I got an email today with the following text
You can now control even more connected home devices with your voice using Amazon Echo. In addition to controlling lights and switches from Belkin WeMo and Philips Hue, Echo now supports Wink.Wink is a home automation hub that allows you to control devices in your home. Today, we’re introducing support for Wink compatible devices from GE, Leviton, and Lutron?with even more coming soon.
To get started, setup your Wink HUB and compatible devices, then connect Echo to your Wink HUB in the Echo App. Once this is complete, simply say, “Alexa, discover my devices.” After Echo’s confirmation, just ask:
“Alexa, turn on the stereo”
“Alexa, turn on the office light”
“Alexa, turn off the fan”
“Alexa, turn off the outdoor decorations”
Echo supports these Wink compatible products:Leviton’s Decora Plug-In Appliance Control switch
Lutron’s Caseta Plug-In Lamp Dimmer
Select GE LED lights
A full list of Echo compatible devices from Belkin WeMo, Philips Hue, GE, Lutron, Leviton, and more can be found here.
I have the Wink hub and with a quick entry of my Wink account credentials within the Echo app on my phone and a ‘discover connected devices’, my three GE link bulbs connected to my Wink Hub now appear and are controllable.
For those already using the excellent Wink Connect plugin, the link to wink feature may be redundant. At the very least, it seems may make the entry of individual devices (rather than scenes) into the Echo to Vera bridge much more automated. I’m not sure if the ease of setup is important for the people on this forum, but at least it speeds that process up a bit.
I was curious about the responsiveness since this presumably could be going through two cloud services - Amazon and Wink - but using the Echo to turn on/off some GE Link bulbs via Echo was actually quicker than the Wink app in terms of ‘command-to-response’ time.
Amazon seems to be making a big play for the home automation market by being the easy access point into other hubs…I hope their efforts can put pressure on the current players to step up their game a bit.