Todays Top Tech with Amazon TSV 29/07/18

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Probably some dreadful device that you have to talk to to get it to do something you don't need it to do. I hate Alexa and Cortana. I'm sick of hearing: "I can learn to understand you if I can get to listen to the way you talk." **** OFF, yeah! I don't want some robot device "listening" to me. If I want to make a shopping list, guess what, I'll take a pen and a piece of paper and write it down. If I want to turn my hot water system on I'll go into the airing cupboard and damn well do it myself.
 
I certainly won't bother watching as I don't need either of those.

Also, the last time they had Lee on talking about the dot, my Echo show and dot kept answering every time he said "Alexa." Even when I have changed the name in the past, 'she' inevitably starts a conversation as they always use one of the 'trigger' words.
 
Amazon Echo Dot & Fire 7 16GB Tablet with Alexa & 32GB SD Card
Item Number: 517528
QVC Price £110.00
Todays Special Value Price £75.00
P&P £4.95

This Amazon duo features the innovative Echo Dot - a hands-free device designed for your voice, that answers commands and questions, reports on sports, news, traffic, weather and more, plus the latest generation Fire 7 - a touchscreen tablet designed for entertainment with a quad-core processor, 16GB of storage, plus a 32GB SD card, and 1GB RAM for a fast and responsive experience. Both come with virtual PA Alexa and can communicate with each other along with all your other connected devices, to create a fully connected Alexa eco-system within your home.

*A great saving: If you were to buy the Echo Dot and Amazon Fire 7 16GB directly from Amazon you’d pay £109.98. So to get them for our Today’s Special Value price of just £75, plus P&P, is a super saving of £30.03.

Just ask Alexa - a voice-controlled personal assistant, Alexa responds to your questions and commands when you say her name. Alexa can check your calendar, get news, weather, traffic or sports updates, and even create shopping lists, as well as order you a takeaway or an Uber, or you can ask her to look up a recipe and she will read it out for you to follow! You can even connect your smart home - control lights, switches, thermostats and smart home technologies, when you pair it with compatible connected devices from Philips Hue, Hive, TP-Link, and more.

Set up with the app - the free Alexa app on your Fire 7 will allow you to easily set up and manage your Amazon Echo Dot. Use the app to connect services you already use such as Amazon Music, Spotify and Google Calendar, then set up your smart home devices or see which books are available to listen to from your Audible library. The app is also great when you're out and about, allowing you to control your timers and set custom tones for your alarms, and much more back at home.

About Fire 7

Fast, clear, responsive - the proficient quad-core processor consists of four high-performance cores, which ensure quick app launch times, smooth games and videos, and great overall performance. Plus with the 7" screen and 1024 x 600 IPS display, you can enjoy crisp images, more vivid colours and whiter whites, with a fantastic viewing experience even at wide angles.

Versatile devices - delivering everything you expect from a tablet and more, the Amazon Fire 7" tablet allows you to easily flit between browsing the web, to accessing your library of books, comics and magazines whenever, wherever.

Better connected - with Family Library you can link your Amazon account to your partner's, so you can easily share apps, games, audiobooks and books. Additionally, it now allows Prime members to share their Prime Video account.

It’s so easy - ready to use right out of the box, there's no software or computer required, or complicated set-up; just log in with an Amazon account and the free app on the Fire, connect to Wi-Fi and you're ready to go.

About Echo Dot

Made for any room - the sleek and compact design makes it a convenient addition to any room in the house. With its built-in speaker, you can place Echo Dot in the bedroom and use it as a smart alarm clock that can also turn off your lights. Or use it in the kitchen to easily set timers and more using just your voice. With multi-room music support, you can play music across multiple Echo devices simultaneously.

Turn up the sounds - connect directly to speakers using a 3.5mm stereo cable, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi and enjoy hands-free, voice control for your music - just ask for your favourite artist or song, or request a specific genre or mood. You can also search for music by lyrics, when a song or album was released, or let Alexa pick the music for you.

