Welcome back fellow Monkeys and Spammers ...

[Kingy]

(01-03-2017, 05:42 PM)Jollyjoiner Wrote: Well your now even more like Mr Gadget.

I didn't get anything Exciting apart from buying myself a new Giro Chronicle mtb helmet after putting a dint in mine after my little tumble.

I was wondering if those Echo things was any good and was thinking if they was just a waste but it sounds like they could be fun.

As for your Samsung gear s3 frontier watch you seem to have forgotten to tell us if it actually tells the TIME

Good investment (your new lid). Especially given your talent for falling off anything with two wheels

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Hmm. Telling the time on the Gear S3 Smartwatch ... why on earth would I need that function!   Lol ...... Yes, it will tell the time. You can have it set to 'always on' so it looks like a normal watch, or to default which shows the watchface/ time if you look at the screen. Always on mullers the battery and isn't necessary imho. I got 1 and a bit days with display set to always on or three and a bit with it set to 'default'. 
Another handy thing is you can respond to text or email by voice. Say what you want then convert to text.   And answering a call you need to get (caller ID showing) with the watch because your phone is tucked snugly away in the hardest jacket pocket to get to (so you know it will stop the second you get hold of it) ... niiice!   

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The Amazon Echo is good as long as you are prepared to go through a learning curve with it. You can do lots easily from the off, but quickly realise it does need a bit of time to get used to. 

Best way of explaining is  - If you open an app on your mobile - you know it will give you specific information. Eg. Sports app to see race results. Echo does the same thing, only you ask - so no need to pick up the phone, unlock, press app etc etc. BUT, whilst echo can answer some things off the bat ... Eg Play xxx music*, whats the weather like, tell me about this film, tell me the news and so on .... there are other things that need 'skills' adding through the Alexa app. This allows Alexa (Echo) to get specific information. Eg. Add the Telegraph / Guardian / BBC News 'skills' and then ask Alexa for Guardian news / sports headlines etc. It becomes second nature as you get used to it - Just like when you first got a smart phone and started adding apps. 

*Whilst there are loads of music stations already available the Echo and the DOT (which is an echo without the big speaker) both work best with a premium music subscription. Either Amazon Music or Spotify are best. Google Music won't work for now as Amazon are competing (in USA for now) against 'Google Home' so won't embrace a competitor. 

Spotify are doing a three month trial for 99p so I'm on that for now. Then I'll take a months free trial with Amazon - then probably take Amazon music as I'm a Prime member already so it will work out a fair bit cheaper. 

Only thing you need to consider if you decide to get one is - Do you want the Echo (with built in speaker +/- £150) or the DOT (very small speaker +/- £50). Bear in mind that the DOT has 3.5mm line out, so you can use an external speaker. Might suit audiophiles who want better sound than the Echo speaker has. Sonos 1 compatibility is anticipated sometime this year which could be interesting.