering over whether you should buy a HomePod, Echo Dot, or the slick-looking Google Home Mini. Here are some things you should really consider before buying a smart speaker. After all, ditching your conventional home theater setup for a committed smart speaker is big deal.

Here we’ll talk about what smart speakers are capable of. How feasible is it to have one, and whether you really need one or not? I have an Echo Dot smart speaker at home, and I often use Siri on my iPhone. So I suppose I am in a good position to talk about the topic.

What Is A Smart Speaker?

For the uninitiated, a smart speaker is an artificial intelligence-powered speaker. It can answer your queries, play games with you, read the news, set alarms, reminders, play music, control smart home gadgets, and do a lot more.

If you ask me what are the best smart speakers you can buy, there are three answers. We have the Amazon Alexa speakers (Echo series), Google Home , and the Siri HomePod . The smaller speakers like the Amazon Echo Dot and the Google Home Mini are the most sought-after smart speakers. It is so because they’re tiny, powerful, and feature-packed.

That said, we also have bigger smart speakers like the Sonos One, that support Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. However, they’re on the more expensive side of the price spectrum. In a nutshell, a smart speaker is a WiFi-connected speaker that uses the same assistants as your phone (Siri, Google Assistant, or Amazon Alexa).

How Smart Is A Smart Speaker?

Smart speakers have come a long way since their creation. They almost feel human when you interact with them, showing a level of refinement in the gadgets. However, all of that refinement and features are only with you as long as you have an internet connection.

They are relay points that listen to your voice, send them to the cloud, process it, and answer your queries. These are WiFi-connected speakers and they need an active internet connection to work.

If you lose internet connectivity and try to use your smart speaker, you’ll hear something like, “Sorry, I’m having trouble connecting to the internet. Please check the help section of your Alexa app.” I didn’t have to look it up because I remember that from my Echo Dot. That is so because there have been connectivity issues in my area lately, which means the internet isn’t stable, which translates to my smart speaker being no good at times.

Another disadvantage of smart speakers is that most of them are not portable. Smart speakers usually don’t come with batteries, which means they need an active electricity supply all the time. So if you have a power outage, you can’t even use it as a Bluetooth speaker because it needs electricity to run.

To summarize, a smart speaker is a regular speaker with a sophisticated circuit. It packs the same artificial intelligence as your phone, which means that it also needs an internet connection, just like your phone. So smart speakers are really smart in terms of design and price since you can get the cheapest smart speaker for as low as $40 (Rs 2,900).

Should You Buy A Smart Speaker?

Now that you know what is a smart speaker and the prerequisites of owning one, let’s talk about whether you should buy a smart speaker. If you live in an area with frequent power cuts or unstable internet connections, it’s probably not a good idea to go for a smart speaker.

However, if you’re looking for a speaker that can do much more than just play music, go for it. You can use a smart speaker just to know the weather, news, fuel prices, play music, games, and much more. Just remember it’s all fun and games till the WiFi acts up.

Also, if you’re an audiophile or someone with a refined taste in music-listening, don’t go for the entry-level smart speakers. I have an Echo Dot and I have listened to a Google Home Mini as well. Both miss out on the mid-range and do an okay job with the bass.

Rounding up, it’s functional to have a smart speaker because it can double up as a personal assistant and smart home control. However, you should keep in mind that a basic Bluetooth speaker at the same price might give you a similar, if not better, music quality and portability.

The post The Pros And Cons Of Owning A Smart Speaker: Let’s Find Out! appeared first on Fossbytes .

Smart speakers owe all their smartness to their WiFi connection. In the case of Amazon Echo, you have to know how to connect Alexa to WiFi in order to make the most out of it. You can easily connect your Amazon Echo speaker to the internet using the Alexa app on your smartphone.

I have an Amazon Echo Dot, and it flashes a red light when it has trouble connecting to the internet. When that happens, you’ll have to manually connect your Alexa to WiFi again. This method works fine with my speaker, so it will be pretty much the same for your Alexa Echo Dot or any other Alexa speakers.

How To Connect Echo Dot To WiFi

How To Set Up Amazon Echo

If you’ve just purchased an Amazon Echo speaker, you can go through our detailed work on how to set up Amazon Echo . Here, we’ve covered what Echo and Alexa are, how to set up Echo, Amazon Echo configurations, and how to use Echo and Alexa commands.

Bonus: How To Connect Alexa To Laptop Via Bluetooth

You can use Alexa as a Bluetooth speaker with practically any device that is Bluetooth enabled. Once you set up Alexa, say “Alexa, turn on Bluetooth pairing,” and it will start scanning for nearby Bluetooth devices.

Turn on Bluetooth on your phone/laptop and look for your Echo speaker . Tap on it to pair, and you can now use your Echo as a Bluetooth speaker when streaming Netflix from your phone or laptop. Since Alexa and Apple Music integration seems like a distant dream, for now, this is one way to listen to your Apple Music playlists on your Alexa speakers.

Amazon Alexa FAQs

The post How To Connect Alexa To WiFi: Bonus Alexa Trick Included appeared first on Fossbytes .

Amazon Alexa, aka the smart speaker that you secretly ask all your dumb questions, is celebrating three years in Australia. As it turns out, you probably weren’t the only one asking it for silly things over the past few years.

New stats gathered from Amazon’s first three years in Australia have revealed just how we’re using our smart speakers at home.

What do Australians want from a smart speaker?

Apparently, most of us, ie. 48%, are simply asking Alexa for the latest news and weather reports. But it only gets weirder from there.

The stats suggest that Aussies are requesting Alexa for insults four times as much as we’re asking for compliments. Also, did you know Alexa has some nifty mods like Pikachu Talk? I did not, but apparently many other Australians do because requests grew 270% year on year.

Requests also grew for totally normal robot things like asking Alexa to fart and talk like a dog. (We really have been stuck at home too long.)

Aussies also asked Alexa to stream music and in 2021 the top request was Tones and I’s ‘Dance Monkey’. That logic checks out seeing as I haven’t been able to get that song out of my head for any of the past 365 days.

Alexa also does some admittedly cool things like controlling your smart lights and doorbell, which is predicted to really take off in the next five years.

What else can you ask Alexa?

Now that we know what people have been asking for, let’s find out what you should be asking Alexa.

Digital Trends has put together some other weird requests to get a little joy out of your virtual assistant.

• Ask Alexa to “meow”. Just like barking, Alexa can also make cat noises to confuse your pets.
• Alexa can “cluck like a chicken”
• “Alexa, who is the voice of Alexa?” – if you went to get really meta.
• “How much do you weigh/how tall are you?” You can get personal, Alexa won’t mind.
• “Alexa, do you know Siri?” Loaded question.
• “Alexa, roll a die” – this is helpful if you’re playing a game
• Chewbacca Chat activates Alexa’s Chewie voice.
• Tell Alexa to “blow up” and see what happens
• You can speak to Alexa in movie prompts, too. Try, “Alexa, I am your father.”
• Did you also know Alexa can live translate into other languages? Very useful.

Get creative with your Alexa requests and she’s sure to be creative back. Don’t you just love it when you can interact with your inanimate smart speaker?

If you want to see the result of these prompts then go and grab yourself an Alexa from Amazon !

The post The Weird Things Aussies Keep Asking Alexa appeared first on Lifehacker Australia .