15 incredible things Amazon Echo can do

I activated my Amazon Echo for the first time in December. It's quickly become one of my favorite tech gadgets.

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Many people quickly compare Echo to other virtual assistants like Siri and Google Now. But Amazon's speaker, which responds to either "Alexa" or "Amazon," is quicker to respond to questions and understands my voice much better than those rival services.

Amazon Echo
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And thanks to its excellent audio system, with seven different microphones for listening and a 360º omni-directional audio grille for speaking, Amazon Echo works exceedingly well wherever I am in my home.

In many ways, it's transformed the way I live in my apartment. And there's a ton you can do with your Echo.

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"Alexa, play some Kanye."

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Amazon Echo can play thousands of songs from the Prime Music catalogue. It's also way easier and less consuming to pause and skip songs compared to other virtual assistants that control music playback.

"Alexa, add garlic to the shopping list."

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Whenever I run out of food in the apartment, I just tell Alexa to add items to the shopping list. And since Amazon's Alexa app is connected to my Amazon Prime account, which is used by both me and my significant other, our shopping list will show up in both Alexa apps on our respective phones and sync accordingly. That way, we can order items straight from Amazon, buy them at a later time, or make any last-minute changes. 

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"Alexa, what time is it?"

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Don't bother searching for your phone or a wall clock just to get the time. With Echo, I can ask the time from anywhere in my apartment and I'll get the answer immediately.

"Alexa, read my audio book."

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"Alexa, what was the score of the last Cavaliers game?"

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I love basketball, but I don't always have time to watch games. But it's actually much easier and faster to ask Alexa sports scores instead of visiting a sports website or app and looking through all the box scores to find the one you want.

"Alexa, add 'buy a winter jacket' to my to-do list."

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Just like shopping lists, you can sync to-do lists to your Alexa app(s) across your devices. You can add to-do items using Alexa and add notes, complete or delete items via the app.

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"Alexa, heads or tails?"

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What should we eat for dinner? Where should our next vacation be? Sometimes the answers to these questions are best decided by a coin flip. And luckily, you don't need a physical coin if you have Alexa, who will flip a virtual one for you (I've tried it several times, it really does appear to be truly random).

"Alexa, set a timer for 10 minutes."

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Amazon Echo is the perfect cooking or baking companion. When the timer's up, a radar-like ping will sound until you say "Alexa, stop."

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"Alexa, how's the weather outside today?"

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Amazon Echo will not only tell you the current temperature, but it will also tell you the day's expected temperature highs and lows, and other conditions such as clouds and rain.

"Alexa, what's on my calendar?"

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Since Amazon Echo can sync with your Google Calendars, you don't need to look through your phone to see your upcoming schedule. Just ask Alexa to hear details about your meetings and appointments that day.

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"Alexa, find me a good Italian restaurant nearby."

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Amazon Echo can help cure any craving you might have. Just ask Alexa to find a nearby restaurant from any cuisine you like, and Alexa will hook you up.

"Alexa, what's in the news?"

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After you first set up your Echo, you can choose which news sources you want to get information from, like NPR, ESPN, and local radio stations. After that, if you ask Alexa for the news or a flash briefing, you can hear news straight from those sources. You can always change which news sources you want through the Alexa app.

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"Alexa, set a daily alarm for 7:00 a.m."

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Amazon Echo can wake you up in the morning — or get your attention at any other time of day — with over 10 different alarm tones. You can choose soothing sounds or something a little more attention-grabbing right from the Alexa app.

"Alexa, read my Kindle book."

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As of January 2016, Amazon Echo can now read your Kindle books aloud to you using the same text-to-speech technology it uses to read Wikipedia entries and news articles aloud. You can also tell Alexa to pause or skip chapters both forwards and backwards.

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"Alexa, set a sleep timer for 60 minutes."

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If you like listening to music, podcasts or audiobooks before you fall asleep, you can start listening to any of those and simply ask Alexa to set a sleep timer. Now you don't have to worry about turning off the Echo if you start feeling drowsy.

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This only scratches the surface.

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Amazon Echo has tons of built-in features, but it also links to an ever-growing number of "skills," or specialized applications that give you neat features when activated.

For example, you can create IFTTT (IF This, Then That) "recipes" or phrase triggers that can do things like call your phone if you can't find it. There's also a skill that will come up with insults for you, a skill that will give you a 7-minute exercise routine to follow, a skill to check on the stock markets, a skill to read you Jeopardy! questions, and so much more.

Amazon Echo keeps evolving, which is one of the best reasons to own this device. You can buy an Amazon Echo here.

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