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Introducing the Amazon Echo (Smart Speaker) (1 Viewer)

Ran into an IFFFT issue last night. Went through my normal routine "Alexa, trigger Good Night"  Nothing happened. So I then turned all off all the lights with my normal commands and they went right off. I then tried turning them all on with my IFFFT trigger "Good Morning" but nothing happened so we just went to sleep. Then about 3am all the lights in the house turned on and scared the crap out of us. 

 
Buddy Ball 2K3 said:
Ran into an IFFFT issue last night. Went through my normal routine "Alexa, trigger Good Night"  Nothing happened. So I then turned all off all the lights with my normal commands and they went right off. I then tried turning them all on with my IFFFT trigger "Good Morning" but nothing happened so we just went to sleep. Then about 3am all the lights in the house turned on and scared the crap out of us. 
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I haven't set any of those up yet, but it seems like that would happen with all of the different steps involved in executing a command.  Doesn't that run through several websites before it comes back to Alexa?

 
psychobillies said:
I haven't set any of those up yet, but it seems like that would happen with all of the different steps involved in executing a command.  Doesn't that run through several websites before it comes back to Alexa?
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most times everything happens almost instantly. No idea why it took hours for it to happen. 

 
Amazon announced the Echo Dot. Really looking forward to this one so that I can put these through out the house and connect them to a better speaker system in my basement. 

 
OK, so the Dot is not going to replace your Echo, because it doesn't have the type of speaker that you would want to listen to music on. Still, I could see getting one for the kitchen to make shopping lists, get news, voice commands for the lights and such.

Makes a bit more sense to me now at the price point. And not something to have for the office, unless you have a Bluetooth speaker as well.

 
I've had the Echo for about 4 mos, and like it a lot.  I have my 40k song music library in the amazon cloud, so I use it a lot for playing my music.  Although Pandora works really well as well.  I also use tune in radio for local stations.  I use it to check weather and some random stats.

That's about it, but the speaker is pretty solid, so I haven't been using my bose mini much.

 
The idea that I can now play music via bluetooth through my surround sound speakers is great.  I'll get a DOT just for that.  

What's with the TAP?  is that just a portable echo or is it something else?

 
psychobillies said:
The idea that I can now play music via bluetooth through my surround sound speakers is great.  I'll get a DOT just for that.  

What's with the TAP?  is that just a portable echo or is it something else?
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Yep. The TAP is pretty much a portable Echo. 9 hours of playback on one battery charge and acts just like Alexia with a Wi-Fi connection.

 
The TAP is what I'm interested in.  The mobility is right up my ally.   Between the kitchen, bedroom, deck, front porch and garage, I'm all over the place.

I think I've asked this before and I'm not sure if anyone answered it, but does this work with google play?

 
psychobillies said:
The idea that I can now play music via bluetooth through my surround sound speakers is great.  I'll get a DOT just for that.  

What's with the TAP?  is that just a portable echo or is it something else?
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Yes the Tap is portable, but rather than always listening like Echo you need to tap it for it to activate Alexa.  Plus the battery last 9 hour.    Needs to be connected to wifi to work with Alexa.

 
Since I got my Echo last week, I'm itching to put something electric on voice control.  We have a lamp in the corner of the living room.  If I get one of the outlets below, put it between the wall outlet and the lamp, then set it up...do I need anything else?  It seems as though this will run without a hub and/or a special lightbulb.  Is that correct or am I over-simplifying this?

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Belkin-WeMo-Switch-iPhone-Home-Remote/21630185

 
I want to buy an echo dot but don't even see them for sale on Amazon?  Usually they just say things are out of stock if that's the case, but here I can't even find an entry to buy them.  Are they not for sale yet?

 
This thing is awesome..... And incredibly smart.  My kids always say level instead of volume and initially it didn't work and now it does.  That's pretty cool.

 
Also ordered a Tap and a Dot. The Tap came in today. Great little device. Sound quality is surprisingly big and loud. Though not as good as the Echo, but sufficient for some light yard listening. Really digging these devices.  

 
Otis said:
Also ordered a Tap and a Dot. The Tap came in today. Great little device. Sound quality is surprisingly big and loud. Though not as good as the Echo, but sufficient for some light yard listening. Really digging these devices.  
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Got a tap on the way.  So, if you're not within wifi range, I know it'll connect to your phone via bluetooth, but will it still be voice controllable in that mode when you tap it?  In other words, If I'm at the beach with no wifi, can I just tap it and say "play Bob Marley on Pandora" or do I have to take out my phone and control it through my phone like a traditional portable speaker?  

 
psychobillies said:
Got a tap on the way.  So, if you're not within wifi range, I know it'll connect to your phone via bluetooth, but will it still be voice controllable in that mode when you tap it?  In other words, If I'm at the beach with no wifi, can I just tap it and say "play Bob Marley on Pandora" or do I have to take out my phone and control it through my phone like a traditional portable speaker?  
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Just got it, and apparently the answer is no.  Phone control only in bluetooth.  

 
psychobillies said:
psychobillies said:
Got a tap on the way.  So, if you're not within wifi range, I know it'll connect to your phone via bluetooth, but will it still be voice controllable in that mode when you tap it?  In other words, If I'm at the beach with no wifi, can I just tap it and say "play Bob Marley on Pandora" or do I have to take out my phone and control it through my phone like a traditional portable speaker?  
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Just got it, and apparently the answer is no.  Phone control only in bluetooth.  
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In that case, you'd be using cellular data to get the music, so I'd try using my phone as a hotspot and letting the Tap connect to my phone via wifi. Not sure if that would work (or if that drains the battery faster than bluetooth), but you could try it. 

