Accessories

Dedicated to sharing Amazon Skills, Accessories, etc.

(created Tue. Feb. 7, 2017, updated Mon,. Nov. 27, 2017)

Alexa is the name of the voice you use to interact with Amazon’s devices, including the Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show, and others.  Alexa is also being integrated into, Amazon Music, Amazon shopping and more.

This site exists to share:

1. -a little background about Alexa and the Amazon devices
   
   

2. -links to some of the more impressive skills (apps) we’ve found
   
   

3. -links to the Alexa skills that we have created created
   
   

4. -thoughts on a small number of accessories
   

Accessories

Battery Base (TM) for Amazon Echo

1. -Amazon offers a variety of stands and carry cases for Echo.
   
   

2. -Given that Echo does not have an internal battery, we purchased a Battery Base (TM) for Amazon Echo, from Mission Cables.
   
   

3. -So far, we are impressed.
   
   

4. -Before, with echo only plugged into the wall, we really felt tethered... Echo was in one room or the other, but not in both, it wasn’t portable.
   
   

5. -And while it only takes a minute or so to unplug it, move it, plug it in and reboot, that can seem an eternity, especially in the middle of a song or news report, so we just didn’t move it. 
   
   

6. -With the Mission Cables Battery Base (TM) we do move the echo quite a bit, from room to room, to play music when cleaning the car, on the patio, etc.
   
   

7. -The battery life is good - five hours or so with a loud volume.   While that won’t last a full day, that’s ok, as life doesn’t offer us truly extended periods of time to actually use echo.  So the Battery Base (TM) gets a thumbs up.
   
   

Here’s my Amazon review:

1. We received an ECHO for Christmas, 2016. We quickly took to it, for music, new skills, asking questions, etc.
   

2. And each of us have also made at least one skill (thanks to their templates that make it easier).
   

3. 
   

4. ECHO was good... this battery pack made it great... easier to use in more places around our house, on trips, etc.
   

5. 
   

6. We're blessed that the following became a challenge... ECHO is always plugged in. So, if you want to take it with you, just unplug and plug back in and boot up. The boot up time is under a minute... BUT when you're trying to bring the radio (AM... "Alexa, play <state the station call letters>") or songs or Kindle books... with you, it's an interruption.
   

7. 
   

8. With this Mission Cables battery case, there's no interruption... there's only continuous music, etc.
   

9. 
   

10. I searched Amazon and found several battery cases. Some of them are not fixed to the base... life ECHO and the battery stays on the table.
    

11. 
    

12. I called and talked with Mission Cables and learned that
    

13. 1) this is tightly fixes to the base... it's a snug fit... not too hard if you ever did want to take it off (unsure why you would, but you can), and definitely snug so it doesn't slip.
    

14. 2) just plug the battery into the bottom of ECHO and it's powered... the ECHO cord plugs into the Mission Cable battery pack and keeps it charged.
    

15. 3) the battery life is as good as they report.
    

16. 
    

17. I ordered this in early February and it took until Memorial Day weekend to have a window of time at home that I could see how long the Mission Cables battery pack would last. It was a long afternoon working in the garage... the box fan was running, so ECHO was at ~ 60% volume... I played a book-on-cd from the iPod Classic, via bluetooth transmitter, and it lasted well over five hours... (they advertise six hours... again, mine was turned up much louder than we would ever play inside the house, so it would last longer).
    

18. 
    

19. I was curious about how the battery works so well, so I called Mission Cables. Brian was quite helpful! The battery pack is 1,600 mAh (milliamps)... that's a little smaller than an iPhone 6. That surprised me... sure the iPhone has a screen, but it seemed to me that sound, especially louder sound, would be a quick consumer of battery power. Brian shared that this battery pack does have three 1,600 mAh batteries but since they are connected serially, and not in parallel, they are 1,600, not 4,800 mAh.
    

20. 
    

21. ECHO apparently runs on 11Watts of power... 11W x 1.6 Amps ~ 17 Watt Hours of power. Divide by the three batteries and you have the six hours of sound (depending on your volume).
    

22. 
    

