“Alexa, set a timer for 10 minutes,” I say in the kitchen as I’m putting a pot of water on a burner, followed by “Alexa, set a timer for 20 minutes” as I pop some lasagne in the oven for reheating.

Alexa can respond to snoring, coughing, a baby crying or a dog barking. Here's how to set up sound detection, plus why you'd even want to. Dale Smith is a former Associate Writer on the How-To team at ...