Multi-Room Music - want to play music on an Echo in another room? Now with Multi-Room Music, you can tell Alexa to play across all your Echo devices. Just tell Alexa to play jazz in the kitchen, top pop in the living room, or play the same song downstairs - available for Amazon Music and TuneIn.

Alexa answer the call - when you’re busy making dinner or putting the little ones to bed, just ask Alexa to make or answer a call to or from anyone with a supported Echo device or the Alexa App. On the go calls are also a breeze, use the app to make a quick call or send a message to your family’s Echo and your conversations and contacts can go where you go.

What's in the box?

1 x Fire 7" tablet
1 x Echo Dot
2 x USB 2.0 charging cables
1 x 9W power adaptor
1 x 5W power adaptor
2 x quick start guides


Added value:

1 x 32GB SD card - effectively tripling the storage on your Fire Tablet


Please note: your SD Card will be placed inside the outer packing when your parcel arrives – be sure not to throw it in the recycling bin along with all the other packaging!

Geographical restrictions:
Alexa will have limited functionality outside of mainland UK, the Channel Islands, France, Germany and the USA

http://www.qvcuk.com/ukqic/qvcapp.aspx/app.detail/params.item.517528
 
What's the best thing Alexa / Cortana has ever done for you?

Lee Hohbein's on doing his "teddy-boy tech supremo" shtick whilst Cath Huntley makes agreeing statements in her syrupy Cadbury's Caramel Bunny voice. They are touting a tablet linked up to Alexa, Amazon's voice-operated robot personal assistant sort of thing.

They are coming out with a lot of superlatives yet I'm really none the wiser as to what tangible benefits this talking robot is supposed to bring to my life.

However that's not to say that there aren't any benefits to this technology. I would imagine it'd be a godsend to someone who is blind, visually impaired or illiterate (or any combination of these).

But what about other sectors of society? What does Alexa do? Hohbein asked her about the weather forecast and she replied with a forecast for Shadwell - presumably where Hohbein lives - even though he was presenting from Chiswick. What does Alexa do for you? Which functions do you find most useful? Personally I think the "off" button would be the feature I'd use most. It's taken me 3 years to get used to the voice on my satnav!

How about Cortana? I don't use her, personally, but I often get that dreary "I can learn to understand you if I can get familiar with the way you talk, but I need your permission to help..." message.

Are Alexa / Cortana any good?

So far the only tablet I need is an Anadin, listening to Hohbein and Huntley's inane ramblings.
 
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I use mine to control the lights in my home. I use it for translations when I want to know how something is pronounced.

I use it to set all my daily reminders for taking my various medications (so much better than having a notification on my phone for example.

I use it for playing my Amazon music. The control you get with being able to select genres of music....choosing music from a particular year, or artist etc etc. You can choose and play music in a way that is pretty much impossible just using an MP3 player and a playlist. You can be incredibly specific with what you want to hear.

But as someone with limited mobility, having it switch on the lights etc is superb. I can get up in the middle of the night and have all the lights illuminated that lead to the bathroom for example. For me personally, it is worth it just for that.
 
Retrovertigo said:
I use mine to control the lights in my home. I use it for translations when I want to know how something is pronounced.

I use it to set all my daily reminders for taking my various medications (so much better than having a notification on my phone for example.

I use it for playing my Amazon music. The control you get with being able to select genres of music....choosing music from a particular year, or artist etc etc. You can choose and play music in a way that is pretty much impossible just using an MP3 player and a playlist. You can be incredibly specific with what you want to hear.

But as someone with limited mobility, having it switch on the lights etc is superb. I can get up in the middle of the night and have all the lights illuminated that lead to the bathroom for example. For me personally, it is worth it just for that.
Click to expand...

Sounds really great, Retro. I personally have lots of things on timer switches which I program each day, but I have to say I'm impressed Alex does all those things.
 