 
FBG26 said:
In that case, you'd be using cellular data to get the music, so I'd try using my phone as a hotspot and letting the Tap connect to my phone via wifi. Not sure if that would work (or if that drains the battery faster than bluetooth), but you could try it. 
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Not a big problem as far as cell data.  I have a lot of music downloaded to the phone anyway, plus more rollover data than I need.  I was just hoping to be able to leave the phone in the bag, and just tell the speaker what to do.  It's still a cool little speaker, just super cool on wifi.

 
We are so invested in this thing now. 3 Echos, one tap, one dot en route. Considering whether we need any more...

 
Thinking of buying one of these but I want to start integrating smart home elements right away. If I want to start with lighting and gradually move I to other automated appliances, what's the smart way to go? I see the Philips Hue hub and lights are highly regarded but if I want to start automating other stuff, am I better off with something like a SmartThings hub and just getting lights that interface with it that seem to cost less than the Hue lights (like GE Smartlink bulbs)? Or should I just get some LIFX bulbs that don't require a hub at all and then get a SmartThings hub and outlets when I'm ready to do more than just lights? Any guidance is appreciated. 

 
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Evilgrin 72 said:
Thinking of buying one of these but I want to start integrating smart home elements right away. If I want to start with lighting and gradually move I to other automated appliances, what's the smart way to go? I see the Philips Hue hub and lights are highly regarded but if I want to start automating other stuff, am I better off with something like a SmartThings hub and just getting lights that interface with it that seem to cost less than the Hue lights (like GE Smartlink bulbs)? Or should I just get some LIFX bulbs that don't require a hub at all and then get a SmartThings hub and outlets when I'm ready to do more than just lights? Any guidance is appreciated. 
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The smart bulbs don't make much sense.  I have a couple of them, but here's the problem:

If someone turns them off at the light switch, you can't turn them back on via the app.  They have no power.  Same problem in reverse.  So you either have some awkward situation where you tape over the light switches in your house, or you have to constantly fumble around with trying to figure out why the lights aren't coming on.

The proper solution is smart light switches.  Search on Amazon for GE Z-wave switches.  You replace the switches in your walls with these all over the house.  Then you get a SmartThings hub. And wham.  Your hub can turn on and off (or dim) any of those switches anytime, with ease.  Meanwhile if the wife or the kids or a guest just want to use it like a regular old light switch and turn it on or off or dim it from the switch, no problem.

I've got just about all my house on this right now.  Adding stuff all the time.  For example, I added a motion sensor in the kitchen.  So if it's between the hours of 10pm-6am and motion is detected, the lights come on at a very dim 10%.  For those moments when you stumble down for a glass of water etc.  They turn back off after 10 minutes.

I have all of my basement lights on motion.  We don't even bother with the switch anymore.  You just step off the landing towards the basement and all the basement lights come on.  When you're down there, if you want to turn off some or dim others, you can do that.  But otherwise there's another motion sensor down there, and if it doesn't pick up any motion for 30 minutes, the lights all go out.  All on these GE smart switches.  And all LED bulbs so the power draw and consumption is very low, and I won't have to change them for a decade or two.

My office has a bunch of lamps in it.  It's annoying to walk around to each and use the little lamp thing each time you want to turn them all on or off.  So I have them plugged into those plug-in lamp modules that plug into the wall.  The problem is that the cleaning guys don't understand and come over and then turn them all off manually once every two weeks and I have to go and redo it each time.  But at least in between those times, I walk into my office, all the lamps come on.  30 minutes without any motion, they all turn off.

All the outside lights in front and back are on smart switches.  The Smartthings hub adjusts timing depending on sunset.  I turn them on about an hour before sunset.  

All the lights turn off automatically at bedtime.  The garage door closes if it isn't already, and the doors lock if they aren't already.

Alexa offers cool integration.  "Alexa, dim the kitchen lights to 50%."  "Alexa, lock the front door."  Today I was in and out all day cleaning out the basement, and each time coming up with full hands "Alexa, open the garage door."  

If we go to bed earlier than usual, "Alexa, trigger Good Night."  (I have to say "trigger" here because it works through IFTTT, which opens up a whole other world of possibilities teamed up with smartthings... too much to list and I'm still figuring it all out myself...).

