Apple Music to Launch on Amazon's Echo Devices the Week of December 17

[curtvaughan]

You don't have listen to music through the Dot's speaker.

My query: Does the Dot or the Echo have nice D/A converters which would make connecting an auxiliary cable to a nice speaker or headphone produce superior sound to bluetooth? I have an LG V40 smart phone which has a 4 channel internal DAC giving wired connections fine sound. My guess, given the low prices, is that the Dot or Echo would not have such a feature.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Except you wouldn’t want to listen to music on the Dot anyway. It’s not like it sounds that great.

You can connect them to a Bluetooth speaker. That’s what I do with my dot and the sound quality on my regular echo is good enough.

 

[Edsel]

I have 5 (2 Google and 3 Amazon). I received them all for free through various promos....

Yes, we know! We've had a wonderful time listening in on your conversations - NSA, Спецслужбы России, 国家安全部

/s

 

[DNichter]

Perhaps. When my 2015 13MBP dies I'm not sure I can justify the extra cost of a new MBP compared to a Dell XPS. Having had a 15" XPS a couple of years ago, I am fully aware that they are not as good as a MBP, but the price difference for the extra 10% imo build quality and OS doesn't add up.

For a similar spec 13" XPS vs MBP there is a £550/$700 difference.
For a similar spec 15" XPS vs MBP there is a £950/$1200 difference.

As much as I love my MBP, there is absolutely no way I can justify that.
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Once you setup your default music app in Alexa, it will always pick Spotify/Apple Music etc when you say "Alexa, play Green Day" for instance.

That's fair. Only you can decide what you need and where to spend your money.

 

[groadyho]

That's fair. Only you can decide what you need and where to spend your money.[/QUOTE
Owning a MBP 2015, 7yr old Toshiba Satelite pro and a sp5 i dont feel like i lose anything not using my mbp.
Matter of fact tje SP5 replaced the other 2, they collect dust.

 

[whyamihere]

I have both an Echo and a HomePod (and I'm an AM subscriber). While this is nice news, I'd much rather be able to ask Siri to play music from other sources (such as SiriusXM) via my HomePod which has much better sound quality. (and before the others point out I could do so via bluetooth from my iPhone, yes I'm aware of that less-convenient ability).

 

[YaBe]

THIS! Google Home Minis sound far better than tinny Echos for music.

Got a second Google home for Black Friday, after the mini i was blown away by how good it was (size / price / sound) even if tiny, and wanted a full blown Google Home.

Great purchase, missing only AM for me.

 

[Khedron]

No, I plan on keeping my private conversations private. It has nothing to do with legality of activity. That article demonstrates that with one of those in your home, nothing is private.

Only if a judge issues a warrant. If they care about what you're saying so much they can already listen to everything you're saying with laser microphones. You have installed blackbody dampeners on every object in your house haven't you?

 

[cknibbs]

Got a second Google home for Black Friday, after the mini i was blown away by how good it was (size / price / sound) even if tiny, and wanted a full blown Google Home.

Great purchase, missing only AM for me.

I am really interested in the Google Home Hub. I feel like it is a product that Apple will never release. Apple doesn't seem to be taking the smart home seriously if you ask me.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Don't expect a HomePod 2 then. A lot of folks wasted $349

Why is it wasted money? It does exactly what I bought it to do and it regularly gets software updates expanding its feature set.

 

[mlrproducts]

Yeah, it does not bother me to be honest.

How would you feel when Amazon listens in, determines whether not your house is a "republican house" or "democrat house," then uses that data to serve up a different version of the Washington Post online to you or to everyone in a particular geo in order to influence political results? Because this is literally possible with today's technology.

 

[alexhardaker]

Will this work with a family plan? As in, if I pay a family subscription, would my father be able to connect AM to the Alexa app on his phone and use his echo to control music? Or would he require his own subscription?

Or would it be connected to my personal library?

 

[DoctorTech]

Still amazes me that people are happy to have these 'smart' speakers in their homes. Who really trusts the likes of Amazon & particularly Google with your data & privacy? Not me.

I completely understand your position. You could not pay me to put a Google home or Facebook portal device in my house.

However, I have no such reservations with a HomePod because I trust Apple's commitment to user privacy. I also have a couple of Amazon Echos that I would like to replace with HomePods but at $349 each, that just isn't in the budget right now. Plus, one of my Echos is an Echo Show with a 7" screen that allows me to view my Ring security cameras around the perimeter of my house without getting out of bed.

The good news for me is with the integration of Apple Music as an Alexa Skill, I will be able to drop my Amazon Music Premium subscription (I get a free basic subscription as an Amazon Prime member but I was paying about $3 per month for a premium subscription).

 

[Jsameds]

Only if a judge issues a warrant. If they care about what you're saying so much they can already listen to everything you're saying with laser microphones. You have installed blackbody dampeners on every object in your house haven't you?

Don’t be silly. You’re completly missing the point here though. They need a court warrant to get the data from Amazon but the fact that Amazon has that data at all is the scary part.

