AudioCircle
Community => Non-audio hobbies and interests => The IT Crowd => Topic started by: ctviggen on 22 Feb 2016, 03:09 pm
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We just got an Amazon Echo, mainly for my wife to use to keep a grocery/shopping list, and for timers. However, it also controls my Insteon lights (light switches that communicate using wireless), so I can now say "Alexa, turn off the living room table lamp", and it does it! I have a small number of Insteon lights, but now I'm thinking of getting more. I could say "Alexa, turn off all outside lights" (or "all inside lights" or "run nighttime program") and have all my lights turn off. That's much better than having to find the iPad, find the light(s) or program and run that.
In fact, I'm trying to convince my wife to add some speaker cable into the house to set up a sonos network (sonos is kinda like a Squeezebox replacement, but also includes some nice functionality and the ability to have multiple speaker zones independently controlled). However, with Echo, now my wife pretty much uses it to listen to local radio stations and other music. I can't convince her to spend a bunch more money for similar functionality, only with no talking interface (currently, sonos works through apps). And even I have a hard time convincing myself to install wires when I can't say "Alexa, play WXYZ radio station in living room using Sonos".
Plus, the ability to keep shopping lists and have them sent to your phone, and to have timers and other information simply by speaking is pretty cool.
I'm not overly fond of having Amazon know even more about me than they already do, but that's the price I have to pay I guess.
Does anyone else have an Echo, and if so do you like it?
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I have had one for about a month and enjoy it. We use it mostly for keeping the shopping list but also to listen to music. I have it setup to connect with my Ooma phone as well so I can check voice mail but haven't used that function yet.
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This would be a FANTASTIC Holiday gift - Amazon Echo Dot 2nd Gen $49.99.
If you are unfamiliar with what it is google a video or two.
I just got an Amazon Echo Dot. Where the Echo is 9.3" high, the Echo Dot is about 1.5". Main difference is the Echo has about 7" more speaker than the Dot, and the Dot has an Aux out (3.5mm) because they expect you'll connect a bigger speaker (which you can also do via Bluetooth). Functionally they are identical.
$50 for the Dot, $179 for the Echo. (If you have or do not need a good Bluetooth speaker, the Dot is the way to go, no need to buy the Echo)
This thing is really cool. No need to ever touch it, just talk to it. And it can hear you from far away while you speak in a normal voice.
For music I have Pandora and iHeart Radio and it plays them no problem, I just say the words (Alexa play Pandora radio Ben Harper) and it plays. I also got the trial of Amazon Music Unlimited which will cost $3.99/month, but I can only play that on the Dot. Everything I asked for so far has been available on Amazon Music. Example Illinoise Jacquet Swings the Thing, I asked it to play the album and bam, first song to last song immediately starts.
The built-in speaker is OK for just chilling and listening, like maybe a lot better than a good phone speaker.
For weather, traffic, sports, news it works amazingly well. Say "Alexa what's the weather" and it answers immediately. Did the Raiders win last night? "Last night the Raiders beat the Texans 17 to 10 (or whatever it was) at whatever stadium." For news say Alexa what's in the news and it starts playing whatever news feeds you set up (not everything you might want is available).
I haven't tried the home automation stuff yet, but looking at the online videos it looks like it works well for that stuff, too. This is what the IoT (Internet of Things) is all about.
It doesn't necessarily do anything I can't do with my phone, but everything it does it does so well it's a lot easier via the Echo Dot. I almost never speak requests into my iPhone or Android phone because I have it in my hand and it just seems easier to type stuff in. With Echo, it works so well and so seamlessly it's really a lot easier than picking up my phone. If I had to stand in front of the Echo and speak loud and slow I'd probably just use my phone, but with the Dot I just say in a normal voice and it does its thing.
Can't go wrong for fifty bucks.
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Very cool. Thanks for the info!
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I had one and returned it. I wasn't really all that impressed nor did it make anything easier. I think the best thing I was able to use it for was weather while I made lunch for the day. Other than that, not for me.
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I just got an Echo to primarily use with a bunch of Casetta switches to allow for easy use of lighting sciences.
I needed a way to better control the 29 in ceiling lights in our Great Room and I am hoping this combo will be the solution.
BTW, the Echo and Dot are now on sale as part of Amazon's Black Friday promotion.
Echo is down to $139 and Dot is $39.
George
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BTW, the Echo and Dot are now on sale as part of Amazon's Black Friday promotion.