Or when sitting on the couch a few beers in and we want to start watching some show on TV, "Alexa, turn off the living room lights.  Alexa, turn off the office lights."  If I wanted,  I could just set up a command so that I could instead say "Alexa, trigger movie mode" and turn off all lights in both rooms in one shot.

Bottom line, get some GE smart switches installed in your house.  I installed all of mine by myself and I'm an idiot.  The get a SmartThings hub and an Alexa.  I highly recommend a smart garage door opener the next time you're changing out yours, and also the Schlage Camelot Zwave door locks and handles.  The world quickly becomes your oyster.

But don't do bulbs.  It's an easy solution, but it's not user friendly in terms of everyday use -- you'll always have this tension between the mechanical switch on the wall that sends power to the bulb, and whatever automation control you are doing direct to the bulb.

 
Depending on the style of light switches you have, you'll either want something like this:

http://smile.amazon.com/GE12722-Z-Wave-Wireless-Lighting-Control/dp/B0035YRCR2/ref=sr_1_sc_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1462141949&sr=8-3-spell&keywords=GE+zwave+siwtches (They come in dimmer as well; I use these in my basement and some other spots in my hose that have these larger size paddle wall switches))

Or something like this:

http://smile.amazon.com/GE-12729-Wireless-Lighting-Control/dp/B00PYMGS3C/ref=sr_1_sc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1462141949&sr=8-2-spell&keywords=GE+zwave+siwtches (This is the dimmer version, also comes in regular switch -- I use these in my kitchen because they have some nice wall plates with the old fashioned switches, so this allowed me to keep those wall plates and that look)

For any outdoor applications -- patio lighting, landscape lighting, Christmas lights, etc. -- these work great:

http://smile.amazon.com/GE-Wireless-Lighting-Control-Outdoor/dp/B0013V8K3O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1462142076&sr=8-1&keywords=GE+zwave+outdoor

 
These are great for lamps plugged into outlets: http://smile.amazon.com/Aeon-Labs-DSC06106-ZWUS-Z-Wave-Energy/dp/B007UZH7B8/ref=pd_sim_60_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=31WSTKH0jvL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=040C18HK67367RBKDFVT

The problem is what I mentioned earlier re: not knowing if it is turned off at this device or on the mechanical lamp switch itself, but if you're going to use lamps, this is the way to go (and you just have to hope people don't mess with the mechanical lamp switch too much).

 
 
All my existing switches are the paddle variety. Will these work to dim whatever bulb is in there or do I need LED bulbs or something? Also, my house was built in 98, are they difficult to install and will they work with my existing wiring? I don't want to drag an electrician into this. 

 
Evilgrin 72 said:
All my existing switches are the paddle variety. Will these work to dim whatever bulb is in there or do I need LED bulbs or something? Also, my house was built in 98, are they difficult to install and will they work with my existing wiring? I don't want to drag an electrician into this. 
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With a house built in 98, I suspect you can handle it.  The one challenge for me, in my hundred year old house, is many times the boxes don't have a "neutral" wire.  These switches all require a neutral wire.  I would say buy a couple and start with some basics and go from there.

Note - installing the three-way setup (where you have paddles at either entrance to a room that control the switches) can be a bunch more complicated.  For those, you'll want either a GE dimmer or switch for whichever is the main switch, and then a GE "Add-On" switch for the other end of the three-way.  

Again, I would start slow.  Start with a few dimmers or switches where you only have a single switch that controls a light or bank of lights, install those, and then go from there.  It will get progressively easier with time.

As for dimming, as long as you have bulbs that dim, it should dim.  There are some CFL bulbs and early LED bulbs that do not dim properly.  But for an regular old school incandescent bulb, or any LED bulb that is advertised as a "dimmable" LED bulb (there are tons of them these days), you'll be all set as far as dimming goes.

One last night - SmartThings can be buggy and sometimes not so easy to get things working.  Highly recommend the SmartThings community forums for figuring stuff out.  It's daunting and confusing at first, but you can find answers there: https://community.smartthings.com/

Of course feel free to pop in here with questions as well.

Good luck, start slow.  It's a learning process, but once you work through the kinks and get it going, it's a pretty nice setup to have, and the possibilities for what kinds of setups and things you can automate around your house become endless and pretty darn cool.

 
One of my favorite things on Echo lately is the ability to dial up terrestrial radio stations. It's so easy. There's a jazz station here in NY I've always like, and now I can just say "Alexa, play 88.3 on tune-in". 

That and "flash briefing" for the news.  Having one of these in our bathroom has been great. 

 
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Otis said:
One of my favorite things on Echo lately is the ability to dial up terrestrial radio stations. It's so easy. There's a jazz station here in NY I've always like, and now I can just say "Alexa, play 88.3 on tune-in". 
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I use it for this more than anything else :bag:

Don't even need to say the "tune-in" part if you know the call letters. Or, you can say "play NPR" and she'll find the closest one to my location

 
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