Remember: We're giving away a $1,000 shopping spree to refresh your home for summer. Click here to enter for a chance to win!

Alexa is surprisingly helpful when it comes to answering factual questions

#1. Math

Alexa can do all kinds of math (add, subtract, percentages, square roots). Great for quick calculations and homework!

Just say "Alexa, what's 0.79 times 6?" or "Alexa, what's 15% of 89?" or "Alexa, what's the square root of 25?" or "Alexa, what's the cosine of 45 degrees?"

#2. Calendar-related questions

"Alexa, what day of the week is Halloween this year?" (the answer is Thursday!) or "Alexa, what day of the week is [your birthday] in 2020?"

#3. Sports stats & facts

"Alexa, how old is Carli Lloyd?" (36!) or "Alexa, how many grand slams has Roger Federer won?" (20!) or "Alexa, when is the first college football game?" (August 23rd!)

#4. Random (but simple) questions

Celebrities. "Alexa, what are the names of Beyonce's daughters?" 
Security prices. "Alexa, what's the price of bitcoin?" ($13,700 as of this writing!) or "Alexa, what's the price of Amazon stock?"
Geography. "Alexa, what's the capital of Wyoming?"
Unit conversions. "Alexa, how many cups are in a quart?"

Pro Tip: Alexa doesn't do so well with more complex questions

For questions like "What are the best concerts in Austin this weekend?" or "How did Snoop Dogg get his name?" Alexa struggles.

The good news is that Alexa should get better thanks to Alexa Answers, which crowdsources answers to common questions Alexa doesn’t know.

"Alexa, microwave for 3 minutes"

If you've ever wondered what you would do with an AmazonBasics Alexa-controlled microwave, check out these tips and tricks from Android Central. Here are the 3 tips I thought were the most helpful:

#1. "Alexa, microwave at level 5 for 2 minutes" is faster than punching in 2 settings

#2. "Alexa, add 30 seconds to the microwave" because it's always helpful to do things hands-free when you're cooking
#3. "Alexa, defrost 8 oz of chicken" so you don't have to fiddle with microwave settings or look it up
I'm taking vacation next week, and I'll be back with daily VoiceBrew emails on July 8. If you're in the USA, have a great July 4!

If you have questions or ideas, I'd love to hear from you. Reply to this email or get in touch at Thanks for being a subscriber to VoiceBrew!
Katherine Prescott
Founder, VoiceBrew
P.S. - If you're a Gmail user and this email is landing in your "promotions" tab, click here for 3 easy steps to make sure we end up in your inbox next time.

P.P.S. - Let's be friends! Follow VoiceBrew on Facebook and Instagram. And if you want to see my takes on voice industry news, follow me on Twitter.

5 Recent VoiceBrew emails:

This email was sent to <<Email Address>>
VoiceBrew · C/O 450 Labs LLC, Old Chelsea Station, 217 West 18th Street · PO Box 232 · New York, NY 10011-9998 · USA