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12 May 2017
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Q. Any thoughts on new gadgets for home and leisure?

A. A Christmas gift that has stayed the course in my house is the Amazon Echo Dot. It costs about €60 from Amazon and is a voice-activated digital assistant. On a normal day I use it to get news updates, listen to the radio, podcasts and music, set alarms and answer simple questions. I have previously used 'Siri' on Apple devices but found this an unrewarding experience. Amazon's 'Alexa' is smarter and genuinely adds to the experience of daily living. There are different versions of the Echo depending on whether you want a built-in speaker or not. If you buy the Dot rather than the more expensive Echo, you will have to connect it to your own speaker system. Our Dot lives in the kitchen. I talk to it every day.