When my techie son gave me an echo dot (now on sale at Amazon for $29.99), I felt the last thing I needed was another gadget. But this one turns out to do some amazing things. Today I tried something new by saying, “Alexa, call Skyline.” The dot quickly found Skyline in my contact list, and our concierge answered and even knew it was me! We chatted for a moment and then I got thinking. Wow, the dot is basically a voice activated computer that is undergoing a huge expansion and finding new uses.
The echo dot is a safety device for seniors! Prior to this, I liked the fun of streaming music from Amazon Prime, getting the news and weather and using the timer. But what if I fell and needed to shout for help when alone in my apartment. Well, now Alexa could answer and be a life saver. You can also tell Alexa to call any phone number using your voice only (but not 911). Certainly easy and cheap.
One of Amazon’s latest gadgets is the Amazon Spot – great for video calls and conferencing. It appears that we are just at the front edge of voice activated living and communicating. Below is an update.