Voice

Alexa Puzzle Piece
Alexa

A Puzzling Development

By early 2018 I had already published a few fairly basic Alexa Skills, but my first attempt to build a fully robust Alexa Skill was "The Oddly Uncanny Fannee Doollee",…
ninety day 1400 90 Day APLA
Alexa

90 Day APLA

If you haven’t noticed, the foundation of my Alexa Skills leans heavily towards pop culture. For a while, I contemplated delving into the television phenomenon "90 Day Fiancé" as the…
cat facts facts 1400 Alexa and the Matter of Cat Facts
Alexa

Alexa and the Matter of Cat Facts

On June 1st, 2020 I visited the Alexa Skills store and did a search for “cat facts”.  The result of that search yielded an astonishing 15 pages of Alexa Skills. With an…
Sonic Branding
Development

The Resonance of Sonic Branding

In the symphony of media, the three-note chimes of NBC and the static "ahhhh" of HBO have become auditory landmarks. Sonic branding, though not a novel concept, is poised to…
Real Housewives Test for Alexa
Alexa

The Housewives Test

The Housewives Test is the fourth game I have built for Alexa. It was developed as part of Amazon’s In-Skill Purchasing Challenge. In-Skill Purchasing (ISP) allows developers the ability to…
2019 Voice Summit
Development

Voice Summit 2019

After a long personal conference drought, I attended my second one this year; the Voice Summit in Newark, New Jersey. Unlike the Alexa Conference, Voice Summit featured voice technologies from…
always never promo 1400 Multimodal Alexa Being Seen and Heard
Alexa

Multimodal Alexa Being Seen and Heard

Since Amazon offers smart speakers with screen such as the Echo Spot and Echo Show, it needed a way to allow developers to offer a better visual experience to their…
2019 Alexa conference
Development

Alexa Conference 2019

For quite some time attending tech conferences was part of an annual ritual for me. Through the years I have met some amazing people from around the world, many who…
TV Title Match for Alexa
Alexa

Talking Trash, My First Alexa Game

With The Oddly Uncanny Fannee Doollee, a word puzzle for kids, under my belt I felt it was time to try to attempt a fully fleshed out game. Over the…
5007BABD 13AD 472C AEF539FCD455C992 W1000 H365 Telling Alexa What To Do
Alexa

Telling Alexa What To Do

In early August I attended the Amazon Web Services Summit with a goal of getting a handle on developing for the Amazon Echo and Dot platforms. After word I published…
fannee logo 1400 700 An Oddly Uncanny Children's Skill
Alexa

An Oddly Uncanny Children’s Skill

As I get deeper into Voice First development I am looking for ideas of projects that lend themselves to voice interaction. I decided to try and put together a fun…
first skill 1400 My First Alexa Skill - K.I.S.S.
Alexa

My First Alexa Skill – K.I.S.S.

Throughout my years in technology I have been confronted with the reality that I need to always keep learning, staying on top of or ahead of what is new. Getting…