Alexa would get on my nerves but I can appreciate how useful it could be to some people.unfortunately with Lee Holbein presenting it might be life changer even for me but I will miss out on it because of him.
 
he has put me off tech he's far too simplistic and chatty in his approach. tech used to be my main purchase from qvc not anymore
 
I was thinking of buying the package but I reckon I am better putting the £75 towards a new iPad mini. My iPad seems to have slowed down but it is almost 4 years old
 
Retrovertigo explained to me a million times better than Lee Hohbein did about some of the things Alexa can do. I'm not a fan of Hohbein at all. I was surprised when he said he'd been on QVC for 11 years as I don't recall having seen him before this year.

He said last night / this morning: "I'm not an actor that's paid to come on and say I like technology, I really do like technology."

OK Lee, so you like technology. I get that, but you're certainly paid to go on there and endorse products and you likely don't like them all to the same level, so it appears you are very much an actor who is paid to go on and endorse products!

It's also quite known that QVC source presenters and guests through Spotlight - the ultimate casting directory for .....actors.

I wonder now if I'm going to be deluged with comments deriding me as a "misandrist" for daring to suggest that Mr Hohbein is slightly disingenuous? Frankly I rather doubt it.

Going back to Alexa - the subject of this thread, I am prepared to concede there is some practical benefits to the technology.

I wonder, though, whether Amazon will be branded "misogynistic" or "sexist" for making Alexa a woman? The idea of having a woman that simply just does what you tell her is surely a little sexist, isn't it? Perhaps the Women's Lib movement will launch a campaign in the Daily Express to get Amazon to bring out "Alex," Alexa's male counterpart. He could be voiced by Simon Biagi!!! I can just imagine it answering: "ANNNNNNNNNNNND there's a whole lot more, I can tell you!"
 
They've probably picked a woman's voice because, well lets face it, women are always right.......joke! :mysmilie_17:

Apparently you get a male voice on Amazon Dot etc, but only the English language. :mysmilie_3:
As for LH, I find there's nothing he tells you (except how he too loves everything he's selling at the time) that isn't on the box or in the instructions
 
shopperholic said:
They've probably picked a woman's voice because, well lets face it, women are always right.......joke! :mysmilie_17:

Apparently you get a male voice on Amazon Dot etc, but only the English language. :mysmilie_3:
As for LH, I find there's nothing he tells you (except how he too loves everything he's selling at the time) that isn't on the box or in the instructions
Click to expand...

Imagine having a virtual Simon Biagi stuck in the corner of your room, bellowing at you: "There's a 60 percent chance it'll rain tomorrow.... ANNNNNND a whole lot more besides!"

The funniest thing last night was when they made Alexa do a link introducing the TSV. Cath Huntley said Alexa might do her out of a job! Imagine Cath Huntley voicing Alexa?! Having that syrupy, saccharine voice would definitely have me reaching for the off button. I've had my TomTom for 3 years and when I first bought it I couldn't stand the voice - or any of them, but over time I've come to like the default voice. She is clear, calm and reassuring.
 
Julius said:
I wonder now if I'm going to be deluged with comments deriding me as a "misandrist" for daring to suggest that Mr Hohbein is slightly disingenuous? Frankly I rather doubt it.
Click to expand...

Nice try, but it doesn't wash.

You're (rightly) criticised on this site for making consistently derogatory comments about women because you mainly criticise what they look like, rather than what they do. 'Tippex-ex gnashers Jule' is a classic example, but there's countless more. Overwriting your posts with polysyllabic vocab where simpler choices exist doesn't hide the fact that you think women should be criticised for what they look like or sound like, and men should be criticised for what they do. That's why people consider you to be misogynistic.
 
iloveshopping said:
I was thinking of buying the package but I reckon I am better putting the £75 towards a new iPad mini. My iPad seems to have slowed down but it is almost 4 years old
Click to expand...

I have an HD fire, bought from QVC a couple years ago. To be honest, it's nowhere near as good as my mini iPad. Not very intuitive, frustrating, heavy and somewhat disappointing! I don't know if there have been upgrades but apart from BBC iplayer, I couldn't download itv player / hub / channel 5 catch up etc.

Saying that, it is a good package with the dot. I love the yellow one.
 