Echo is down to $139 and Dot is $39.
George
Thanks I just ordered a 2nd for me and one for my Mom. I bought the first while visiting Mom for Thanksgiving and she loves it.
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I have 3 2nd generation Dots around the house. The one I have in the kitchen is used the most. I now don't have to function as the family's weather man. They can all ask Alexa about the weather as they run out the door. The whole family loves the shopping list feature. We've had issues for years that "we have no food in this house", and my wife would always say "I buy anything that's on the list." The problem is no one would add to any list. Now, if you think of something, or if you see we running out of something, you just ask Alexa to add it to the shopping list that magically shows up on my wife's phone. It's also very cool to ask Alexa random things you'd normally need to search the Internet for on some computer or hand-held device.
I use all 3 Dots to control many light switches all over the house and outside. I went with the GE/Z-Wave dimmers, on/off, and outdoor switches. The dimmers work great, and I have the outside lights on automated routines to turn them on at sunset, and off at various times. I even have automated routines ready to go for my outdoor Christmas lights. I'm using a Samsung Smartthings Hub v2 to control the switches and run the automation.
I have 2 Dots that slightly overlap coverage areas, so it's very cool that only the closest one responds to you. I've had virtually no issues with the function or operation of the system. I have more I want to do with lights and automation, but my next step is a new thermostat.
We do use the Dots to play music, but just as background. They work good enough for listening in a noisy kitchen, or while people are talking or multi-tasking. Overall, I love what they done for our home and how we use it.
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Finally installed my Echo today.
I am initially using it to control lights (Lutron Caseta) and thermostats (Nest) and play music.
It's a little geeky, but I think it is cool.
I am putting a Dot in my bedroom as well.
Now I can turn on/off lights in the living room and kitchen from my bedroom. :thumb:
Will need to play with it to see what else I can do.
George
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As geeky as it sounds, and I am sure it exists today but I haven't seen it - Soon it will become common for new houses to not have any light switches on the walls. Home automation seems to be really taking off, and as easy as it is to speak to these things now I believe it is only a matter of time. Switches and such will be as odd and out of place as TVs that you walk up to to change the channel, and phones with cords.
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I have an echo and do like it very much. But "OK google" gives better answers but echo is more convenient if you're not already using your Android device.
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We use ours for a ton of stuff. For instance, we can say "turn off outside lights", "turn off downstairs lights", or "turn off nighttime lights", and certain lights will turn off. We can control many lights throughout our house, such as Christmas lights, bathroom lights, etc.
We use it all the time to listen to music, create shopping lists, find information, have it tell us jokes. I plan on integrating it with Kodi (which we use for movies) when I get the time.
The problem is that it does not interface with our music collection. So, there's no way for me to tell it to play our Christmas playlist. It's really built around selling you Amazon's products.
When my URC remote finally goes, I'm going to get a different remote that may have echo integration.
I also hate the way we're being tracked, but it's so much easier to tell Alexa to turn on and off lights than it is to go to a program to do the same thing.
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We use ours for a ton of stuff. For instance, we can say "turn off outside lights", "turn off downstairs lights", or "turn off nighttime lights", and certain lights will turn off. We can control many lights throughout our house, such as Christmas lights, bathroom lights, etc.
What devices do you attach to the lights to integrate with the echo?
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Here's one - https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Control-Devices-Anywhere-HS100/dp/B0178IC734/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1481722273&sr=8-4&keywords=echo
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Here's another - https://www.amazon.com/Philips-White-Starter-light-bridge/dp/B014H2OZAC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1481722273&sr=8-8&keywords=echo
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I'm using this:
https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Devices-ISY-994i-INSTEON-Automation/dp/B007JM29LU
Though I have the old Pro model. It appears I have to pay $49 every 2 years to be able to use the echo. I don't remember having to pay, but maybe I did. I also use Insteon switches, lamp switches, and motion sensors. I originally only had a few switches and other elements, but once we got the echo to work, I put more money into this. The ISY allows you to do things like turn on and off lights on a schedule, respond to motion sensors, etc. The combination of it with the echo is quite powerful. I was originally going to buy a program for the iPad, but I never had the time to buy the program and then program it. We use my wife's iPhone and she does a lot of the set up on her side. She is the one with the echo account, and I am the technology guy with the lights.
