Voice in Canada Podcast

Two weeks ago, I did a countdown of the top flash briefings in Canada. Today we are going to tackle the top ten Amazon Alexa skills in Canada, based on average customer ratings, of course! Before we proceed, one small caveat: I selected the skills based on the categorical meaning of the word. These are interactive skills and not just sound effects. I decided to sort the skills this way so you can see Alexa at her best. With that in mind, time to countdown the top ten!

Love podcasts? This podcast-player skill has thousands of them! So, what’s cool about it? There are no buttons to fiddle with: your voice is the remote. To get started, you can ask Alexa to open AnyPod. After the greeting, you can dive right into your favourite podcast by asking Alexa to play it. You can also pause, fast forward, or rewind. This is the perfect skill to podcast away those 30 minutes you have free.

Does this skill sound familiar? A couple of weeks ago, when I went over the top ten flash briefings in Canada, I spoke about “Word of the Day,” a flash briefing that, true to its name, teaches you one nugget of vocabulary per day. This skill is the flash briefing’s more inquisitive twin: it’ll quiz you on the word you just learned. If you are afraid you may choke on the quiz because you don’t know the word you’ll be quizzed on, fret not! The skill and flash briefing are intertwined so that the skill can take you to the briefing’s same word episode.

Feel like learning a little more after that last skill? Then, this skill is for you. TED Talks gives you access to some of the best speakers out there. You can search for talks by subject or by speaker name. If you’re in the mood for a surprise, you can also ask for funny, inspiring, persuasive, courageous, or jaw-dropping talks. The choice is yours.

This skill is perfect if you are already hooked into the TP-LINK smart home ecosystem. Once connnected, it allows you set and handle your TP-LINK smart home devices. The smartphone app is just as polished as the skill. Here’s one interesting stat: TP-LINK is the only smart home device manufacturer on the “Top Ten Amazon Alexa Skills in Canada” list.

Bored of the same old board games on game night? This skill might just be the perfect antidote. In this trivia game, you go through a series of questions, most of them based on a letter of the alphabet, and, if you get 10 correct answers in a row, you win. It sounds deceptively simple, but don’t get overconfident, some of them are doozies.

As the skill’s description notes, this is the perfect ice-breaker for parties. This skill has all the features to make it a knock-out party game. It’s delightfully simple; it supports a multiplayer mode; and it packs quirky, conversation-starter facts. There’s one downside, though. Sadly, and not that we don’t love hearing her, but the game is entirely spoken in Alexa’s voice. It would have been nicer to have a human touch behind this amazing game.

This is the only flash briefing that made it into the skills’ list. As you know, this is my flash briefing, so I won’t waste too much digital ink on it. If you are unfamiliar with it, here’s a short description: Discover top Amazon Alexa and Echo tips, tricks, skills, reviews, news, and deals and how to get the most out of Alexa’s voice-first service so you can have the time and freedom to make your life more organized, relaxed, stress-free, entertaining, and fun! Thanks again to all you listeners for making it the top flash briefing in Canada!

Remember those text-based games that were a sensation in the 1980’s? They’ve made a comeback. But now, you use your voice to get out of nooks and pick up ammo. Here’s the developer’s description: You are trapped in a room. It’s up to you and only you to escape. Search your room, pick up items, and solve puzzles to find your way out. There are three rooms to choose from and more being added. The skill will track your stats and how fast you complete each room.

Art thou a gamer, Alexa? With a cast of theatrical voices, this medieval-inspired game will transport you to the past. Here’s its description: Needy peasants. A backstabbing nobility. A king who is never satisfied. Nobody said that running a feudal fiefdom would be easy. But with this Alexa game, it is bound to be entertaining. You sit as a medieval lord of the realm, presented with an ever-expanding array of difficulty choices. Make good choices and stay in power as long as you can!

Let’s just say, if you want to keep your head, you better make the right choices.

Here’s their description: Would You Rather for Family is a simple but addictive game where you make a choice between two lighthearted and silly situations. Will the rest of the world agree with your decision? You have to try the skill to find out! Enjoy hundreds of fun, family-friendly questions to keep all ages entertained for hours.

The game comes in three editions: Standard, Disney, and Harry Potter. The game itself is a hoot, but sometimes I noticed there was a small hiccup where the game would not select the edition I had picked.

On a final note, I do want to give a shoutout to Invoked Apps, LLC and to Voice Apps, LLC. They didn’t make the top ten Amazon Alexa Skills list, but it was not because of a lack of quality; on the contrary, their skills are top notch. However, because their skills are ambient-sound oriented and are not interactive skills in the complete sense of the term, they were not included on this list. Nevertheless, you should definitely check their skills in the Alexa Skills store, they are incredible. Perhaps I’ll do a list of the top ten Amazon Alexa skills in Canada, but specifically for ambient-sound skills in the near future? Comment below if you’re interested!

• Top Ten Flash Briefings in Canada
• Alexa-Enabled and Controlled Devices in Canada
• Teri Fisher on Twitter
• Alexa in Canada on Twitter
• Alexa in Canada Facebook Page
• Alexa in Canada Community Group on Facebook
• Alexa in Canada on Instagram
• Please leave a review on iTunes
• Shopping on Amazon.ca
• The Alexa Conference, presented by VoiceFirst.FM
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