Craftalot said:
Nice try, but it doesn't wash.

You're (rightly) criticised on this site for making consistently derogatory comments about women because you mainly criticise what they look like, rather than what they do. 'Tippex-ex gnashers Jule' is a classic example, but there's countless more. Overwriting your posts with polysyllabic vocab where simpler choices exist doesn't hide the fact that you think women should be criticised for what they look like or sound like, and men should be criticised for what they do. That's why people consider you to be misogynistic.
Click to expand...

No it isn't, it's because they are taking an essentially lighthearted comment to heart because it's about a member of their own gender. Just taking "Tipp-Ex-gnashers" Julie as one example - yes I find her mannerisms amusing. She is so full of herself and over-effusive it is actually quite funny to me. Perhaps you missed the post about "Ice-cold Kelly Hoppen" where I stated that Julie is enthusiastic and had some likeability whereas Hoppen has none?

Perhaps you missed the positive comments I made about Jan Springer, who I've never had anything negative to say about? There are countless others.

Perhaps you've missed the comments I've made about "Rasping Gnome" Richard Jackson? Or Boring Biagi? Or Charlie "Insincere" Brook? Or Jack Harrison? Or that little man who demonstrates floor cleaners? Maybe I'm a misandrist? But then I made very positive comments about Axel Ruth. Maybe I just hate everyone and everything? Or maybe I'm just a cynical, quite wordy person with a wry approach to things and you don't like that?

Whatever the case, we're all as entitled to our opinions as the next person. As I mentioned on the the other thread about QVC and men's products, QVC is very skewed towards women and it seems they are so because that is financially lucrative for them. They'd go bust within a very short time if they focused on touting razors, wallets and socks. The market they appear to be aiming for seems quite narrow, and as such they tend to get a lot of women on there who fit into a similar demographic - and they are often quite amusing because they are so posh and full of themselves. Lulu Guinness, K. Hoppen, Nikki from Lola Rose, Julie Flaaaaaaaaahs, Liz Earle, Caroline Archer and so on and so on.

If someone wishes to be hell-bent on seeing me as a misogynist, let them, if that's the drum they wish to bang.

To my mind it's not a bad thing when comments polarise opinion. I'd rather have that than the soupy, sycophantic ego-stroking that happens on QVC's Facebook page.

There are two things on this forum that people seem to find particularly emotive: women's rights and animal rights. People get really upset about these issues, in the same way I get extremely upset about Brexit. Most people have some cause that's very close to their heart and feel strongly about. I feel very upset at a lot of the things I read about Brexit and find them ignorant and hurtful, particularly in the Daily Express - a newspaper I wouldn't even consider good enough to wipe my arse with.
 
Julius said:
I feel very upset at a lot of the things I read about Brexit and find them ignorant and hurtful, particularly in the Daily Express - a newspaper I wouldn't even consider good enough to wipe my arse with.
Click to expand...

But you've regularly stated that you've written some article which is 'going to appear in the Daily Express this week'. And only a couple of days ago you put up a link to some lighthearted story from the Daily Express, in this post:

Julius said:
Heya JR's ego. My mother used to have a Dralon sofa that was full of static. Every little bit of dust seemed to be attracted to it and the Henry did a grand job. We never have any pets but now as an adult approaching middle age I still have the same vacuum cleaner and it does a fantastic job in my flat - after all this time. The design of the Henry family vacs has remained largely unaltered and people keep buying them, which leads me to think it's a great product.

If I were you I'd try and buy one from somewhere with a money-back guarantee, or get advice from a specialist shop - one that provides janitorial products will usually have powerful vacs - or if you have a friend with a Henry, ask them if you can borrow it, and try it out for yourself.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/weir...-nativity-scene-Christmas-shop-vacuum-cleaner
Click to expand...

Bit odd for someone who professes that the Express is "a newspaper I wouldn't even consider good enough to wipe my arse with." If you take the King's shilling and all that...

Best hope the Features Editor of the Express isn't reading this forum, or you might have to move your freelance content to the Daily Mail.
 

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