Digital assistance

[The Duke]

Anyone got one. My lad brought an Echo dot into the house about 8 months ago, my wife surprisingly  took to.

I wanted one to control a load of lights and socket, but as i currently use google assistance on my phone to control these, plus im buried neck deep in the google verse i opted for the home Mini.

I think they are about as much as a muchness, nothing really between them, bit boy once you have a use for them you really see their potential. Im totally sold.

Also got a cheap semi smart watch, for £10 of Wish, (very slow boat ) for my running, within an hour of putting it on, i was sold on having a real smart watch. I’ve poo poo’d them since there launch, but again, i think you need a reason to get your foot im the door. If you don’t have current  need for one, like i never, you gist see them as a silly expensive toy.

Ive tasked the wife to get me one of the Fossil branded ones.

Below is the hint of a text message i sent her last week. ?

It’s my birthday on 3 weeks x

https://www.fossil.com/uk/en/products/gen-3-smartwatch-q-explorist-luggage-leather-sku-ftw4004p.html

For the record she didn’t say no. So figures crossed.

[Drezha]

Yeah, I was surprised at how much we used the Echo – I thought it would be a one trick pony, but it’s actually been quite handy. Linked in to IFTTT, it replaces Siri for some things (like adding to the shopping list!)

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[PlaneMan]

Set an Echo up for a friend of my mother and her fella, he’s not computer illiterate but it takes a while for things to sink in, never really used a computer much in work (it was all cash) and now almost 80.

The Echo just works, he can play the music he wants, get the weather forecast and so on without trying to find his Kindle Fire or go upstairs to the laptop.

[blacklion1725]

I’ve got an Echo (original) and love it – got one for my mum (84) and she loves it too.

On Smart Watches – I have a semi-smart watch (this) got it for £95 in a flash sale at Amazon UK. I mainly wanted it because the built in GPS can do around 20 hours, the watch (with GPS off) goes for 2 or 3 weeks.

Its not Android, but has Android and IOS apps, it does as much as I want fitness wise and basic smart stuff (notifications from whatever apps on your phone you enable). I run (a bit) and walk (a lot) and the app is very well implemented for looking at your route/pace etc.

It lacks integration with stiff like Strava and Google Fit (coming supposedly) but even as a stand alone system (watch and phone) it is good enough for me.

If you want a genuine Android Smart Watch I looked at the Huawei Watch 2 (price fluctuates a lot) and loved it – but the GPS (3 hours-ish) was a deal breaker. If your not arsed about GPS it is a lovely smart watch.

[Drezha]

I’ve been on the smart watch band wagon for a while now. I started off with the Garmin Vivoactive which was almost perfect. I at a later date moved to a Polar M400 to match my Polar V600 cycling GPS but whilst it was better at the sport aspect than the Garmin, the smart watch function was poor. I then went to the Apple Watch, before heading back to the Vivoactive. I tried to upgrade to the Vivoactive 2 but it was terrible – I hated the format (more strap than watch) and went back to Apple. However, I’ve recently gone to the Vivoactive 3 and it’s ideal. Only thing I’m missing is Apple Pay, but the Garmin version should be coming soon.

 

For a pure smart watch, the Apple Watch was good, but the daily charge was a PITA.

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

[Ed P]

Best smart watch I have is from the now defunct Pebble range. The e-ink screen means that one week between a fast charge is the normal minimum, and avoids the need to do without a watch overnight. It is also much thinner than typical klunky Android/Apple watches. I really do not understand why they became the ‘Betamax’ of smart watches.

[Drezha]

Ed P wrote:

Best smart watch I have is from the now defunct Pebble range. The e-ink screen means that one week between a fast charge is the normal minimum, and avoids the need to do without a watch overnight. It is also much thinner than typical klunky Android/Apple watches. I really do not understand why they became the ‘Betamax’ of smart watches.

Oh, I forgot I had one of those (a series 1 Pebble). That got me in to smartwatches. However, there was a limit to the apps I believe – only 10 installed at once? However, I didn’t have that many apps in the app store IIRC so I never really mad use of that space.

"Everything looks interesting until you do it. Then you find it’s just another job" - Terry Pratchett

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