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1.     SIGN UP FOR ALEXA CALLING AND MESSAGING. Open the Alexa app and tap the Conversations icon (the text bubble in the bottom middle of the app). 2.     FOLLOW THE ON-SCREEN PROMPTs, such

as entering your first and last name as well as your mobile number. 3.     TAP THE CONTACT ICON in the top right of the app, the icon shaped like a person, to allow Contacts to drop in on

you. Select a name from the list of contacts. Tap the toggle beside CONTACT CAN DROP IN anytime. OTHER COOL FEATURES A few more tricks you can do with these smart speakers: REMINDERS, ALARMS

AND TIMERS Want a reminder to take pills or to call someone at a particular time? For all three smart speakers, simply say the wake words — “Alexa,” “Hey, Siri,” or “OK, Google”  — followed

by your request, such as “At 8 a.m. tomorrow, remind me to take out the recycling.” You can use it as an alarm to set a wake-up time every day and use it as an oven timer to help you in the

kitchen. REMEMBER WHAT?  This one works only with Google Home speakers. Your Google Assistant can help you remember where you left things. Say something like “OK, Google, remember my

passport is in the top drawer.” When you need it in the future, ask “Where’s my passport?” and “she” will tell you where it is. Neat, eh? This little-known trick does not work with Amazon

Alexa or Apple’s Siri, at least not yet. PLAY GAMES Bored? Amazon and Google devices let you play voice-enabled games. For example, you can say “OK, Google, let’s play trivia” and you’ll be

asked how many people want to play. Or “Alexa, play the Magic Door,” for a solo adventure game. In some cases, you may be asked to install an Alexa Skill first in the app, but many of the

games work simply by asking for them. Thousands of games are available, and most are free. A fun 20 Questions-like game is called Akinator, which works with both Amazon and Google. As you

can see or, rather, hear, your smart speaker is capable of a lot more than just serving as a cyber encyclopedia. You can ask to play one of 50 million songs from your favorite music

streaming service; order an Uber or Lyft by asking for it; create a shopping list or even order items online to be delivered to your door; and if you can’t find your phone, you can ask some

speakers to make it ring loudly even if it’s on silent. You get the idea. Part of the fun is experimenting, too, such as asking for audiobooks, jokes, podcasts and stories. _Marc Saltzman

has been a freelance technology journalist for 25 years. His podcast Tech It Out aims to break down geek speak into street speak._ SETTING UP YOUR NEW DEVICE IS YOUR SPEAKER SPYING ON YOU?

TRAINING YOUR VOICE ASSISTANT THE VOICE TECH TO SHOP FOR