Administrator Marc Posted December 15, 2016 Administrator Share Posted December 15, 2016 Who has embraced Amazon's Echo? I got on board and I'm absolutely in love with it. In fact, so is my wife and my 5 year old daughter. I've put a dot in the office, and use that to stream spotify in the day and control the office lights. We put a dot in the kitchen/meals area and the kids use that for music, wife uses it for weather/news, and now shopping lists. I use either device to turn the coffee machine on and off (which is handy if I'm in the office, as I know it needs 30 mins or so to get to temp). The possibilities are endless. We also have Tado (yet to implement), LIFX and Wemo, so all are being used. I've got a Echo on order to replace the kitchen Dot. I really haven't tapped into IFTTT with it yet either. What have you got and how/what do you use it for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hydrology Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 I really love the concept but as a lot of the services it can offer are region-specified currently (transport timetables, etc etc), I'll wait until they make it work seemlessly in any location, unless you can chime in and tell me an easy way around this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Marc Posted December 16, 2016 Author Administrator Share Posted December 16, 2016 Up until very recently there was a workaround to solve the Home location. Unfortunately they seem to have plugged that one. So you can still set the timezone (which I have done) to make use of alarms etc. But yes, instead of asking "Alexa what is weather tonight?", you have to say "Alexa what is the weather tonight in Melbourne, Australia?". To be honest, the location issue hasn't been a problem for me so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Marc Posted December 17, 2016 Author Administrator Share Posted December 17, 2016 It must be very early days for Amazon Echo in AU. I thought more would have gotten on-board already. Perhaps when it launches in Australia officially .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeahpetrus Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 I found the Echo experience to be fun, but ultimately not for me. The "workarounds" are easy enough to implement, and as Marc said, you generally just add the word "Sydney" to any questions and you get the right info. My feeling is that the real strength lies in home-automation use, (something I have little of). The fact that they're cheap, (the Dots), and have great integration with numerous 3rd party systems, means you can have them all over the house. In that scenario, you really can feel like you're talking to HAL. I reckon you can predict how much you'd enjoy Echo by asking yourself - do you use Spotify? Do you use IFTTT? Do you have WEMO, or the like? In that case, brilliant. On the other side, (hopefully this isn't sullying the thread), there's Google Home. If you like the idea of talking to the machine, and it answering almost flawlessly, including context, etc., then it's light-years ahead. Also, in my case, I use Youtube RED, not Spotify, so the music integration works better. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RankStranger Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 I've been thinking about getting a dot to play around with. I don't suppose any of you guys has a spare you're not using? $110-120 on eBay seems excessive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Marc Posted February 21, 2017 Author Administrator Share Posted February 21, 2017 1 day too late, I had one spare that I gave to a mate yesterday sorry @RankStranger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RankStranger Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Bummer. Thanks anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vagrahb Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I have an echo dot currently controlling my AV equipment via logitech hub and its amazing and have a echo in the room for spotify and alarm. Got a few applets going for reminders and shopping lists that get automatically synced to my iphone :). Tried to get voice control for KODI to work with ALEXA and ran into a few configuration issues so gave up half way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RankStranger Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 In case anyone else is looking. B&H sell them, including shipping to Aus for around $82 AUD all told. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1282299-REG/amazon_b015tjd0y4_echo_dot_white.html I haven't pulled the trigger yet. I'm still yet to setup the stuff I plan to use it with so no hurry. Good to know you can get them cheaper than feeBay though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1224 Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 I recently got one. Have it connected and controlling my zwave lights. Works good most of the time tho I think the HC2 doesn't send back status data so Alexa thinks it hasn't worked. Works 90% of the time tho. Just need to remember what's it's called. I.e. living lights not living room lights. She's such a stickler. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rmpfyf Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 Got a dot. Not a bad little toy. Going to try build the Kodi integration next weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Sherriff Posted September 1, 2017 Share Posted September 1, 2017 Two Dots arrived yesterday, got them up and running pretty quickly with the Hue, WeMo, Arlo and ANOVA (sous vide stick!) - seems to work well but need to spend time finding fun things to do with them next...Sent from my SM-T705 using Tapatalk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Marc Posted September 1, 2017 Author Administrator Share Posted September 1, 2017 My kids love the animal guessing game. This also has my attention. I'd consider building a whole home audio solution around this: http://www.stereo.net.au/news/connecting-the-dots-with-origin-acoustics-and-valet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted September 1, 2017 Share Posted September 1, 2017 I just don't get it, seems like it just makes life more frustrating when it doesn't work or it doesn't understand you. Isn't just like a mobile phone sitting there and asking it questions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Marc Posted September 1, 2017 Author Administrator Share Posted September 1, 2017 It always works for me? Are you gonna beat this up like Roon now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted September 1, 2017 Share Posted September 1, 2017 5 hours ago, Marc said: Are you gonna beat this up like Roon now But...then I learnt to love it once I understood it so I shall research. Maybe the google one might be better for as I use a lot of chromecast and audiocast. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Sherriff Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 Roughly a week in with the new Dots and the home-CEO's favourite thing is the 'Song Quiz' skill to test out her knowledge of "80s Hair Bands". Maybe these weren't such a good idea. [emoji23]Sent from my SM-T705 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 22 hours ago, PSherriff said: favourite thing is the 'Song Quiz' skill to test out her knowledge of "80s Hair Bands". Maybe these weren't such a good idea. I'll have to get one now! I'm a master of 80's hair bands. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitalhome Posted September 8, 2017 Share Posted September 8, 2017 I have the Google Home in my house..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Marc Posted September 8, 2017 Author Administrator Share Posted September 8, 2017 I wonder if you can reduce the amount of trigger words? For example, I just say, "Alexa, Office On", "Alexa, Media Room Off" etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted September 8, 2017 Share Posted September 8, 2017 I still think it's easier flicking a switch on, looks like we are going backwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Marc Posted September 8, 2017 Author Administrator Share Posted September 8, 2017 I agree, just a couple of extra words in there makes the whole concept redundant IMO. In my case it's become habit now where I just walk in and automatically say "Alexa, Office On", or "Alexa, Coffee On". It really does have to be simple. I've seen some processes where you have to tell one product to do something to another product in order to get the system talking. This defeats the purpose I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rantan Posted September 8, 2017 Share Posted September 8, 2017 18 minutes ago, powerav said: I still think it's easier flicking a switch on, looks like we are going backwards. Yep. I think it is very sad. It seems like creating a market for something that was never needed in the first place. Disclaimer: I also respect the right of others to disagree and use these devices if they choose to do so 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted September 8, 2017 Share Posted September 8, 2017 Do they recognise different voices? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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