The Echo Show 5: Fun and Functional

Post date: Feb 16, 2020 5:46:53 PM

Some of you may have received an Echo Show 5 over the holidays. What can you do with it and why might you buy one, if Santa didn’t leave one under the tree?

Think of it as your Echo Dot’s big sister: the echo show has a five-inch touch screen with the day of the week, the date, the temperature, time, and a series of alerts about packages or messages. It’s a smart speaker, meaning that it is connected to the internet—and your Amazon account. It also comes with a camera and touch screen.

You may have been using the Echo dot to wake you up, give you today’s weather information, listen to Iowa Public Radio, play music, tell you a joke, and play relaxing music at bedtime. Echo Show can do all of that, and much more. Want to find a recipe for minestrone soup? Ask Alexa and she will go to Allrecipes and the Food Network and show you a selection of recipes. Pick one and you can see the recipe, its ingredients, and perhaps watch a video of it being prepared.

You can also do the following ten things:

1. Watch the News at Bloomberg or CNN. Simply say, “Alexa, open CNN.” You can also get flash briefings from CNBC, People Magazine, and the Tonight Show.

2. Watch your favorite TV series on Amazon Prime (Any Psych fans?)

3. Set up reminders and alarms (“Alexa, remind me to exercise at 9:30 am”).

4. Connect your Fitbit to your Echo Show in the Alexa app (go to menu, skills, search for Fitbit, enable, log on) “Alexa, ask Fitbit how I’m doing.” You’ll get your step count and encouragement.

5. Listen to ambient sounds at night, to help you relax.

6. Listen to a podcast or Play Ted Talks, searching by genre or asking for the most recent episode.

7. Ask questions about local businesses and your echo show will bring up information including its location and contact information.

8. Ask Alexa about this day in history or ask for the morning briefing to including learning in your routine.

9. Call someone else who has an Echo Show and you can enjoy a video chat.

Vi View your calendar after synching it with your Echo device

The Echo Show is a great gift for a friend or family member who lives alone. It is a very low-tech device: all they need to do is talk to it, using Alexa as the wake-up word. Then, as noted, you can do video chats to check in on them.

In addition, we could devote an entire column to the smart home features of the Echo Show: if you have the smart light bulbs or appliances, you can turn on and off the lights and smart appliances, check security cameras, and do more to deserve being designated a virtual assistant.

Around the holidays, Amazon puts all its devices on sale: I got mine for $49, half of the normal price of $89. A stand costs another $15-20. However, I noticed it was selling for $69, which is still a great price.

If you are intrigued by the possibilities discussed here, or simply looking for a fun and functional tool, check out the Echo Show 5 on Amazon, or read more at the following sources.

To learn more,

https://www.digitaltrends.com/home/amazon-echo-show-skills/

Everything you can do with your Amazon Echo Show

By Jenny McGrath July 26, 2017

https://bestoflifemag.com/amazon-echo-show-review-things-to-try/

100 THINGS TO TRY WITH THE AMAZON ECHO SHOW

Last updated Feb. 16, 2020