What would you like Echo to do?

[ClarkeS]

questions I would like Alexa to answer:
What is your MAC address?
How is the market doing?

Problems I am having
Logging into Pandora  I have logged into my account in a browser,  but the same entries in the EA get "unrecognized email or Pass word".
Music.  Alexa tells me I have no rolling stones (sometimes) when I can play them form the EA
When I request a particular RS song  she says I do not have it when 1) I do  and 2) she had played it earlier.

[heapmaster]

In regards to different voices, I have suggested this to amazon already via speech enrollment. Although I would make speech enrollment an option so if they want it to be more customizable and allowing user differentiation. You could use wake word speech authentication via speech enrollment. The wake word via speech enrollment allows Echo to say this is user X, this is user Y. A great example is Voiceprint Identification/Authentication via the wake word (such as user identification such as here: http://www.armorvox.com/armorvox-raspberry-pi/) Then it has the ability for it to differentiate the user (sir or ma'am, or their name) for custom user settings/preferences and user learning as well.

[fnowling]

Pair with a blue tooth headset like my Plantronics M70.  Seems pretty straight forward since the remote is almost already that, except for the form factor.  Speaking of form factor, how about a Star Trek style comm badge?

Pair with blue tooth speakers.  Alexa sounds pretty good, for a 2.5 inch speaker , but i'd really have to crank her up in order to hear music in my bed room.

Have Alexa trigger a series of events, such as turning on lights, then playing music, or reading the news and weather when i say 'Alexa, I'm home.'

Use my name when i ask her to open the pod bay doors.

Optionally cut back on the commentary when I ask her to play a piece of music,  I really don't need the name, opus, or key on the clasical stuff, an 'OK' would be fine. I can always ask 'what song is this', later.

[vpasq]

Similar to memos, I would like Echo to store "messages" (say 4-6) that you could leave for another household member to recall when they ask for them, and the ability to delete or acknowledge them on command.  (Or audio memos)

I also would like Echo to be able to give location to location distance (I.e, how far is it from Charleston, SC to Nashville, TN (full state names would be spoken) or even zip code to zip code.

[jwlv]

I would really like if Echo can tell me information about local stores.

For example, Google maps can locate the nearest McDonald's, Chase Bank, or CVS Pharmacy. And it can also tell me when they open and close for the day.

When I got the Echo months ago, that was one of the first things I tried, "Alexa, what time does CVS Pharmacy close today?"  I was really disappointed when I found out that Echo does not have any information about near by stores.

[fnowling]

A couple of more ideas since my last post:
"Alexa, Introduce yourself"  Alexa could then tell my guests about who she is, and what she can do.  Probably better than I can.  lol

"Alexa, How are you?" Alexa could then give me some tech info: like her ip address, the connected SSID, quality of the wifi signal.  Basically I'm looking for any information that would help me trouble shoot technical problems.

[bzz]

echo as baby monitor via app

I would love the ability to use it as a baby monitor or a listening device since it's always listening.  It would be good way to hear what the kids/nanny are up to the times you are not home.  All this would be better if could be turned on via the app so the person near the device would not know. 

[ac7ss]

I would like it to use Google instead of BING.

[PURPLEPANDA999]

I would like to have a choice of voices and names, male as well as female. As a female I'd like to be awakened by a sexy male voice.

[ScarlettPhoenix]

I've suggested this a few times when I've spoken to CS but I'll post it here as well.
We already have accessibility to the weather.  We need the Echo to give severe weather warnings, just like the crawl does at the bottom of the tv screen. It must be able to incorporate EAS (Emergency Alert System). it shouldn't be that hard to do-she already recognizes zip codes. This would be a boon to many, many people.

[jonjanisch]

I would really like if Echo can tell me information about local stores.

For example, Google maps can locate the nearest McDonald's, Chase Bank, or CVS Pharmacy. And it can also tell me when they open and close for the day.

When I got the Echo months ago, that was one of the first things I tried, "Alexa, what time does CVS Pharmacy close today?"  I was really disappointed when I found out that Echo does not have any information about near by stores.

+1

I tried this last night to check the closing time of a restaurant.

[phatmass]

Two things.

1. I want Alexa to be able to remind me to "pick up the kids" at 3pm. Right now, all I can do is set a generic alarm, but Alexa won't tell me what the alarm is for.

2. I want her to read RSS feeds. I see this working by setting up RSS feeds in the Echo app so Alexa knows which feeds you want read. The ways this could extend the Echo's abilities would be nearly endless.

[jwlv]

Two things.

1. I want Alexa to be able to remind me to "pick up the kids" at 3pm. Right now, all I can do is set a generic alarm, but Alexa won't tell me what the alarm is for.

2. I want her to read RSS feeds. I see this working by setting up RSS feeds in the Echo app so Alexa knows which feeds you want read. The ways this could extend the Echo's abilities would be nearly endless.

I would definitely like the Echo to read something from the web. Not necessarily an RSS feed, but any web page. It should strip all of the HTML/XML tags and just read the plain text. I should be able to set up a few bookmarks, and ask, "Alexa, read bookmark #3."

[SteveM]

I'd love for Echo to control my Sonos system.  I think the Echo is a good quality speaker just as it is, but in my own personal side-by-side testing, the Sonos Play:1 speaker is a little better.  And the Echo doesn't begin to approach the quality of the Play:3 or Play:5. But that's fine with me because Echo's real killer app--the true differentiator--is the excellent voice recognition interface.  Sonos doesn't have a voice control system, and it might not really be in their wheelhouse to build or buy one.  Sonos doe have a pretty comprehensive controller app for mobile devices, however.  But Sonos isn't currently monetizing the controller app independent of the entire Sonos system (it is a free download).

So... Amazon has the voice interface and Sonos has speaker quality and power.  It seems (to me, anyway) like a logical and valuable progression for Sonos to make their controller app available to Amazon Echo developers to hook into.  This would add value to the Sonos system and would add value to the Echo, as well.  The Echo would not have to duplicate everything the Sonos app does, but a I'm sure a reasonable subset of the Sonos controller app's functionality could be opened up for voice commands via Echo.

Anybody working on something like this yet... even if it's just a rudimentary hack?

[SteveM]

I use Skype as my main phone at home.  I cut my landline a couple years ago and Skype's rate beat just about any cell plans I've tried.  I have Skype on 2 computers, currently.  One is a desktop PC in my home office and another is attached to a docked laptop in my kitchen.  They both are tied to the same Skype account, so when someone calls, both computers "ring" and I can answer from either location.  This requires both to be powered up all the time, however.  Skype also requires keyboard or mouse interaction to answer or place calls.  The Echo consumes less power than a full blown laptop or desktop PC, and it's also less expensive, by far. 

I would love to see the Echo enhanced to be able to control my Skype account.  Ideally, this would entail allowing the user to use voice commands to initiate a call or to answer a call. 

Microsoft (who owns Skype) is huge and notoriously protective of their systems.  But it seems to me that they'd be able to benefit significantly by allowing Amazon Echo developers to hook into the most common Skype functions. 

Obviously, there are some interactions that will still be better via keyboard/mouse, but I can think of a very useful subset of Skype functionality that would be enhanced by opening it up to voice control.