Amazon Echo - wow

[JrClocker]

I have a morning routine now where Alexa turns on some lights, some relaxing music, gives me the weather, and latest news.

My Keurig turns itself on - hehe.

 

[JrClocker]

I was thinking about connecting my smoke detectors into Alexa. There are some cool smoke detectors out by Nest and First Alert. These guys will notify an app on your phone if the smoke detector goes off. Connecting it into Alexa is even more cool. These two types of smoke detectors are interlinked so that if one goes off, the other one goes off too. They also tell you why they are going off (smoke, heat, carbon monoxide), and which one is going off.

Another nice feature of these smoke detectors (AC powered ones) is that they can also be configured as a low intensity night light...so you don't bump into walls in the middle of the night!

However, the smoke detectors in my house (3 of them) are connected to my security system. So, if the smoke detector goes off, ADT automatically calls the fire department (an excellent home insurance discount.) The devices are connected to the security system control panel through a NAC circuit. Unless there is a NAC bridge device available that can take the "contact closure" of the First Alert units and convert to a NAC bridge, I can't use the new fancy smoke detectors. Bummer!



Also, I asked Alexa to make me a sandwich last night...no response...none at all...totally unusable device!!!!!

 

[mikealdin]

I have both Amazon Echo and Google Home. Both are doing good, but some differences in their functionalities. Echo is the smart device that works with "Alexa" whereas Google Home work with "Google Now". There are lot of smart devices we can connect with Alexa such as Echo dot, Echo plus and others are ready to launch ''Echo look'' and ''Echo spot''.

 

[mikealdin]

Amazon Echo plus is better than Amazon Echo when you use it with smart home devices. Best in-built control for Philips Hue, Smartthing and Ecobee devices.