I do have to say it's quite expensive. For instance, each light switch is about $40. If you want to control a 4 way circuit, that's $120. You also need to have some knowledge of programming if you want to use the ISY.
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The problem is that it does not interface with our music collection. So, there's no way for me to tell it to play our Christmas playlist.
https://community.roonlabs.com/t/alexa-voice-control/10688
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I started integrating some lights to the Echo Dots. It's more of a curiosity, but actually is useful. When I listen to music I am usually in the dark, and when I want to get up to change the record or CD I find my way to the light switch. Now I just tell the Dot to turn on the lamp and I'm good to go.
I am using the Echo Dot and Philips Hue.
Everything integrated very easily, although you do need to use two apps to set it up (Philips and Alexa). Once it's set up and you have things configured the way you want (~3o min, depending on how many devices, etc.) it's just a matter of saying the words and lights come on and off, dim to whatever % you ask, etc. Very cool.
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https://community.roonlabs.com/t/alexa-voice-control/10688
Thanks, I'll check that out.
Also, the Alexa is good for turning on and off individual lights, but (assuming you have the hardware to do it) is even more powerful for groups of lights. For instance, we can say "turn off outside lights" or "turn off downstairs lights" and all those lights turn off. I'm going to make a group for the kid's bathroom (three lights) so I can just say "turn off kids bathroom lights" and it will happen, instead of having to remember the names of three different lights. Also, I plan on putting in a dot right near where we enter the garage on our way out of the house. This way, we can say "turn off all lights", and Alexa will turn everything off. This will take more adding of lights, as not all our lights are controllable.
You can also say (assuming you have the hardware), "Alexa, turn on the living room lamp at 50% power".
I assume you can also have scenes, eg, "Alexa turn on watching TV scene", and lights will dim, turn on, turn off, etc. I haven't tried this yet.
If you have a thermostat that works with Alexa, I guess you could also say, "Alexa, turn on Away mode", and the thermostat would be set to Away.
Again, I'm using a Universal Devises ISY 994 and Insteon lights, which require a substantial investment in both money and time (for installing and configuring everything).
By the way, we also use Alexa as a timer (especially for the kids) and for shopping lists.
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An interesting circus toy that causes otherwise normal humans talk to themselves, quite loudly I might add, when no-one is in the room. Even if I was assured that the People-In-White-Coats would not come for me, as they surely should, I have no assurance that the device is not polluting the airwaves with unnecessary radio waves (what we audio people usually call Radio Frequency Interference, or RFI) and that it is secure and supported so as not to be one of the IoT devices that are attacking websites with DDOS attacks as we speak.
I explored Voice Recognition 19 years ago (1997) and it worked fine then, probably as well as it works now *. But I felt like an idiot interacting with it. Can't see that changing.
Of course that is ignoring that Alphabet, parent of Google, or "The Company Who Never Released A Product They Could Continue To Support" is part of the environment. I know Google is not Amazon, but none the less all I see there is a company throwing spaghetti at the 'fridge to see what sticks. And abandoning what doesn't.
Not for me.
I'm not a Luddite ... far from it; I've had a computer in my office or studio that I paid for with my money for almost 30 years now. But the Next Great Thing has to be something I actually find useful and if it is supposed to replace something, it has to work better than what it's replacing.
Not there yet; too much money to turn on a few lights with a bunch of extra ... like we don't already have enough ... RFI thrown in for good measure. We had X10 30 years ago, and that came with some extra interference on the AC line. But hey, it turned the lights off and on.
* The same as Optical Character Recognition. The 2016 version works about the same as the 1996 version. You would think 20 years of development would make a difference. Nope.
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Been thinking of getting the echo but now all this talk about the dot made me order one to try out . Heck only 40 bucks, but it says I will not get it until Jan 2
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Can you change the name or are you stuck with Alexa?
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Can you change the name or are you stuck with Alexa?
I think you have 2 other choices ... amazon or dot.
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Been thinking of getting the echo but now all this talk about the dot made me order one to try out . Heck only 40 bucks, but it says I will not get it until Jan 2
I got one as an early Xmas gift. Got it hooked up to the living room stereo system. Also signed up for a free month of Amazon Unlimited music (after that it's $3.99 per month for the Dot). It's a lot of fun, if a song pops into my head I just tell Alexa to play it instead of having to fetch a cd or scroll the laptop.
