Eight odd tricks to try with your Amazon Echo

The Amazon Echo is full of surprises. Since it was launched in 2014, the voice-controlled virtual assistant gadget has picked up steam and turned into a helpful home companion.

The speaker and its built-in assistant, Alexa, started as a pretty cool way to play music, get traffic or news info, and buy items from Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) without using your hands. Since then, the Echo has quietly rolled out a ton of new, sometimes quirky, abilities.

It takes a bit of set-up to make the Echo shine. Many of the coolest tasks are made possible by integrations with third party tools and services through apps called "skills." To start using a skill, open the Echo mobile app and turn it on. The DIY automation tool IFTTT (If this then that) has almost 150 recipes for doing even more with third-party gadgets and apps.
Do some light banking
If your bank is Capital One (COF), you can ask Alexa for current information on your accounts using the new Capital One skill. Turn it on in the Echo app and connect to your checking, savings or credit card accounts. Ask Alexa for a balance, most recent transaction, or when your credit card payment is due. If it's tomorrow, go ahead and say "Alexa, ask Capital One to pay my credit card bill."
Have Alexa read you a bedtime story
The Echo can read your Kindle books out loud in Alexa's usual voice. It automatically knows what books you've bought through Amazon, and where you left off reading it last on your Kindle or smartphone. If Alexa's robotic monotone is distracting for long tomes, you can try listening to a real audiobook instead. When you're done, don't forget to tell Alexa "Goodnight."
Get organized with your favorite apps
A personal favorite, you can yell reminders or add items to your shopping list as soon as they pop into your head. Unfortunately, the official Echo app is still clunky to use. An alternative is to use an IFTTT to automatically import your to-dos and to-buys to the much better apps. There are recipes to import lists to Todoist, Wunderlist, iOS Reminders, Evernote, Google Calendar, and more.