The Amazon Echo defies easy categorization. Amazon has placed the $180 gadget in its Home Automation Controllers category alongside remotes, security components, and hubs. On the Echo's product page, however, it's marketed first and foremost as a music player. But its most unique feature is that it's primarily controlled by Amazon's Alexa voice command platform.

Alexa is what makes the Echo go. Speak, "Alexa, read me the news," or, "Alexa, what are the baseball scores?" and she'll tell you. She knows the weather, traffic and your stock prices. She tells bad jokes. ("Why was the ocean wet? It seaweed.") She compiles lists: "Alexa, add ice cream to my shopping list." And so on.

But what makes the Echo so powerful is its ability to link to and control other devices. For example, Echo can control both the Belkin WeMo Switch and Philips's Hue light bulbs (among other smart home devices). Link either of them to your Echo, and you can turn your lights on and off with your voice.

Think a couple years into the future, as more devices get added to the Internet of Things and are able to connect to Alexa's voice-powered brain. Suddenly, the possibilities of using an Echo for a smart home controller get much bigger. It's easy to imagine, for example, that "Alexa, play Goodfellas on the TV" or "Alexa, lock the doors behind me" would make precisely that happen.

The Recipes ———–

Filling your home with smart devices that let you use your phone or issue voice commands is just the start. The real power move is making your devices talk to each other. A service called If This Then That (IFTTT) has pre-made recipes that can connect your devices to each other. You can use the service to program your devices to run routines, react to triggers, or pass commands to other devices in your home. The Internet of Things is a string of connections between pieces of hardware, so set them up to control each other.

Turn off the Lights: Too cold to venture outside to switch off your outdoor string lights? Alexa will brave the weather for you. Connect your lights to a Belkin WeMo Switch, then use this IFTTT recipe to use Alexa's voice controls. Ask her to turn the lights on and off.

I Hear It Somewhere...: Lost your phone again? Make it ring. IFTTT has a recipe that will make a phone (any phone) ring if you just ask Alexa to do so.

Raise the Roof! What if you threw a party and it was boring? Tell Alexa to put your Philips Hue smart LED lights on a color loop, that's what. Use this recipe and say, "Alexa, trigger loop all lights" to kick off a color show.

Warm Me Up: Don't want to get from under the blankets to turn up the heat? No problem. Use this recipe to tell Alexa to turn up your Nest smart thermostat.

Break a Sweat: No recipe for this one, it's built in. The Echo has a "seven-minute-workout" skill that you can use to get in shape in your living room. Just prompt Alexa, then say "Seven Minute Workout" to initiate a quick fat-burning set of exercises.