Computer Shopper - UK (2019-08)

ISSUE 378|COMPUTER SHOPPER|AUGUST 2019 8181

ONLOCATION

If youset adetailed location, Alexa candoa
bit more. To change your Echo’s location, you
havetogotothe Alexa app, select Devices,
Echo &Alexa,and then pick one of your
smart speakers. Select DeviceLocation and
then enteryour full address, including the
street, town and postcode. Each Echo
devicecan haveadifferentaddress.
Once you’vegot an address in your
account, youcan do morewith Alexa.For
example, ask fortraffic on aparticular route
and you’ll getanoverviewofthe situation
and the quickest route. It’sstill notperfect,

however.For example, if youask about
‘traffic to Heathrow’, Alexa will tell youthe
routeand currenttraffic levels; ask ‘how
long it takestodrivetoHeathrow’and
Alexa will tell youthe distancebut say she
can’ttell youhow long it will take as she
doesn’t knowhow fast you’redriving.
Localsearch lets youfind local
information, such as your nearest Indian
restaurant. Alexa’s information isn’t as
detailed as Google’s local information, but
it is getting better.

DATENIGHT

As well as delivering generic information,
Alexa canbeconfigured to bring you
information from your personal calendars.
To setthis up, go to the Alexa app and select
Settings, Calendar.You canadd Google,
Microsoft or Apple accounts; if youadd
morethan one, youcan setadefault.

Once added, youcan then ask Alexa

what’scoming up in your calendar,orto

add anew eventfor you.

Youcan further use the Settings part of

the app to personalise the assistantby

adding in your favouritesports team

(‘Alexa,what’smysports update?’), and to

giveyou traffic directions to your placeof

work (‘Alexa,what’smytraffic?’).

HOWFLASH

If youwanttoget aload of information in

one go, Alexa has the Flash Briefing (‘Alexa,

play my Flash Briefing’). To customise it, go

to Settings, Flash Briefing. Tapthe plus icon

to add moresourcesfor your content, such

as BBC News.You canadjust the order in

which flash briefings play.

MULTIPLEUSERS

Alexa supports multiple users on the same

speakers, letting people access their own

privateinformation. Foreach household, you

canhaveuptotwo adult users. To manage

your users, go to Settings, Alexa Account,

Amazon Household. Here,you caninvitea

second user to your home (theyhaveto

haveanAmazon account). Once theyget

the inviteand accept it, theyshould

download and install the Alexa app, then

theycan log into their account. The new

user canthen add their owncalendars,

music serviceand so on.

To switch between accounts, youcan

say ‘Alexa,switch profile’and youcan ask,

‘Alexa,which profile is being used?’ to check.

If youwanttoautomatethe profile switch,

youcan use the Recognised Voices option

in Settings, Alexa Account. TapYourVoice,

then followthe instructions to repeat

phrases to an Echo speaker so that

Amazon canlearn your voice. The other

adult in your home canthen do the same

thing via their accountsothat Alexa will

automatically personalise results.

Alexa isn’t limitedtorunning on Amazon’s Echo devices, and

there are plenty of third-party speakers thatalso have Alexa

built in, from the Sonos One music player (page 95) to the

Netgear Orbi Voicemesh system(Shopper376).

Third-party speakers largelywork in the same wayasEcho

devices. Youask Alexa aquestion or gether to turn on smart

devices, and she responds. As third-party devices are linked to your

Amazon account, these speakers getaccess to all the services and

features thatyou setup. There are some limitations, however.

First, third-party devices currentlydon’t supportcalling or drop-in between Echo devices,

so you can’t use themasanalternative to an intercom or acheap wayofmaking phone calls.

Depending on whatyou wanttouse your speakers for, this maybetoo much of alimitation.

Second, notall third-party devices can be placedintogroups; the Sonos products are the

exception. Thatmay notsound like much of an issue, but it makes controlling smarthome

devices alittle more taxing. Again, whatyou wanttouse your smartspeakers forwill guide

your decision, but forthe widest range of options you need Amazon Echo devices (see the

group test on page 88 forour full recommendations).

devices, and

so have Alexa

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THEULTIMATEGUIDE TOAMAZONALEXA

Alexa isn’t limited to running on Amazon’s Echo dedevices, and

What aboutthird-

partydevices?