interesting.
if thats not always listening then you may aswell press a button on your phone for Siri/Google/Samsung/Cortana to do the same thing
Agreed. But there seems to be some indication that maybe it only behaves that way when on battery power, but could always be listening if plugged in.
Here’s hoping. Might get one if that is the case
The new Fire TV can do the same thing right? It is “Alexa-powered” and you press the button on the remote…
What I never found out (I have older fire tv’s and fire sticks and an ECHO) was if the new Fire TV with Alexa can do home automation like my alexia can? Can it add/discover HUE devices and turn them on and off?
What I never found out (I have older fire tv’s and fire sticks and an ECHO) was if the new Fire TV with Alexa can do home automation like my alexia can? Can it add/discover HUE devices and turn them on and off?[/quote]
This indicates it can. “**UPDATE 11/28/15 ? Alexa on Fire TV now offers the same smart home device support as it does via the Echo.”
http://lovemyecho.com/2015/10/16/alexa-on-echo-vs-fire-tv/
What I never found out (I have older fire tv’s and fire sticks and an ECHO) was if the new Fire TV with Alexa can do home automation like my alexia can? Can it add/discover HUE devices and turn them on and off?[/quote]
This indicates it can. “**UPDATE 11/28/15 ? Alexa on Fire TV now offers the same smart home device support as it does via the Echo.”
http://lovemyecho.com/2015/10/16/alexa-on-echo-vs-fire-tv/[/quote]
Thanks for this info, I might look into upgrading my current Box and I have came to the conclusion the Fire Sticks are under powered (CPU) and not worth the hassle for the saved cost.
What I really want is to be able to whole-house my Echo. Right now I use the voice remote up on the 3rd floor, but unless it is really quiet we can’t hear it respond down on the 2nd floor (3 story townhome). We have wiring for whole-house audio, so an audio out on the Echo could in-theory give us listening around the house (although I would not want to keep the speakers powered up all the time), but there is still the issue of microphones in other rooms.
I don’t really want an Echo on each floor, as that would have other problems (same request heard by multiple Echos).
I have 3 echo’s and initially had problems with the same request going to multiple echo’s. I simply changed the middle echo’s magic word. There’s enough space now to eliminate any duplicate commands. Now We just have to remember which command word to use where.
I have been on and off the fence about getting the Echo, mainly due to the Wife Approval Factor. I qualified but missed the initial pre-sale, then I put it in and out of my Cart on Black Friday and missed that opportunity too. If I weren’t married I’d have my “Star Trek” voice-controlled house but the wife’s logic keeps sinking back in " what do we need that for", “where will it go”, “will it always be listening”, etc. I still use the phones with voice and that works well to control things, and we do have our phones handy most of the time.
I did just buy the FireStick with Alexa, but I haven’t tried integrating that yet. I suppose it should work the same. I believe even the older FireSticks will still work with Alexa but you’d have to either buy the microphone remote or use the FS Phone app to transmit voice to the FS. Now that I look I don’t see them offering the microphone remote by itself anymore?!
I could see putting this new button-activated battery Echo in our bathroom so as you get ready in the morning you can ask it things or activate devices. I wonder if just having extra Firestick microphone remotes lying around could work similarly and cheaper, although it isn’t clear if you can buy them separately (anymore?) or if you can pair multiple remotes with the same stick. I’m sure Amazon is one step ahead of me and I’ll still have to buy an Echo, but when is Echo 2 coming (new and improved possibly?).
Extending the range with a microphone works for me with my Echo, but I really want to hear the response (Alexa often hears it wrong the first time), so am planning to pony up for a second Echo. As far as Echo2 - I don’t think that is something to really worry about, as most of the brains are in the Amazon cloud. I can’t forsee a frequent hardware upgrade cycle.
I will probably wait for another opportunity to try the Echo, or depending on how cheap the battery version is, try that out.
This statement:
…leads me to believe (or hope) that there will be a hardware upgrade on the horizon. Smaller would certainly be better, or like you suggested having satellite devices that extend the range of the Echo. Or something that mounts to the ceiling and looks like the Nest Smokie would be ideal (White or paintable). I guess I could just drywall the Echo into the ceiling and/or paint it :P.