23. Once ECHO became portable, I realized we'd need/want a case, to help prevent damage from dropping. I explored several paranoid ideas on Instructibles.com, and was quite thankful when Mission Cables then released their case... taller than others to support this awesome battery case, and the ECHO plug. It's awesome and will make it so we can bring ECHO / Alexa with us on our summer family vacation.
    

24. 
    

25. Mission Cables - THANK YOU for making ECHO so awesome, with your battery pack and with your Missions Case for Amazon ECHO!
    

Hard Travel Case for Amazon Echo (Mission Cases)

Mission Cables has delivered an awesome travel case, for ECHO, with the attached Mission Cables Battery Base (noted above), and space for the power plug and cord.

Here’s my Amazon Review:

1. Just what we were looking for!
   
   

2. We have ECHO and the Mission Cables battery pack, and this is great… AND will be great even if you don’t have their battery pack.
   
   

3. ALEXA and our ECHO have quickly grown on us, from music to radio ("Alexa, play <station call letters>") to the flash briefing and even the skills each of us created.
   
   

4. And not just at home.
   
   

5. We took Alexa on a road trip over Easter Break, using the iPhone hotspot to listen to music in the car... and using ECHO in the hotel room via the hotel's WiFi. We are planning on bringing ECHO on a trip this summer, which will include a flight (can’t just carry from kitchen to the minivan).
   
   

6. Until this case, the question had been "how to pack ECHO?"
   
   

7. ECHO's shape... round, no hooks for a handle.
   
   

8. A few ideas came to mind, and the challenge was/is the combination of:
   1) needing any case/handle to not only loop around the round sides, but also over the top and bottom (lest ECHO slip out for the handle and break on the floor),
   and 2) that the volume control is right there on the top, requiring a grip at the top that doesn't impact the volume control ("tight but not too tight").
   
   

9. I had resolved to hand-make a paracord solution, based on some paracord water bottle holders I saw on Instructibles… likely after first wrapping ECHO in a towel.
   
   

10. And then we received the email last week, notifying me/us that this case was just released!
    We immediately clicked the link, validated it was what we wanted, and ordered.
    
    

11. We received ECHO for Christmas, from Mom... awesome! As we started really using ECHO, the lack of portability was becoming an annoyance... sure the boot-up time's under a minute, but to take ECHO from one room to another meant stopping a song, radio story, etc. So we soon found and purchased the Mission Cables battery pack... it's awesome... 1600mAH that lasts at least 5 hours at a volume loud enough to be heard over a box fan when working in the garage.
    
    

12. The Mission Cables battery pack makes ECHO taller than usual and means ECHO won't fit in other cases other companies make.
    So Mission Cables came up with this, their first Mission Case [for Amazon ECHO].
    
    

13. I had talked with Mission Cables right after I got their battery pack earlier this year, and the person on the phone mentioned that their case was planned, so we were patient. And I am glad we were patient.
    
    

14. ECHO fits in here nicely with the Missions Cables battery pack attached.
    If you don’t have the battery pack, use the plastic piece they provide to fill the "height gap."
    The power plug and its cord have their own “pocket” atop ECHO.
    
    

15. The zipper is strong, and is built so that, when it’s zipped up, the zipper teeth are hidden inside… a nice touch.
    
    

16. The handle is strong, with a “rubbery’ (my term) grip outside the handle’s material; the handle is reinforced in its attachment to case, providing confidence when carrying ECHO. I’m confident to just hook the handle onto a carabiner, attaching it to the outside of a backpack (though I’ll likely keep this inside the backpack through the airport).
    
    

17. The case walls are solid… and yet… you can hear music through them, albeit a bit muffled, as if you wrapped a towel around ECHO (it is inside the case, so this is to be expected)… and Alexa can hear you, though you need to talk up just a bit.
    
    So, hat’s off to the gang at Mission Cases / Mission Cables, for both their battery pack and this awesome Amazon ECHO case!
    
    THANKS!
    

I am glad they created this case, because the paracord ideas were all lacking for ECHO, which has a unique shape:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Paracord-Wrap-Bottle/

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