Always listening, always recording. No thanks.

 

[mattopotamus]

Foolish thing to say, and no true understanding of what's going on around you.

I really have no idea why people on concerned with me not caring. I've had smart speakers for years now, and I will continue to purchase them.
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Just amazes me the level of paranoia. Omg, for 25yrs I was an outlaw, never lost sleep, worried about the govt, or even helicopters that flew overheard with heat and ir. The only thing I worried about was cops raiding me shooting my dogs. Lawyers would've fixed my end.
Now I am totally licensed bonded and legal it means even less.
Trust me, the gov't isn't worried about what 99% of us do. As far as Alexa and Google targeting ads, well ads aren't a big deal and I find them useful sometimes.

I feel the same way...holy hell the tin foil hats are out.

 

[posguy99]

Personally, I do not care if it listens to my conversations. I am not doing anything illegal.

What does legality have to do with it? I'm not taking a position pro or con, but *you* appear to be confused.

 

[mattopotamus]

How would you feel when Amazon listens in, determines whether not your house is a "republican house" or "democrat house," then uses that data to serve up a different version of the Washington Post online to you or to everyone in a particular geo in order to influence political results? Because this is literally possible with today's technology.

wouldn't care.
[doublepost=1543595121][/doublepost]

What does legality have to do with it? I'm not taking a position pro or con, but *you* appear to be confused.

What I mean is I'm note worried about it from that standpoint or any other standpoint. I just flat out do not care if the data is used.

 

[groadyho]

I really have no idea why people on concerned with me not caring. I've had smart speakers for years now, and I will continue to purchase them.
[doublepost=1543595036][/doublepost]

I feel the same way...holy hell the tin foil hats are out.

People just don't realize if the gov't or a corporation really wanted to listen or track you they could, no matter phone speaker or device.
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wouldn't care.
[doublepost=1543595121][/doublepost]
Same here. It wouldnt change my affiliation or how I vote or think anyway.

 

[Khedron]

Don’t be silly. You’re completly missing the point here though. They need a court warrant to get the data from Amazon but the fact that Amazon has that data at all is the scary part.

Always listening, always recording. No thanks.

That's a lie. The only things recorded are commands you speak to Alexa.

If you think Amazon are constantly recording audio from every device I would love to know where you think they're storing it and what magical compression algorithm they came up with to make that feasible.

 

[Smearbrick]

YES!!!! I have a number of Alexa devices, and refuse to pay Apple's ridiculous price for HomePod, but I find Prime Music to be lacking (I'm an Apple Music subscriber). This is awesome!

Prime is lacking - it doesn’t have as many song as the full Amazon Music. Amazon Music is more of a competitor to Apple Music than Prime.

 

[Jsameds]

That's a lie. The only things recorded are commands you speak to Alexa.

If you think Amazon are constantly recording audio from every device I would love to know where you think they're storing it and what magical compression algorithm they came up with to make that feasible.

Yeah I don’t believe that one bit. Vocal audio recordings can be compressed down to virtually nothing.

Funny how you question that but not Youtube, which has 300 hours of video uploaded every minute.

Server space isn’t an issue.

 

[Uofmtiger]

My query: Does the Dot or the Echo have nice D/A converters which would make connecting an auxiliary cable to a nice speaker or headphone produce superior sound to bluetooth? I have an LG V40 smart phone which has a 4 channel internal DAC giving wired connections fine sound. My guess, given the low prices, is that the Dot or Echo would not have such a feature.

The Echo Dot has an aux out. That means you can connect it to any stereo system that has analog inputs. Ideally, it would have an optical or coax digital output for those that care about sound quality, but this gets you better sound than the crappy speaker on the Dot. As was mentioned, it can send out audio via Bluetooth, but it can't accept a Bluetooth signal from your phone and simultaneously send out a Bluetooth signal.

I think this is about Apple wanting to get more Apple Music subscribers, while not being too worried that Amazon makes anything that fits the same market as the HomePod. Also, if you have to say "Alexa, tell Apple Music to" in front of every command, that can be annoying. Especially since the Dot has a hard time hearing you over the mics when music is playing if you aren't right on top of them. I am still happy to have it available since I have Dots around the house.

 

[tromboneaholic]

Will this work with a family plan? As in, if I pay a family subscription, would my father be able to connect AM to the Alexa app on his phone and use his echo to control music? Or would he require his own subscription?

Or would it be connected to my personal library?

Family sharing has completely separate libraries.

It's separate accounts though each Apple ID.

I do the same thing, and have no interest in hearing my dad's playlists...

 

[alexhardaker]

Family sharing has completely separate libraries.

It's separate accounts though each Apple ID.

I do the same thing, and have no interest in hearing my dad's playlists...

So the Alexa app will connect to his library through his phone even though I’m paying for it?

 

[Z3man]

It does exactly what I bought it to do and it regularly gets software updates expanding its feature set.

What updates has it had, has it had an Equaliser or any Presets added so you can control the sound quality?