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Hi,
I hate to be the Grinch but I have watched my younger brother whose always on top of the cutting edge of technology grow fat and obese from using gadgets making his life too easy. He does not have any handicaps yet and thinks a manual crank on a car window is manual labor.
I heard that the U.S. life expectancy has gone down this year. When there is no need to get off your ass it's not rocket science, your going to need a new belt.
I have a friend with ALS and the Echo might be a god send to him but think if you really need one.
When your buds start calling you Haystack it's time to channel your money elsewhere.....have a merry Xmas, and I did that by myself, and of course Dell....Mark Korda
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Hi,
I hate to be the Grinch but I have watched my younger brother whose always on top of the cutting edge of technology grow fat and obese from using gadgets making his life too easy. He does not have any handicaps yet and thinks a manual crank on a car window is manual labor.
I heard that the U.S. life expectancy has gone down this year. When there is no need to get off your ass it's not rocket science, your going to need a new belt.
I have a friend with ALS and the Echo might be a god send to him but think if you really need one.
When your buds start calling you Haystack it's time to channel your money elsewhere.....have a merry Xmas, and I did that by myself, and of course Dell....Mark Korda
I've lost 55 pounds while decreasing the amount and intensity of the exercise I do. It's not technology, it's what he's eating. Tell him to stop eating all carbohydrates. Particularly, avoid bread and other whole grains. Eat fat and lots of it, but avoid seed oils at all costs. They have high Omega 6 PUFAs in them, which cause insulin resistance at a cellular level and also they likely cause cancer, particularly when heated. Avoid anything and everything that's low in fat. Increase his fish intake (high in Omega 3s), but watch nuts (high in Omega 6). Even some meats might have to be limited (chicken in particular, which is high in Omega 6). Eat meat, vegetables. No fruit, which is high in fructose, which is uniquely fattening (causes or exacerbates fatty liver, which causes insulin resistance). My jury is out on dairy, though I eat cream, high fat cheeses, sour cream, yoghurt and the like.
Also, the scientific evidence is underwhelming that exercise leads to weight loss. Why wouldn't you just eat more to make up for the exercise? Think about it: if you want to get really hungry, what do you do? You exercise. I think Gary Taubes is exactly correct:
http://nymag.com/news/sports/38001/
So, I personally wouldn't blame your brother's weight on exercise or sloth or calories. It's what he's eating.
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Well you have to remember their motivations- every amazon device is created for 1 thing - to enable people to buy more at the amazon store, digital or physical items. So far, google devices sell ad space, not sure how that works with an audio only device.
Cortana and siri? I dont know enough about those companies. I can say the "ok google" on my tablet gives much better answers than siri on an ipad.
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I hate to be the Grinch
I knew the Grinch, the Grinch was a friend of mine. You are no Grinch. You are just an ordinary thread crapper. :)
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As geeky as it sounds, and I am sure it exists today but I haven't seen it - Soon it will become common for new houses to not have any light switches on the walls. Home automation seems to be really taking off, and as easy as it is to speak to these things now I believe it is only a matter of time. Switches and such will be as odd and out of place as TVs that you walk up to to change the channel, and phones with cords.
Never going to happen. Check the NEC
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An interesting circus toy that causes otherwise normal humans talk to themselves, quite loudly I might add, when no-one is in the room.
One of the most impressive things about this thing to me is that you simply speak in a normal voice. No need to even direct your voice towards it, just speak as if you're speaking to someone else in the room. So it's very natural, actually, else I would agree with you.
Not there yet; too much money to turn on a few lights with a bunch of extra
My setup was $40 for the Echo, $60 for the Philips hub, $15 for the controllable white light and $25 for the controllable colored light (standard LED lights seem to be about $5 to $10). Too much for some people, not a lot to others I suppose. I'll probably get a few more lights to replace all the lights in my listening room. It's a fun experiment for me to control the lights in my listening room and also get some ambiance.
I think you have 2 other choices ... amazon or dot.
Alexa, Amazon and Echo are your three choices.
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Never going to happen. Check the NEC
Yeah I just kinda pulled that out from wherever...Is it a safety thing or what are you referring to?
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It's a listening device, yes? If it isn't listening to everything, how would it know it's trigger (i.e. 'Okay Google')? It listens so well that one only needs to speak in a normal tone and volume of voice, from an impressive distance, for the device to activate and respond.
Isn't the very definition of a *bug* that of a wireless listening device?
