What would you like Echo to do?

[jwlv]

For those of you who have an Echo, you pretty much know what it can and can't do.

What would you like your Echo to do in a future update?

As for me, I would love to see an integration with the Nest Thermostat. That way, I can say, "Alexa, set the temperature to 70 degrees." 
And integration with Belkin Wemo would be nice too, since I have three Wemo Light Switches in my house. "Alexa, turn off the kitchen lights."

Here is an article (and video) from a guy named Zach Feldman who has already integrated the above in his home-brewed system. Call it a hack or whatever, but it seems to work.
http://blog.zfeldman.com/2014-12-28-using-amazon-echo-to-control-lights-and-temperature/

[schmigel]

Just for fun, I would like Alexa to adapt to several voices and dialects. For instance, Mac OSX has several voices (male & female) and dialects (Chinese, Indian, Italian, British, etc.) available for downloading and installation into it's Speech capabilities. When an Alert (the time, an error, etc.) is spoken, it is the voice and gender of my choosing.

[sarkonovich]

People have already gotten it to interface with some other programs. Check out Alexaho.me -- that's a link to a GithHub repository.

I'm using the Ruby program there to have Echo control my lights (Philips Hue) and Nest Thermostat, and to control my 14,000 song music library, using the great JRiver  software.

I also control Wemo switches with Alexa, though the software on the GitHub link isn't set up for it. But it's trivial to have certain keywords send a command to a Wemo switch to turn it on or off!

[zacharyfeldman]

Hey guys, that's my blog up there! Glad to answer any questions on the project in the comments section there or to discuss here.

[alot2do]

I don't have my Echo yet... but these are some thoughts....

I'd like to Echo to take memos and save them for later oral playback with some type of easy cataloging protocol - so for instance, I might ask for "my note on __" or "my reminder for __" or "my calendar schedule for ___"

Is it currently possible to have echo only respond to one person's voice? I'd like to use Echo in a controlled teaching environment. Also, I have a parrot who will probably quickly learn Alexa's name. That might be funny the first couple of times, but could be a problem.

[alot2do]

Also, I'd like Echo to have a little bit of battery back-up. I'd like to use it for an alarm clock, but that would become problematic and an unreliable alarm clock if the electricity goes out.

[Fortunate Son]

Also, I'd like Echo to have a little bit of battery back-up. I'd like to use it for an alarm clock, but that would become problematic and an unreliable alarm clock if the electricity goes out.

I hadn't thought of that. Great suggestion!

[Fortunate Son]

I don't have my Echo yet... but these are some thoughts....

I'd like to Echo to take memos and save them for later oral playback with some type of easy cataloging protocol - so for instance, I might ask for "my note on __" or "my reminder for __" or "my calendar schedule for ___"

Is it currently possible to have echo only respond to one person's voice? I'd like to use Echo in a controlled teaching environment. Also, I have a parrot who will probably quickly learn Alexa's name. That might be funny the first couple of times, but could be a problem.

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Can Echo discern different people's voices? If so, leaving memos for other family members could be really handy and fun!

[Jafo]

Echo does not recognize different voices, but that would be nice.  You can command it to switch accounts.  I know differentiating people would be pretty hard for Echo to do, so it would be nice if each person could have their own wake word.

[jwlv]

You can just get a small UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply aka battery backup) for the Amazon Echo.
You might also attach your DSL/Cable modem and router to the same UPS.

Amazon sells a cheap UPS for $40: http://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP350SLG-Standby-350VA-Compact/dp/B004OR0V2C

[alot2do]

Excellent! And thanks for the link.

Also, people mentioned that Echo will send your shopping list to your phone... will it send it to kindle fire?

Mine won't come until the end of May, darn it!  I certainly will have a lot of uses ready for it (her) to integrate!

[lowspark]

I would love Alexa to say "Yes Shawn" in that sexy voice of hers after I say Alexa. Lets make it happen 

[robochang]

Just received my Echo yesterday and excited to find this forum and the research on the undocumented API!  I have my home theater PC hooked up with Girder (an event listener that executes any command) and I would love Echo to allow me to send commands via voice to control my home theater (and anything else connected to my PC).  It looks like I have a bit of a learning curve with Ruby, but looking forward to getting it to work!  It will be awesome when I can eliminate the need for any home theater remote controls!

[ElJay]

I just got my Echo yesterday. I love it but I also think it is lacking in many ways. There are so many possibilities for integration. One of the biggest things right now that I see is the lack of readily available knowledge. If I ask alexa what the score to a sports game is she is only able to tell me after the game is finished. At the same time she sends the question to my echo app and I click the link and the question is instantly answered. Why can she just not find the answer on her own? Also with AI like SIRI out, who can answer almost any question that would be readily available on a Wikipedia page, Alexa struggles in comparison. Another good thing to see would be the integration of some general knowledge recipes, like at what temp/how long do you cook chiken for, how do you make cookies. That information is readily available on the internet and shouldn't be hard to access. Also the integration of a recurring alarm as opposed to having to set it every time. Also some sort of calendar integration would be nice and the ability to change the tone of the alarm clock. I'm sure I will think of more later. Does any one know what coding language the Echo uses? and if there is any way to get in to the code?

[ac7ss]

As most of the heavy lifting is server side, you won't have much luck adding internal features. but you can apply to use the API for new interfaces.
The coding in Echo is C. pretty much a stripped linux kernel. It has busybox, so there may be a way to ssh into it, but I cannot try that for a couple of days.