Amazon Echo

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1512 posts

Uber Geek

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#1951008 3-Feb-2018 08:00

Yeah, it's easy enough to reverse. Instead of doing it from amazon.com you do it from amazon.com.au

Never been a fan of how some companies "geo restrict" apps or skills etc like that

fearandloathing

504 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#1951021 3-Feb-2018 08:53

fearandloathing:

Harmony Skill shows AU language support but does not show up as a skill. Hopefully it's not to far away.

The Harmony Skill is there this morning for AU language, damned if i can get it to work. Worked brilliantly previously.

cooljoo

89 posts

Master Geek

#1951050 3-Feb-2018 10:38

Changed account to Amazon Au.

Hopefully changing language to Au will improve Spotify.

It won't play music from my library or daily mixes. Google home can do it.

Swemoph

44 posts

Geek

#1951337 4-Feb-2018 12:47

Bought one yesterday from JB HiFi in Botany, they apparently had tons of them in stock. Working well so far, except that it's currently in the American region. I'm not sure if it's worth changing it to Australia - is the Australia region the official region for us in New Zealand to use? I spoke to an Amazon rep today and he said that they'll be releasing a New Zealand region in the near future but I don't know if this is true.

tripp

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#1951423 4-Feb-2018 14:45

cooljoo: Changed account to Amazon Au.

Hopefully changing language to Au will improve Spotify.

It won't play music from my library or daily mixes. Google home can do it.

@cooljoo oh let me know if it works in Amazon AU, this is the only thing that bugs me about alexa and not being able to tell it to play daily mixes.

It's one of the reason i keep using pandora as alexa knows how to play those stations

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
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Geekzone

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#1951459 4-Feb-2018 16:10

I'd keep using the American region. I have a US account because of larger product availability and options for Amazon Prime streaming. If you don't use streaming or don't want to buy stuff...

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#1951490 4-Feb-2018 16:51

I've moved to the Aussie region with no issues - not using many skills to be fair, mainly Harmony.

...and if I'm honest, if I took my Amazon IOT kit out of the house today, I wouldn't miss them tomorrow.

One years down the track and it appears it is now more an annoyance than anything else.
I'll be interested to watch any developments, but until then it can go back in its box.

Quic Broadband

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JEDENZED

437 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#1951531 4-Feb-2018 18:03

Has anyone managed to get the ZM skill working?

cooljoo

89 posts

Master Geek

#1951624 4-Feb-2018 23:07

ZM skill worked one time but when I tried again it stopped. I tried disabling then enabling but doesn't work.

Speaking of TuneIn Radio the experience is very inconsistent. It doesn't pick up the name of the station but it can find it if you say the frequency. So if you say "Play The Rock Fm" it says couldn't find the station the rock fm. But if you say play 90.2 FM then it says playing Rock FM.

Also I can't figure out how to play local stations on iHeartRadio like Radio Hauraki or Flava.

On Google Home Mini it picks up every station I ask.

Spotify in Alexa is still disappointing compared to Google Home Mini
It can't play my personal playlists or songs from my library and daily mixes. GH can do it.

I have been using my echo dot paired with my Bluetooth speaker and controlling what Spotify songs to play from my phone, but this defeats the purpose of a voice assistant speaker. If the Google home mini had Bluetooth or aux port then would have been killer. I will just have to get a Chromecast Audio which will make it the best music experience for me. Anyone selling one?

I will be selling my 2nd unopened Echo Dot which was part of the JB Hi-fi bundle.

Swemoph

44 posts

Geek

#1952051 5-Feb-2018 15:43

Thanks for the advice, I think I'll stick with the American region. I did try Australia but moved back because of the lack of household support. A few minor gripes I've had so far:

No household support in Australia region - can't share lists with other family members.
You can only add two adults to a household.
Spotify profiles aren't switched based on who's speaking with the voice profile, you need to use Amazon's music for this - but I can't subscribe to it since it's region dependent
Smart home devices aren't universal across profiles, you have to set it up on each one separately
Philips hue skill seems unreliable beyond simple on/off/brightness settings - I have struggled to get it to set scenes reliably.

These issues are mainly to do with family/household sharing and I'm guessing this will get better with time as more updates are released - aside from that everything else is working and I'm happy with my purchase.

d3Xt3r

688 posts

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#1952972 7-Feb-2018 15:17

Set up my Echos on Monday and loving it! Not sure what all the criticism here is for, I for one, love saying "Computer: lights on" and have it turn on the lights as if I were in Star Trek - and that alone is worth the price, IMHO and makes it better than Google Home (for me). :)

Next step - hookup my Breville tea maker so that I can be like Captain Picard and say "Computer: Tea, Earl Grey, Hot". :D

rb99

3423 posts

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#1956309 13-Feb-2018 12:57

Does anyone know how to get Drop In working ? So far I have 1 Echo and 1 Dot. I've renamed the Dot. Can't find a drop in command in the web Alexa app. I haven't got the Alexa app on my Windows (no comments please) phone. There's something about signing up for Alexa Calling and Messaging and adding contacts from my phone, which seems unlikely on said Windows phone.

Is there no way to just intercom to another Alexa device without all this, how can I put it, crap ?

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

3423 posts

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#1956345 13-Feb-2018 14:02

Got round it by using an old Android phone I have. Loaded the Alexa app and seems to be set up and working now. Doesn't even need a sim card in.

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

fearandloathing

504 posts

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#1956585 13-Feb-2018 20:26

Sky just attempted to install on the sky echo skill, with it's TV ad for it's Echo skill. That was annoying.

Swemoph

44 posts

Geek

#1956656 13-Feb-2018 21:59

fearandloathing:

Sky just attempted to install on the sky echo skill, with it's TV ad for it's Echo skill. That was annoying.

Sky obviously taking a page from Burger King's playbook?

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