Please trust that I'm not a conspiracy theorist of any kind. I just wouldn't want one of these in my home.
Have fun,
Jerry
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Over the last week we installed more Caseta light switches and also integrated the Echo/Dot with my Harmony remote. With that integration, I can now somewhat control our tv, Xbox, satellite, etc...
So I have now created some cool Marcos or scenes. I turn on lights, tv/music with the simple phrase "welcome home". I turn off everything at bedtime with the phrase "bedtime".
A few minutes ago, I heard the boys get up for school and they love having Alexa handle the things above, plus tell them the weather.
We are all really enjoying this tech!
George
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I bought an Echo during the Thanksgiving sale, along with a few Dots to give my boys. So far I use it for weather, BBC Radio, news and conversion from imperial to metric.
Still waiting for someone to come up with an iCal Skill and Tidal Skill.
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As geeky as it sounds, and I am sure it exists today but I haven't seen it - Soon it will become common for new houses to not have any light switches on the walls. Home automation seems to be really taking off, and as easy as it is to speak to these things now I believe it is only a matter of time. Switches and such will be as odd and out of place as TVs that you walk up to to change the channel, and phones with cords.
Never going to happen. Check the NEC
It will. Everything will eventually be voice controlled - many things won't even need to be spoken. They'll detect your presence.
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Count me in once they offer an output to feed a pair of decent speakers.
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Count me in once they offer an output to feed a pair of decent speakers.
The Amazon echodot (https://www.amazon.com/All-New-Amazon-Echo-Dot-Add-Alexa-To-Any-Room/dp/B01DFKC2SO/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1482455287&sr=1-1&keywords=amazon+dot) does have a 3.5mm stereo analog audio output.
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The Amazon echodot (https://www.amazon.com/All-New-Amazon-Echo-Dot-Add-Alexa-To-Any-Room/dp/B01DFKC2SO/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1482455287&sr=1-1&keywords=amazon+dot) does have a 3.5mm stereo analog audio output.
It does. I use the out to my Bose Wave Radio and listen while I work. Works great with the $3.99/month Amazon Music Unlimited. Darn near everything I ask it to play it plays. I cannot vouch for the fidelity of the Dot's output, however since I have only listened to it to the Bose, but for work it's perfect.
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Sorry, double post
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The Amazon echodot (https://www.amazon.com/All-New-Amazon-Echo-Dot-Add-Alexa-To-Any-Room/dp/B01DFKC2SO/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1482455287&sr=1-1&keywords=amazon+dot) does have a 3.5mm stereo analog audio output.
Thanks Steve.
sebrof that was my follow up question. I guess the follow up to the follow up is do you have any sense as to whether or not the Bose sounds worse when the source input is the Echo?
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Thanks Steve.
sebrof that was my follow up question. I guess the follow up to the follow up is do you have any sense as to whether or not the Bose sounds worse when the source input is the Echo?
Not really. The only things I have had hooked up to the Bose are an iPod Classic, LG phone and the Dot. All sounded the same to me, but to be honest the Bose actually sounds not so great anyway. I just listen in the background while I work.
After the Holidays I plan to hook the Dot to my stereo to see how it compares to my CD player. That will tell me how good the Dot's output sounds.
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Over the last week we installed more Caseta light switches and also integrated the Echo/Dot with my Harmony remote. With that integration, I can now somewhat control our tv, Xbox, satellite, etc...
So I have now created some cool Marcos or scenes. I turn on lights, tv/music with the simple phrase "welcome home". I turn off everything at bedtime with the phrase "bedtime".
A few minutes ago, I heard the boys get up for school and they love having Alexa handle the things above, plus tell them the weather.
We are all really enjoying this tech!
George
Did you have to purchase something to make the Dot work with your Harmony remote ?
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Thanks Steve.
sebrof that was my follow up question. I guess the follow up to the follow up is do you have any sense as to whether or not the Bose sounds worse when the source input is the Echo?
I have my Dot hooked to my main rig right now. I played 1 song on the Dot and then the same song on my Rega Apollo CD Player. The Rega sounds a lot better, but the Dot doesn't sound bad. Everything is relative - One man's "not bad" is another man's unlistenable.
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Did you have to purchase something to make the Dot work with your Harmony remote ?
Not sure which remotes will integrate - it's probably listed somewhere.
George
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Amazon Alexa now integrates with iCalendar, effective today.
I've been waiting for this for sometime, it works!