Triby Digital Assistant With Alexa Voice Service

I am currently using the Alexa Voice Service and Triby to turn my kitchen into a digital assistant. This let’s me talk to my family through a speaker while on the go, play music at the touch of a button, search Wikipedia and more.

I received a complimentary Triby to test out and share my opinions with you all. We’ve tried it out and it’s pretty cool! I like it enough that I’ve put it on our 2016 Holiday Gift Guide.

What is Triby?

Triby – A gift that is family-friendly and will transform the way families connect with the music and people they love. Triby is the first non-Amazon device to have the amazing Alexa-enabled service built in. Triby is a digital assistant, Internet radio, connected speaker, hands-free speakerphone, and connected message board all rolled into one! Triby is priced $199.99 and is available on Amazon.com.

Triby is a neat little unit. When the kids are home with a sitter, we use Triby to communicate back and forth.

I have the Triby app on my phone and we can call each other back and forth. Triby uses our home’s protected wifi connection and has two buttons to pre-set callers. I have the app on my phone and Clay’s phone so phone #1 is set to me and phone #2 is set to him. If the kids need to call either of us, they simply push the corresponding phone button on Triby. It will open the app on our phone and ring. We can then talk to the kids or sitter just like a regular phone call to speakerphone.

Along with the built-in calling to the app, you can use Triby with your phone’s Bluetooth for hands free calling. I forgot that I had connected it to my phone’s Bluetooth. The school nurse called and I couldn’t figure out how to answer my phone! I tapped the phones answer button and I could tell that it had connected but I couldn’t hear anyone and she couldn’t hear me.

Turns out, she was coming through the speaker on Triby. It was in one room and I was in another so I had no idea until I walked into the kitchen and heard the nurse saying “Hello? Can you hear me?”! Once I figured that out, we were able to talk just fine and could hear each other really well. That was a crazy day!

I can also send short text messages to the kids. When a message is received a cute yellow flag will pop out the side of Triby. The kids can either push the flag back in to let me know they’ve seen my message or they can push a button to choose from several emoticons. The circle by message on the app on my phone will change to the emoticon they chose or to a check mark.

Triby also has two radio buttons. There are tons of radio stations that can be selected. So, just like the buttons on your car radio, you can choose 2 stations. I’ve found that all of our local stations are available and come through loud and clear.  I love turning it on and having music while I’m cleaning house.

Not only can you pre-set specific radio stations but you can also use Triby to connect to your Spotify premium account. You can also use Bluetooth to play music from your phone, through Triby’s speakers.

There are volume control and pause buttons on the top.

The Triby comes with a protective silicone bumper around the edges. You can also purchase additional/replacement bumpers in other colors. Our Triby came with a light gray and then we also have one in orange. I love the orange for a bright, pop of color in my kitchen!

What is Alexa Voice Service?

According to Amazon, AVS is:

AVS is Amazon’s intelligent cloud service that allows you as a developer to voice-enable any connected product with a microphone and speaker. Users can simply talk to their Alexa-enabled products to play music, answer questions, get news and local information, control smart home products and more.

Amazon

Amazon Voice Service is similar to Siri, Ok Google and Cortana. It is a digital assistant app that allows you to check your calendar, search on Wikipedia, open music, etc. We have been having a lot of fun having conversations with Alexa! The kids love to ask her “What Does The Fox Say”. She is great at looking up songs and playing 30 second snippets too.

I like to use it for checking the weather before we go out and for checking my calendar for the day.

Triby uses your home’s secure wifi connection so as long as you have power and wifi, you have a free way to place calls to the ones you connect to most often, like kids, spouse, parents, etc.

It is a pretty neat gadget to have in the home!

This items is featured on our 2016 Holiday Gift Guide.