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Being Careful Checking Your Orders with Alexa

Currently, when I ask Alexa for an update on my orders she tells me when an item should arrive including the item's name. This may not be a good thing as at times Alexa needs to whisper sometimes (and she hasn't been programmed for that). You can go into your app and turn of the ability for her to announce the name. Go to:

Settings > Notifications >Shopping Notifications (from there you can set product names on/off

News:

Alexa is headed for the workplace. 

The WSJ reports that Alexa for Business will also give enterprise users the opportunity to build apps and skills for calendar management, meeting room scheduling and ordering supplies. The introduction of Alexa for Business also presents an opportunity to let users access business information on their phones or outside of the building using the Alexa app on their phone. In the future, you may be able to schedule a virtual meeting with the sales team that is delivered to everyone's device. You could drop into your manager's office (or vice versa). Full Story

Alexa Control Hulu, NBC, Bravo on Fire TV

This feature lets you ask Alexa to “watch,” “play,” “pause,” “rewind,” “fast forward,” and more. It can also take you to an individual show, network, or specific genre of programming.

Before, Alexa could control Amazon’s own video content in this fashion. But now the same voice commands work with third-party apps like Hulu, NBC, Bravo, and others that quietly launched voice support last week, including Showtime, Sony PlayStation Vue, and CBS All Access.

Showtime Anytime will add the functionality soon, Amazon says.

Echo Dot and FireStick Best Selling Item on Amazon

Echo Dot and Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote were not only the best-selling Amazon devices during this sales holiday, but they were also the best-selling products from any manufacturer in any category on Amazon. It is estimated that there were millions of Alexa Devices sold over the holiday weekend.

Alexa will be arriving in Australia and New Zealand at some unspecified point in early 2018. Full Story